Deadly mass shooting at video game tournament in Florida

Editor | August 26, 2018 | Middle East | No Comments

A mass shooting at a video game tournament has led to “multiple fatalities” in the US state of Florida, according to police.

The shooting took place on Sunday at a waterfront dining, entertainment and shopping site in downtown Jacksonville, according to local media. Police warned residents to stay away from the area.

Citing police sources, reports said four people were killed and 15 wounded.

“One suspect is dead at the scene, unknown at this time if we have a second suspect. Searches are being conducted,” the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said on Twitter.

The attack took place during the Madden 19 online game tournament at the GLHF Game Bar, according to the venue’s website.

The video game tournament was being streamed online from the restaurant. Players can be seen reacting to the gunfire and cries can be heard before the footage cuts off.

“SWAT is doing a methodical search inside… We will get to you. Please don’t come running out,” the sheriff’s office said.

Local outlet News4Jax said several ambulances, as well as firefighters and police officers, were on the scene, and roads were being blocked off in the downtown area.

“The latest line we’re getting from the Jacksonville police is the suspect in this shooting is now dead,” Al Jazeera’s Andy Gallacher reported from Miami. “They are now going through that building but still warning residents in Jacksonville to stay away from the area.”

The attack occurred amid a debate about US gun laws that was given fresh impetus by the massacre in February of 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida.

Survivors of the Parkland shooting expressed sorrow on Sunday at news of another mass shooting in the state.

“Once again, my heart hurts and all of me is so angry. We cannot accept this as our reality,” Delaney Tarr, one of the organisers of the student-led March for Our Lives movement, tweeted.

Two years ago, a gunman killed 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.