[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXXhNhxJzvE[/embedyt]

Video by Kevin Beaugrand and Brett Nweeia

Many in the UNF gaming community were shocked when they heard the news about the shooting on Sunday, Aug. 26 at the Jacksonville Landing.

“At first you’re just like, shocked and you’re not sure if it’s real, and then when it sets in that it is, you’re immediately like, ‘okay well, did I know anybody there?’” Game Room Tournament Operator Scarlett Hagmeier said. “I was checking Discord and I was checking Facebook for whether or not anybody I knew could have been there.”

Logan Ansteatt, a communications senior and member of the UNF esports club, made a post of Facebook stating that he was planning on attending the tournament.

“Besides the hours of not knowing whether friends were accounted for, I was dealing with the fact that I was almost at the location where the shooting took place in Jacksonville,” Logan wrote. “A last minute reminder of a shift I had picked up kept me away from downtown and possibly saved my life.”

No one from UNF has been reported injured.

Game room tournament operator Scarlett Hagmeier said that the Mario Kart tournament scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 30 will roll on as planned.

Hagmeier was not without her concerns, however. She said she is in discussion with Student Union administration about adding extra measures of security to make sure that attendants feel safe at the event.

“We’re currently working through a solution or an approach for at least this Thursday’s tournament,” Hagmeier said. “We are definitely taking it into consideration and we’re not taking the event lightly because we want to make sure that everybody who attends our events feels safe and welcome in the game room.”

For updates on Thursday’s Mario Kart tournament and future game room events, visit UNF Game Room’s Facebook page.

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