Internet Culture

Madden community mourns fellow players after Jacksonville mass shooting

The victims were gamers themselves, and seen on camera right before the shooting.

Photo of Samantha Grasso

Samantha Grasso

eli clayton and taylor robertson

Two people were killed and 11 were injured after a mass shooting at a Madden 19 gaming tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday. Now, the Madden gaming community is left to mourn two players who were victims of a fellow gamer’s fire.

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Across social media, people in the gaming community are sharing their tributes to Taylor Robertson and Eli Clayton, two players who were competing in the tournament.

Clayton, 22, was from Woodland Hills, California, and went by Trueboy and True. His EA Sports profile says he was “consistently one of the best in competitive ‘Madden,’” having won a total of $51,000 at live event competitions.

Right before the shooting took place, Clayton was seen on a livestream playing in the tournament before the camera cut out, and the video was disconnected, leaving streamers to listen to the audio of the shooting. Clayton was smiling.

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Robertson, 27, was from Ballard, West Virginia, and was a husband and father. Known as SpotMePlzzz, he had won last season’s Madden Classic and won $80,500 total at live event competitions.

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https://twitter.com/spotmeplzzz/status/962010784577437696

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The shooter, 24-year-old David Katz, killed himself after opening fire on the tournament. He had gone by gamer tags Bread and RavensChamp, and had won the Madden 17 Bills Club Championship in Buffalo, New York, last year.

On Twitter, people in the gaming community are remembering their peers and mourning their deaths, some writing that the men died while doing what they loved.

https://twitter.com/Moonlightswami/status/1033822672029999110

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In a statement on the Madden 19 website, EA Sports wrote that it “strongly condemn[s]” the Jacksonville shooting, and that it thanks first responders for arriving at the scene quickly.

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“The tragic situation that occurred Sunday in Jacksonville was a senseless act of violence that we strongly condemn. Our most heartfelt sympathies go out to the families of the victims whose lives were taken today and those who were injured,” the statement read. “All of us at Electronic Arts are devastated by this horrific event, and we also join the community in thanking the first responders who were quickly on the scene. Our focus right now is on those affected, and supporting law enforcement as they continue their investigation into this crime.”

 
The Daily Dot