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Who was David Katz, the Jacksonville mass shooter?

 
David Katz after winning a Madden Tournament in 2017. [Twitter]
David Katz after winning a Madden Tournament in 2017. [Twitter]
Published Aug. 27, 2018

Posts on social media are beginning to offer a glimpse into the man accused in Sunday's mass shooting at a video game tournament in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville Police identified 24-year-old David Katz as the suspected gunman in the shooting, in which three people — including Katz — died and 11 were wounded.

Though police have yet to identify a motive, Twitter users said Katz was upset about losing two games of Madden earlier in the tournament, refusing to shake hands with the winner after at least one game, a gamer said.

"He's a well-known competitor," said one gamer to WFOX-TV, who claimed to have beaten Katz on Saturday. "[He was here] all weekend. He had shades on, he didn't speak to anybody. Even after we played … I went to shake his hand and just tell him good game and he just looked at me. He didn't say anything."

"I was actually one of the people that beat him..."

GAMER and WITNESS talks about suspected #TheLandingMassShooting shooter David Katz. Says he was acting 'weird' all weekend. #BREAKING #Jacksonville #JacksonvilleLanding #JacksonvilleLandingShooting @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/7ZwqKbMzGM

Police say Katz was a native of Baltimore, Md., and may have stayed in a North Florida hotel Saturday night.

The FBI and Baltimore Police raided his home and interviewed family members, the agencies said on social media. Neighbors of Katz' home, where he stayed with his parents, said they rarely saw or talked to him.

Update: @FBIBaltimore has cleared the scene in south Baltimore. Follow @JSOPIO for the latest information regarding the #TheLandingMassShooting

Police say Katz carried out the shooting with a handgun. A semi-automatic weapon was also found at the scene.

Earlier Sunday, while Katz was competing in the Madden NFL 19 tournament at GLHF Game Bar at the Jacksonville Landing, a video showed an announcer introducing Katz while his face remained stoic, not acknowledging the announcers' comments.

"You are not going to see much emotion," the announcer said in a recorded video from the tournament. "David Katz keeps to himself. He's a man of business. He's not here to make friends."

Suspected shooter identified as David Katz. Gaming community says he went by the tag "Bread" was a former #Madden Champion from Baltimore. Reports: ATF on scene at Federal Hill home in MD in connection to #MaddenShooting @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/m5NeUdufqW

READ MORE:What Florida's politicians are saying about Jacksonville mass shooting

Katz had past success at video game tournaments, winning the Madden Bills Championship in 2017, along with $3,500 and the chance to compete in a later contest in Los Angeles.

After the win, in which Katz — a No. 7 seed — pulled off a last-second upset of the tournament's No. 2 seed, the Buffalo Bills tweeted out congratulations to the then 23-year-old.

Congrats to David Katz, the Madden 17 Bills Championship winner!

Thanks for following along, Bills fans. https://t.co/YHJHzlFElc pic.twitter.com/incdEhLxkT

In a post-game interview following his win, Katz's face could be described as emotionless, while his eyes wander from looking at the floor to around the room.

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SUSPECT. Investigators say the man who opened fire on a video game tournament in #Jacksonville is 24-year-old #DavidKatz of Baltimore. Here is video of him after a previous #Madden win. (via Compton 187) #thelandingshooting #landingshooting #maddenshooting #jacksonvilleshooting pic.twitter.com/qRK39X3jx1

On Sunday, a recording on live stream platform Twitch shows two competitors playing before Katz opens fire. The stream then ends abruptly as gunshots are heard ringing out.

Tragic moments when shots were fired at #Madden19 in Jacksonville, FL by David Katz, a 24 years old gamer, who played as "Bread" and lost the game. #Jacksonville pic.twitter.com/OovS7DZ8BB

Drini Gjoka, one of the two competitors shown in the live stream, tweeted following the event. He suffered a minor injury.

I am literally so lucky. The bullet hit my thumb

I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second

I will never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second

Following the shooting, EA Sports, the game developer of Madden 19, released the following statement: "We are aware of an incident at a sanctioned Madden Championship Series competition in Jacksonville," the company said. "We are working with authorities to gather facts at this stage. This is a horrible incident and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved."

What's a Madden tournament? Shooting brings attention and sadness to the growing world of eSports