Monday marks one year since the deadly Jacksonville Landing mass shooting that took place during a Madden football video game tournament and resulted in the deaths of three people, including the shooter.
“It’s a terrible day," said Jacksonville Mayor Curry, reflecting on the anniversary. "A day that represented the worst in humanity but also demonstrated the best from our first responders. Firefighters ran into the building not knowing what they were running into, and they did it to save lives. Our prayers remain with the families and we are grateful for the work of first responders that day.”
At around 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2018, police said 24-year-old David Katz began shooting at participants inside the Landing's GLHF Game Bar, killing gamers Eli "Truboy" Clayton, 22, and Taylor "SpotMePlzzz" Robertson, 28, and wounding 11 others. Both Clayton and Robertson traveled from out of state to play in the tournament. A witness told the Associated Press that Katz, a professional Madden player from Baltimore, began shooting after he lost during his round.
Katz was later found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
First responders with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department happened to be training nearby when shots rang out.
JFRD Captain Jeremy Cooke said crews are trained to handle situations like the Landing but had to make some changes in protocol to save lives.
"We are trained to stage, wait for JSO, and that just wasn't happening in this situation," he said. "We were just thrust into it. I believe one or two of the patients might not have made it -- that we had trauma-alerted -- if we had to wait and stage for JSO to clear the scene."
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Though many were left shaken by the event, the shooting prompted many local communities to come together and help those affected.
Days after the deadly shooting, First Baptist Church held a prayers service in the amphitheater of the Landing with dozens of people in attendance.
"We realize we're in a trend of violence in our city that has to stop, and we want to take it on ourselves to do what we can to be an instrument of light and love in all of this," said Senior Pastor Heath Lambert.
RELATED: Large crowd gathers to pray at Jax Landing in wake of deadly mass shooting at Chicago Pizza
Local sports newsletter The Daily Rally created "Rally for Jacksonville" T-shirts, donating the proceeds to victims of the mass shooting.
"There's so much that happens after the cameras are gone," Kelly Hawkins, who runs The Daily Rally, told First Coast News. "After the rest of the world starts to forget that something really terrible happened, the victims are left with a lot of medical costs, funeral costs. A lot of them are going to need help for what they witnessed and the trauma that went through that."
The JSO 911 call center employees that answered frantic calls and dispatched officers during the mass shooting were visited days later by comfort dogs to help process their emotions.
“You can hear the fear,” said Breanna Fuson, JSO receiving officer who answered 911 calls as the shooting unfolded. “I've never had to see anything like that, the call volume. Even the atmosphere changed after getting all those calls.”
The shooting also prompted a national response from the gaming community.
Electronic Arts, known as EA, contributed $1 million to the victims and hosted a Jacksonville Tribute Livestream as a way of "bringing the community together, uniting in play."
RELATED: EA to contribute $1 million to victims of Jax Landing mass shooting, will host livestream event
In the aftermath of the shooting, controversy continued to swirl around the GLHF Game Bar, Chicago Pizza (where the bar was located) and the Jacksonville Landing itself.
Lawsuits were filed, with victims and inspectors saying the bar was too small to have held the tournament, which attracted hundreds of participants and spectators, creating chaos when victims tried to escape the gunfire.
A year after the shooting, the Jacksonville Landing is closed and awaiting demolition.
The Jacksonville Landing's final event was the annual Fourth of July fireworks show on July 4, 2019.
REMEMBERING THE JACKSONVILLE LANDING MASS SHOOTING