Madden 18 — Mass Shooting During Tournament

There was a mass shooting today in Jacksonville, Florida during a Madden 18 Southeastern Qualifier Tournament for the “Madden NFL Championship Series” that took place at the GLHF Game Bar.  There were 11 people total believed to be shot, 4 of which who were killed.  One of those they believe to be responsible for the shooting was found dead at the scene, however, they are unsure of this was caused by multiple assailants or just one.

All of this was confirmed by CompLexity Gaming, one of the teams that happened to be present, via their twitter account.  One of their players named Drini Gjoka (who goes by the handle “Young Drini) was grazed in the hand due to a bullet and accounted it as “The worst day of his life” and “I’ll never take anything for granted ever again. Life can be cut short in a second”.

This also appeared to happen while they were live on Twitch.tv streaming the tournament.  Thankfully they had just disabled the facecams to focus on the game play so nothing was actually seen, however, the stinging and sharp sound of gunshots ring in through the mics as the noise of confusion and panic began to weigh in.  However, one morbid thing is that in the footage you can see a laser pointer directly on the hoody of the black guy playing, and the first gunshot rings out right as the video cuts away from the facecams.

  IMPRESSIONS  — I am honestly at a loss for words.  Here in the United States, we have had a very bad history of mass shootings and killings.  The first I ever personally remember was the Columbine High School shooting back when I was younger, now all of a sudden we seem to have a mass shooting every month or every other week.  Not in my wildest dreams did I think it would begin to sink over into my beloved realm of competitive gaming, but it seems as though not even a hobby you are passionate about can keep death from knocking at your door.

Many people gathered there at the GLHF Gaming Bar, people of  all ethnicities and backgrounds for a common love of football, gaming, and competition.  An event that could have been such a great experience for everyone involved turned into an ugly memory that will forever stain the lives of everyone involved and change how they view the very world itself.  I wish this upon no one and no one deserves this, I have no idea how heartless someone would have to be to think about and carry out a travesty such as this.

This incident lets me know that we have to do something NOW, we needed to have something done years ago but things are progressively getting worse.  I feel so bad for those who are now going to be paranoid even in what should be a place of comfort, joy, and bonding.  My thoughts, prayers, and love goes out to all of the victims, families, and people who happened to be watching and are gravely impacted by the thoughtless and soullessness of the shooter’s actions.