Multiple people, including a suspected gunman, were killed in a mass shooting during a video-game tournament at a Jacksonville, Fla., restaurant, according to witnesses and police.
The shooting was partially captured on a livestream of the Madden NFL gaming tournament at the Jacksonville Landing, a downtown marketplace.
In video captured from the livestreaming network Twitch and posted on social media, shots can be heard as footage of a kickoff return is replaced by the message "controller disconnected."
Sources told News4Jax, a Jacksonville broadcast station, that at least four people had been fatally shot, with more wounded.
The shooter was a gamer who was competing in the tournament and lost, according to Steven "Steveyj" Javaruski, one of the competitors.
The shooter "targeted a few people" and shot at least five victims before killing himself, Javaruski told The Los Angeles Times in a direct message on Twitter. The gunman killed two or three people "that I saw," Javaruski said.
In a public Twitter post, he added that he was escorted out by police after the shooting.
"I am literally so lucky," gamer Drini Gjoka said on Twitter. "The bullet hit my thumb."
He added: "Worst day of my life."
Gaming has become increasingly professionalized in recent years, with gamers taking on public personas similar to professional athletes, and such events are often followed on video and via social media.
Brad Kaaya, a former quarterback at Chaminade High School in West Hills, identified one of the two gamers seen on the livestream before the shooting began as a former classmate, Elijah Clayton. He was on the 2012 football team and later played football at Calabasas High School in 2013. He is known as Trueboy on the video game circuit.
By 4:30 p.m., investigators had cleared the shooting scene and were still questioning witnesses, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said at a briefing. No death or injury toll was given.
He said the lone suspect, a white male, had been killed and that police were still confirming his identity.
Investigators were reviewing video of the shooting posted on social media and encouraged those with access to such video to contact them, Williams said.
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(Eric Sondheimer contributed to this report.)
