Competitive gamers Eli Clayton (right in the image above), 21, and Taylor Robertson (left in the image above), 27, were killed at a Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., on Sunday. The 24-year-old who opened fire, killing Clayton and Robertson and wounding 11 others, killed himself on the scene.
One gamer in attendance told the Los Angeles Times that the shooter, known to have previously won the Madden 17 Bills Championship, lost the tournament and returned to a local bar, the Good Luck Have Fun Game Bar, to target his rivals. Police have not released an official motive.
Clayton, who went by the gamertag trueboy, was from Woodland Hills, Calif., and a former successful high school football player who had won $51,000 playing Madden, according to his EA Sports profile. Robertson, aka spotmeplzzz, was from Ballard, West Va., and won the Madden NFL 17 Classic. The tournament in Jacksonville was a qualifying round for this year’s classic.
The 11 victims who were wounded are all in stable condition, a local sheriff told CNN. ATF and FBI agents searched the shooter’s Baltimore home Sunday night and continue to investigate.
Dot City Gaming, which sponsored Robertson, tweeted Sunday night, “They were great competitors and well-loved members of the Madden community. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to their families, loved ones, and all of those affected by this tragedy.”
A Twitch livestream of the shooting shows a man who appears to be Clayton dueling another player in Madden. A red laser appears on Clayton’s sweatshirt, and video of them cuts out. Audio of the shooting was streamed in full, capturing the sounds of gunfire and people screaming as they realized what was happening.
Warning: This video is disturbing.
Some gamers in attendance have tweeted in the aftermath, with one, Drini Gjoka, calling it the “worst day of my life.”
The official Madden account also tweeted about the shooting.
Update: Fellow pro gamer Justin ‘Swizzy’ Saline has opened a GoFundMe to help support Clayton and Robertson’s families.
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