4 out of 11 people have been shot and killed today at a tournament in Jacksonville, Florida for EA’s popular football game, Madden 19. While details from the situation are still unraveling, the Jacksonville sheriff’s office has confirmed there was only a single shooter and he is dead at this time.
The shooter is reportedly a former participant in the tournament who had lost prior to the shooting and returned seemingly in a fit of rage. One player claimed that he had gotten very lucky due to the fact a bullet only managed to hit his thumb and nothing else.
“He managed to escape and run down the street to a nearby gym. He’s currently cooperating with the authorities and we will be flying him out of Jacksonville as soon as we are given the green light from the officials on the ground,” said CompLexity Gaming Founder and CEO Jason Lake speaking about the man who had been shot in the thumb.
The event sanctioned by EA was being held at the GLHF Game Bar as a qualifying event for a Madden tournament and was streamed online to Twitch during the chaos.
The stream abruptly cut off after shots could be heard and clips of what happened are being removed from the internet at a rapid pace. Player Ryan Alemon noted that he heard the gunshots and immediately ran towards the restrooms where he hid for 10 minutes before making an escape.
“We are finding many people hiding in locked areas at The Landing,” the sheriff’s office tweeted. “We ask you to stay calm, stay where you are hiding. SWAT is doing a methodical search inside The Landing. We will get to you. Please don’t come running out.”
EA also made a comment on Twitter stating they’re working with authorities on their investigation.
“We are aware of an incident at a sanctioned Madden Championship Series competition in Jacksonville. We are working with authorities to gather facts at this stage,” they said. “This is a horrible situation, and our deepest sympathies go out to all involved.”
President Donald Trump has been briefed on this tragedy according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, no word yet as to if we can expect any statement from him. We’ll continue to keep you updated as we learn more details on this story.
Our hearts go out to those affected by this horrific event.
