Three dead, including gunman, in Jacksonville 'mass shooting' incident

JACKSONVILLE, Fl. — Police in Jacksonville, Florida responded to a "mass shooting" incident at the Jacksonville Landing.

The office tweeted shortly after the incident that there were "multiple fatalities at the scene" in the incident at the riverfront mall, with "many transported."

Williams said in a second press conference that three people died at the scene, including the one suspect involved.

The sheriff said there were 13 total victims, with 11 suffering gunshot wounds and two others suffering from injuries during their escapes.

The suspect was identified as 24-year-old Baltimore, Maryland native David Katz, and officials said he was at the Madden NFL 19 competition where the shooting occurred.

>>MORE: Who is David Katz, alleged Jacksonville mass shooter?

Williams said 911 calls came in around 1:34 p.m., with officers arriving on scene a few minutes later before a lockdown was put in place.

The Sheriff's Office also tweeted that a "methodical search" was conducted .

Massachusetts State Police were forced to increase security at a tournament in Boston on Sunday, as hundreds of gamers gathered for a similar event.

Now, the concern is whether this was a copy-cat situation, since it isn't the first time a gaming convention was targeted.

Boston Police prevented a similar situation at an event a few years ago, leading them to increase security for any future events.

"I mean, it's eerily similar to the events that were playing out in Boston at the Pokemon tournament," Kroll Managing Director and former Boston Police Superintendent-in-Chief Dan Linskey said. "Fortunately, a couple citizens saw on social media some concerning information."

Tragedy was averted at that gaming convention, when police found two men trying to bring assault rifles into the tournament.

"My sons were at the Pokemon convention in Boston when that threat was thwarted," Linskey said.

At the same time as the shooting in Jacksonville, gamers were hearing the news of what had happened as they gathered in the Seaport.

"When we heard the news, we were a bit drawn aback," Thomas Le, a gamer at the event, said.

Event organizers with the Shine Series Tournament quickly increased security at the event, with noticeable changes for the gamers.

"More stringent searches in front, just a higher presence," gamer Matt Burns said.

Linskey said the biggest concern with the events in Jacksonville was that it all happened during a live stream of the tournament, with anyone watching able to hear the gunshots.

"We hope it doesn’t provide encouragement for some other individual to try to get a bigger audience in that type of live stream event," Linskey said.

Linskey said everyone should have a plan if they go to big events like gaming conventions, and said to always know where any exits are and to be alert of your surroundings.

Cox Media Group