Esports fans and players question security presence at events

On Aug. 26, 34-year-old Feroz Khan was at home in Brampton watching a live Twitch stream of the qualifiers tournament for the Madden 19 Championship Series at the GLHF (Good Luck, Have Fun) Game Bar in Jacksonville, Florida.

 

Khan stared in a state of shock before turning to his brother to see if what they witnessed was real. During the live stream, Khan heard gunshots and people screaming before the screen cut to black.

 

“It was traumatizing,” he said. “I took a deep breath and I had tears in my eyes.”

 

Khan, who works full time as an account manager at Purolator, is a part of the Madden NFL Esports community, an American football video game series, and “never expected something like this to happen.”

 

The shooter, 24-year-old David Katz, who went by the gamertag Bread, was competing at the tournament before getting eliminated earlier. Katz eventually returned to the event with two handguns and began shooting at other competitors; killing two people and injuring 10 more before killing himself.

 

The two victims Taylor Robertson, 27, and Eli Clayton, 22, were among the top-ranked players in Madden Esports. Clayton was from Woodland Hills, California and used the Jacksonville Jaguars during competitions under the gamertag TrueBoy.

 

Robertson was from Ballard, West Virginia and played under the gamertag SpotMePlzzz. He is survived by his wife and child.

 

“My heart goes out for all of them,” Khan said.

 

Khan has also competed under the gamertag Mr. Ferozious and won the Madden NFL 18 Canadian Challenge at The Rec Room in downtown Toronto on Nov. 2017.

 

“I don’t recall anything as far as heavy security presence at the event,” he said. “It was like going to a club; there was a coat check and they asked for ID but no pat downs.”

 

According to SWAT Protection Services CEO, Jay Dhaliwal, most bars and clubs don’t use metal detectors, while placing little emphasis on security checks. “Some people get searched but there are a lot that don’t,” he said.

 

Before the shooting, Khan never thought about the security at Esports events. However, after Jacksonville, security is something that Khan considers more in his daily life as well.

 

“I’ve been married for five years and I’m expecting a child in February or March,” he said. “That makes you look and evaluate everything and certainly adds another layer to your thought process.”

 

Khan hasn’t even been able to play Madden 19 since the shooting occurred.

 

“I think a lot of people including myself have lost the drive to play the game,” he said. “I’ve lost the hunger for it.”

 

Ottawa native Jordan Olleik, 19, also participated in the Madden NFL 18 Canadian Challenge at The Rec Room, under the gamertag Father Lurk and has noticed the lack of security at these events.

 

“The security isn’t the greatest but that’s how it is,” Olleik said. “The last thing you’d expect is someone to come in with a weapon.”

 

In February, Olleik was at the COMPETE4EVER tournament in New York City at The 40/40 Club, but didn’t notice a strong security presence.

 

“I think when we’re playing, the organizers are more focused on the event as opposed to the security,” he said.

 

Olleik was thinking about attending the other Madden tournaments, which were to be held in Virginia, California, and Texas this year. However, he changed his mind after hearing about the Jacksonville shooting on Twitter.

 

“I was shocked because people are just going to play video games, it was crazy,” he said. “It’s sad because I played against some of these guys.”

 

Olleik used to play for money against SpotMePlzzz (Robertson), but didn’t really know him outside of Madden. This hasn’t discouraged Olleik from competing in other tournaments, but he does think the security needs to improve.

 

“If we can guarantee that nothing like that will happen again then I’ll keep going,” he said. “They [security] should pat everyone down and check everyone’s bag like you would at any sporting event.”