Las Vegas-area video gamer Sal Villa was at a loss for words following the Aug. 26 mass shooting at a Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.
“It was a bit of a roller coaster the day of the incident,” Villa said of the shooting, in which tournament participant David Katz shot and killed two people, then himself. Eleven others were injured.
To raise funds for those affected by the shooting, Mario Party Wars — a UNLV-based video gaming club — teamed with two video game stores to host tournaments Saturday and Sunday. The club will donate tournament-entry proceeds to a gofundme account created by Samanthia McGlaughn, a patron of the GLHF Game Bar where the shooting occured, Villa said. The fund will help cover funeral, medical, counselling and other costs, McGlaughn has written.
Villa, 28, said that as the club’s CEO, he felt compelled to do whatever possible to help.