A "Madden NFL 19" gamer who reportedly shielded two young players as a gunman opened fire at a Florida gaming event Sunday is being called a hero for his actions during the horrific shooting.
Ronald Casey, 30, was reportedly in the room when David Katz, 24, opened fire at GLHF Bar in Jacksonville, killing two people and injuring 11 more.
Casey, known in the gamer world as "SirustheVirus," used his body to shield two gamers who were hiding as the gunfire broke out, Fox 45 Now reported.
“A bullet hit the wall or whatever came over and I could smell it,” Casey told the station. “That’s when I was like, man, I just made the decision to jump on top of the guys."
Casey, who said he is 6-foot-3 and weighs 360 pounds, thought the gunman would have to shoot through him to hit the younger players, Joel Croom-Porter, 18, and 25-year-old Matt Clark.
“I’m not mentally stable enough to talk about it much. I still haven’t cleaned the blood off of everything. But yeah, he did cover me. I thanked him on Twitter,” Crooms-Porter told the New York Daily News Monday.
Crooms-Porter's mom also reached out on Twitter to thank Casey.
Authorities said Monday that Katz carried two handguns, one with a laser scope, and extra ammunition into the restaurant where the tournament was held on Sunday and targeted his competition.
"The suspect walked past patrons who were in other parts of the business and focused his attention on the gamers," Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said at a news conference Monday.
Katz killed himself after the rampage, police said.
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