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Parkland Survivor Organizes Madden Livestream for Jacksonville Shooting Victims

Parkland student teams up with an NFL pro and a top Madden player to raise money for victims of the tournament mass shooting.

When Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky heard about last weekend’s shooting at a Madden 19 football video game tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., it reminded him of his own experience with a mass shooting. Now he’s decided to do something about the Madden shooting, organizing a video game livestream Monday to raise money for the victims of the Jacksonville violence.  

“We’re really just trying to have a nice event where we’re really just doing right by the families,” Kasky told The Daily Beast.

Jacksonville gunman David Katz killed two Madden players, Eli Clayton and Taylor Robertson, at the tournament before shooting himself. Nine other people were wounded in the shooting.

“The Madden community lost two of its best guys,” Kasky said.

Kasky, who was a junior at Parkland High School last February when a gunman killed 17 students there, has teamed up with top Madden player Shay “Young Kiv” Kivlen for the livestream. Kivlen is a top Madden player who left the Jacksonville tournament just minutes before the shooting began and may have been one of Katz’s targets.

Proceeds from the livestream, which starts at 2:30 PM ET on Monday on Twitch, will go towards the “Jacksonville Fallen Gamers” fund to cover expenses for the victims.

Kasky, who has become an outspoken gun-control advocate in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting, hopes the event will help the far-flung online Madden community deal with the Jacksonville shooting’s aftermath.

“It’s difficult because this whole community exists away from each other,” Kasky said.

Tampa Bay Buccaneer wide receiver Mike Evans will also be joining the livestream, as part of what Kasky said will be several appearances meant to help raise money for the victims’ families.

“We’ve got some great things on the way for it,” Kasky said.

The Jacksonville shooting brought new attention to security issues surrounding video game “eSports” tournaments. On Friday, a man who was shot twice by Katz sued Madden publisher Electronic Arts and the Jacksonville venue that hosted the tournament over the shooting.

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Will SommerPolitics Reporter

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