New Jersey Teen Gamer Wounded In Jacksonville Mass Shooting
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - A New Jersey resident was among those wounded in a deadly mass shooting Sunday at an online video game tournament being livestreamed from a Florida mall.
A gunman opened fire, killing two people and then fatally shooting himself, at the Jacksonville Landing collection of restaurants and shops along the St. Johns River in the city's downtown. At least nine other people were wounded by gunfire, and several others sustained injuries fleeing the chaotic scene.
The Jacksonville Sheriff office identified 24-year-old David Katz of Baltimore as the shooter.
On Sunday, as news of the attack spread, Annmarie Amadeo of Middletown, N.J., posted on Facebook that her son, George, was among those wounded.
"Please I need everyone to pray for my son as he was involved in the mass shooting in Jacksonville," she posted at 3 p.m. Sunday. "He has a lodged bullet in his foot. That's all I know, multiple people as dead. Suspect is dead."
Katz was in Jacksonville for the "Madden NFL 19" video game tournament, authorities said. The games maker, EA Sports, lists a David Katz as a 2017 championship winner.
Investigators were looking into online video that appeared to capture the scene right before the shooting began, Williams said. A red dot that appears to be a laser pointer is visible on the chest of a player seconds before the first of a dozen gunshots rings out.
Amadeo spoke with CBS2's Meg Baker on Monday.
"My son and husband will never be the same," she said.
A bullet went through 17-year-old George's heel and into his foot. He had surgery early Monday and is expected to remain in the hospital to recover.
She says the gamers who make it to the level of the Sunday tournament are a very tight knit community.
"They come from all over the, states all over," she said. "These kids play until five o'clock in the morning almost nightly. They've known each other for years."
Marquis Williams, 28, and his girlfriend, Taylor Poindexter, 26, both from Chicago, were ordering pizza at the bar when they heard the gunfire. Williams said people trampled each other in the panic while trying to get away.
"Initially we thought it was a balloon popping, but there weren't any balloons in the room. Then we heard repeat shots and we took off running," said Williams, who participated in the tournament earlier.
Jason Lake, the founder and CEO of compLexity, a company that owns professional e-sports teams, said on Twitter that one of his players, 19-year-old Drini Gjoka, was shot in the thumb.
Gjoka tweeted: "The tourney just got shot up. Im leavinng and never coming back." Then: "I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb. Worst day of my life."
EA Sports tweeted, saying "This is a horrible situation, and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved."
Thadys Gilder was at The Landing just after 1:30 p.m. He said people were running for their lives, or hiding where they could, CBS2's Reena Roy reported.
"I heard a lot of screams. People running this way that way all over to get away from the massacre," Gilder said. "Someone coming out saying 'I'm shot! I'm shot! I'm shot!"
On Sunday evening, the FBI said, its agents searched a family home of the man authorities believed was behind the attack.
Heavily armed agents, some in bulletproof vests and brandishing long guns, could be seen entering an upscale townhome complex near Baltimore's Inner Harbor.
An FBI spokesman, Dave Fitz, confirmed that agents had gone to the house of the man's father in Baltimore. He declined to release specifics, citing the ongoing investigation. T.J. Smith, chief spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, also said that agency was assisting law enforcement partners "with some information that has led authorities to Baltimore."
Annemarie says her son is having a really hard time coping with the knowledge that he lost two of his close friends.
