EA Cancels Remaining Madden 19 Classic Qualifiers After Jacksonville Shooting

The video game company EA canceled the three remaining qualifying events for the Madden 19 Classic following the Sunday tragedy in Jacksonville, Florida, that saw a gunman open fire at a qualifying tournament.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson said as much in a message on the company's website Monday:

"To Our Players and the Gaming Community,

"I wanted to share some thoughts about the horrific and senseless act of violence that occurred in Jacksonville at the Madden competitive gaming event. I know many of us, myself included, are filled with shock and grief. Our teams have been working non-stop to do what we can to respond to this terrible situation.

"First and foremost, it is an unthinkable tragedy that Taylor Robertson and Elijah Clayton, two of our top Madden competitors, lost their lives in this way. They were respected, positive and skilled competitors, the epitome of the players and personalities at the heart of our community. Their love of competition was evident through their participation in our events over the past few years. We are committed to supporting Taylor and Elijah's families through this difficult time, and we send our deepest sympathies to their loved ones, to those injured yesterday, and everyone affected.

"The event was a qualifying tournament for the Madden Classic, our first Madden EA Major competition of this season. While these qualifying events are operated independently by partners, we work with them to ensure competitive integrity and to gather feedback from players. We have made a decision to cancel our three remaining Madden Classic qualifier events while we run a comprehensive review of safety protocols for competitors and spectators. We will work with our partners and our internal teams to establish a consistent level of security at all of our competitive gaming events.

"We've all been deeply affected by what took place in Jacksonville. This is the first time we've had to confront something like this as an organization, and I believe the first time our gaming community has dealt with a tragedy of this nature. Please take time to support each other through this challenging time."

Eric Levenson, AnneClaire Stapleton and Holly Yan of CNN noted Jacksonville sheriff Mike Williams said two people died, 10 people suffered injuries from gunshots and one person suffered a non-gunshot injury as a result of the shooting.

This decision to cancel the qualifying events comes after the Madden video game released a statement as well, calling the shooting "a senseless act of violence that we strongly condemn" while offering sympathy to the victims' families:

Gamer Alexander Madunic was one of the players who was shot and suggested the shooter was upset he lost in the tournament, per CNN: "He was kinda upset about that, so I'm guessing that had something else to do with it too."

The CNN report noted gamers Eli "trueboy" Clayton and Taylor "SpotMePlzzz" Robertson "have been widely reported" as the two victims killed even though authorities have not officially confirmed that.

Robertson won the championship at the 2017 Madden Classic.