VIDEO - Jacksonville shooting: Suspect had strange online persona, mental health issues

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Gamer Derek Jones of Santa Fe, New Mexico was outside a Jacksonville, Florida video game tournament venue when he heard gunshots on Sunday. Authorities say a gunman killed two people before killing himself. Nine people were hurt. (Aug. 27) AP

Baltimore FBI and ATF searched a home on the 1200 block of Harbor Island Walk Sunday in connection with the shooting rampage in Jacksonville, Fla. (Photo: N'dea Yancey-Bragg)

BALTIMORE – The suspect in the deadly shooting at a video game competition in Florida had a "weird" online presence and spent time in and out of psychiatric facilities as a teenager, according to court records and people who knew him.

The suspect, David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, killed two and wounded 11 before taking his own life, according to Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams. Katz came to Florida to participate in the Madden NFL 19 competition at the Jacksonville Landing entertainment complex.

New details about Katz emerged Monday, including the fact that he had been hospitalized for mental illness.

More: Jacksonville shooting: Gunman's motive probed; gamers call for more security at events

Related: Here are the victims of the Jacksonville shooting at Madden tournament

Divorce filings from Katz's parents say that as a teenager he was twice hospitalized in psychiatric facilities and that he was prescribed anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications. 

The suspect’s father, Richard Katz of Baltimore, and his mother, Elizabeth Katz of Columbia, Maryland, did not respond to phone messages from the Associated Press Sunday or Monday.

Katz is believed to have stayed in the Jacksonville area the night before the shooting, possibly at a hotel, the Baltimore Sun said.

Jacksonville Sheriff Williams said Katz carried two guns but used only one during the attack. Investigators say the guns were purchased legally in Baltimore from a licensed dealer.

Williams said the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot.

Katz allegedly got upset about losing the game, according to some media reports. The Los Angeles Times said Sunday’s killer was a losing contestant at the tournament.

Other gamers at the tournament said Katz was rather quiet. Shane Kivlen, a friend of one of the people killed, said Katz didn’t talk much with fellow gamers, either online or when they met face-to-face for Madden tournaments.

He said much of what he and others knew of Katz, they learned from his baffling style of playing the game.

“(Katz) would do kind of weird stuff online that other people wouldn’t do," Kivien said. "He would catch a ball and just start jumping out of bounds and stuff when he could have gotten more yards, just hurting himself. I don’t know what he was doing.”

David Katz is the suspect in the Jacksonville, Florida video game tourney shooting  (Photo: YouTube)

Kivlen said Katz was smart, “but something was off about him.”

The game's maker, EA Sports, lists a David Katz as a 2017 championship winner. 

On Monday night, EA's CEO, Andrew Wilson, said he was "filled with shock and grief" in a statement posted on the company's website and across its social media platforms. He also announced that EA was cancelling the remaining three Madden Classic qualifying events to "run a comprehensive review of safety protocols for competitors and spectators."

"First and foremost, it is an unthinkable tragedy that Taylor Robertson and Elijah Clayton, two of our top Madden competitors, lost their lives in this way. They were respected, positive and skilled competitors, the epitome of the players and personalities at the heart of our community," Wilson said. "Their love of competition was evident through their participation in our events over the past few years. We are committed to supporting Taylor and Elijah’s families through this difficult time, and we send our deepest sympathies to their loved ones, to those injured yesterday, and everyone affected."

Related: 'Two of our brothers are gone:' Gaming community reacts, comes together after shooting

Katz was active in eSports, tournaments where video game players compete, and get seen on social media playing. He was believed to be known as "Bread" and won the February 2017 Buffalo Bills tournament of the Madden NFL football game. 

Katz was a 2011 graduate of Hammond High School in Howard County, according to the Balitmore Sun. He also attended the University of Maryland previously, but was not a enrolled this semester, university President Wallace Loh said.

He enrolled beginning in September 2014 and majored in environmental science and technology, a university spokeswoman said. He did not live on campus.

ATF and FBI agents searched a Baltimore home on the 1200 block of Harbor Island Walk on Sunday night in connection with the rampage. They arrived at the quiet row of nearly identical brick townhouses around 6 p.m. and searched the property for just over four hours, according to Baltimore ATF Public Information Officer Amanda Hils.

The street is steps away from the Pataspco River near Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, a major tourist hub.

Hils did not say why the home was being searched or comment on what was found inside. Property records show that the Harbor Island Walk home is owned by a man named Richard Katz. FBI spokesman Dave Fitz confirmed that agents had gone to the house of the suspect’s father in Baltimore. He declined to release specifics, citing the ongoing investigation.

Residents in the area seem largely indifferent to or unaware of the late night search. Larry Chen said he was walking his dog Piper around 10:30 p.m. when he saw lights in the neighborhood.

“We heard that the ATF came though here from a neighbor, but that's about it,” Chen said.

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Witnesses describe gunshots and panic at a Jacksonville, Florida video game tournament. Officials say a gunman killed two people and himself. The Jacksonville sheriff says authorities believe the gunman was 24-year-old David Katz of Baltimore. (Aug. 27) AP

Chen, who has lived in the area for 11 years, said the law enforcement presence in the area was “pretty unusual.” He didn’t recognize a photo of the shooter.

Steve Buchness, a bartender at Little Havana, a Cuban restaurant across the street from Katz’s neighborhood, said he heard the alleged shooter lived nearby, but he didn’t recognize photos of Katz he saw online.

“I bet you he’s a loner, but I don’t know,” he said. “You’ve got to come in a lot for us to recognize you as a regular.”

Buchness, who’s lived nearby for 20 years, said the area is home to a diverse population and is generally safe. He said he doesn’t feel unsafe after hearing about the shooting, but he isn’t surprised by it either.

“People are on some weird stuff these days, you know?” He said “So no, that doesn’t shock me.”

He said customers haven’t been talking about the search so far this afternoon but probably would once word gets around.

“Probably tonight they will, when it sinks in a little more,” he said.

Contributing: Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

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