Jacksonville Landing Shooting: EVO Boss Pledges To Increase Security Moving Forward
As the US gaming community reels from the shock of the Jacksonville Landing Shooting, measures are now being placed to increase security and emphasize safety in future professional gaming events. Evolution Championship Series (EVO) boss Joey Cuellar, for one, pledged that EVO would be more proactive when it comes to its tournaments’ safety moving forward.
The EVO boss’ statement was posted on his Twitter account. In his tweet, Cuellar noted that even before the shooting took place, EVO had already been steadily increasing its security measures. Nevertheless, with the gaming community still in shock over what happened in Jacksonville, the EVO boss noted that metal detectors would be installed.
“While Evo does not comment on security procedures (for obvious reasons), it’s very clear that we need to be more proactive for 2019 and beyond. The amount of undercover law enforcement at Evo was unprecedented, and we will be installing metal detectors for ALL days next year,” he wrote, according to ComicBook.
Cuellar’s statement about the safety of EVO events is quite accurate, considering that security measures in the tournaments have gotten stricter over the years. EVO was founded in 1996, and back then, the tournament only attracted small crowds and thus, almost no security. As the events got more prolific, however, the need for more security became more prominent.
EVO is no stranger to threats of violence in its events either. Earlier this year, the tournament experienced a scare after a mass shooting was threatened over Twitch chat. The FBI was alerted then and, fortunately, no shooting took place.
This weekend is the @Shine_Series at the Seaport WTC. This is NE largest video game competition. I talked with gamers at #Shine2018 who said security was increased and mood was different after what happened in #Jacksonville. #jacksonvillelandingshooting @boston25 pic.twitter.com/1iRHF9uuHY
— Chetan Rakieten (@chetanrakieten) August 26, 2018
Gaming giant Electronic Arts, the company behind Madden NFL, has also issued a statement about the tragedy, stating that it was working with authorities to gather facts about the shooting. Later during the day, EA released a brief statement on Twitter describing the event as a “horrible situation” and that the company’s “deepest sympathies go out to all involved.”
The Jacksonville Landing shooting happened on Sunday at a regional Madden NFL event. A press conference has been held by authorities since the shooting, with Sheriff Mike Williams stating that the police have already cleared the crime scene. Williams described the gunman as a white male. Preliminary reports state that four people were killed in the event, while 11 were injured. Authorities have confirmed that the gunman was killed as well. The motivation for the mass shooting is officially undetermined for now, though speculations are abounding that the shooter was a player himself and that the violence was triggered after he lost a game.
