ORLANDO, Fla. -- The shooter at Jacksonville Landing targeted other gamers, some he knew before, investigators said.
- Gamer reacts to Jacksonville shooting
- Dylan Morro says gaming shouldn't be blamed for violence
- 3 people, including shooter, were killed Sunday
However, they say there's no indication he planned that ahead of the shooting.
One local gamer is concerned that the shooting will further damage the image gaming already has in the U.S., with people relating it to violence.
Dylan Morro said while people can say some offensive things to each other, gaming shouldn't be blamed for the violence.
"It's kind of like a pen pal thing, except you're actually talking to them, you're actually playing with them,” said Morro while playing in his room on Monday.
Morro has pretty much played video games since he can remember.
"I want to say since like I was four or five, I was really young, we started with Nintendo,” he said.
For someone who considers himself shy, Morro forgets all about it when he’s playing.
"We kind of think of it as an escape from like real life and it's just something fun to do,” he said about most of the gamers he plays with.
Usually, they’re from all over the world and can either chat by typing or talking through a head set. “Some people are nice and then there are people that say whatever they want because they're not going to get in trouble, because they're behind the screen. You can't really do anything about it,” Morro said.
Morro said that it can sometimes go as far as name calling, racial slurs and profanity. According to Stetson University Psychology Professor Chris Ferguson, this doesn't mean one can tie gaming to real life violence like the Jacksonville shooting.
"It's unfortunate that this particular shooting happened at a video game competition, but there's no really nothing particularly crucial, that it happened to be a video game competition that makes it any different from all the other shootings in schools, churches or other places,” said Ferguson over a phone interview.
Morro says it's unfair to stigmatize what he and many others consider simply a fun hobby. "If I have to say something about gaming like, obviously I'm killing people in this game, but it's not like making me kill people in real life type thing,” said Morro.
According to court records, the man accused of the shooting in Jacksonville was previously hospitalized for mental illness. Both Ferguson and licensed mental health counselor, Susie Raskin who we also contacted for this story said mental illness is likely where the real issue lies when it comes to these types of shootings.