Jewish Video Gamer Kills 2 Before Turning Gun On Himself At Jacksonville Tournament

By Dave Goldiner August 27, 2018

A professional video gamer from Baltimore is suspected of killing at least two people and wounded several others on Sunday when he opened fire at a video game tournament that was being streamed online from a restaurant in Jacksonville, Florida, police said.

David Katz, 24, of Baltimore then turned the gun on himself. Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams declined to comment on what led to the third major mass shooting to hit Florida in the last two years.

A mezuzah was affixed to the doorway of Katz’s father’s home in the tony Federal Hill neighborhood, near the Inner Harbor in downtown Baltimore.

Police swarmed the quiet townhouse complex, where neighbors said Katz sometimes stayed. David Katz grew up in Columbia, Maryland, a suburb midway between Baltimore and Washington D.C.

His parents divorced in 2011. His mother is a scientist with the Food and Drug Administration and his father is an electrical engineer with NASA.

Dozens of ambulances and police cars flooded into The Jacksonville Landing, a waterfront dining, entertainment and shopping site in the city’s downtown, after several shots rang out on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The shooting took place during a regional qualifier for the Madden 19 online game tournament at the GLHF Game Bar inside a Chicago Pizza restaurant, according to the venue’s website.

The bar was livestreaming the football video game competition when the gunfire started, according to video of the stream shared on social media. In the video, players can be seen reacting to the shots and cries can be heard before the footage cuts off.

Katz, who often competed under the monikers Bread or MrSlicedBread, has competed in several video game tournaments and two years ago won the same one at which he opened fire Sunday.—With Reuters

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

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