Gamer Eli “TrueBoy” Clayton has been identified as one of three people killed during a video game tournament on Sunday.
#TheLandingMassShooting – Identification of deceased victims.
Elijah Clayton
Black male, 22 years old
Woodland Hills, CATaylor Robertson
White male, 28 years old
Giles, West Virginia https://t.co/o7kWwedSMP— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) August 27, 2018
The 22-year-old was a former high school football player from California with a love for the game, according to CNN. NBC News reports the shooting yielded three fatalities. In a video clip depicting the moments before the shooting, Clayton was seen being targeted by the attacker as a red laser went across his chest.
Eli Clayton was one of two gamers killed in the Jacksonville shooting. From the family: My cousin has to bury her first born – and it is just as terrible as that sounds. Our family has been forever changed. Nothing will replace the love that we have for Elijah." pic.twitter.com/xxhkltcT0Z
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenezCNN) August 27, 2018
"Elijah's family wants you to know that he was a good man. He did not believe in violence. He never even had a fistfight. He loved football and out of all the video games he could play — he settled and mastered Madden. He made a good living gaming and he saved his earnings so he can afford to go to college to continue his education,” Brandi Pettijohn, his cousin, said in a statement.
Clayton’s alma mater tweeted its condolences.
Our hearts are broken as we learned that former Calabasas Football player @True__818 (Elijah Clayton) was senselessly murdered today during the mass shooting in Florida. We send our love, condolences, and deepest sense of sorrow to Elijah's Family and Friends pic.twitter.com/xhdQ8TLg0d
— CHS Coyote Football (@CalabasasFtball) August 27, 2018
Principal of Calabasas High CJ Foss remembers Clayton fondly.
"He was amazingly kind hearted. He was a contributing member of our campus,” Foss told KABC. "When it hits this close to home, it's going to be especially difficult.”
The gaming world and Clayton's friends have been publicly grieving on social media.
His gamer name was TrueBoy, real name Eli Clayton, 22, great competitor. My heart breaks every time I watch the video because all I can see is his smile and that laser and I wish, I wish someone else could've seen it, that it could've been stopped somehow. That he never had a gun
— nev????☹️ (@AllyClaxton) August 26, 2018
Few people get to carve out a career doing something they love and no one should have to die doing it. Gone too soon. ????
— Brad Kaaya (@kaaya323) August 26, 2018
I watched a young man go through ups and downs. Not just Madden, but in his every day life. He really changed for the better and to see his life taken from him…. for what? Heartless individuals in this world. Love u True. May you rest in peace my brother. ♥️
No more thoughts and prayers. The victims in Jacksonville deserve action. RIP Trueboy and SpotMePlzzz ????????
— Jt brownov (@JTBrown23) August 27, 2018
— PROBLEM (@ProblemWright) August 26, 2018
Really don’t have the words man. Rest in piece to one of my best friends in the madden community. Rest easy Trueboy.
— ???????????? (@BeTru2ThaGame) August 26, 2018
Correction: SpotMe was 27 with a wife and son.
Trueboy and SpotMe were both making waves not just as two good Madden players tearing up the circuit, but two good men taking care of their families and representing all of esports proudly.
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) August 27, 2018
Rest In Peace trueboy and spotme way too young. Praying for everyone, no mother should ever have to bury their child. Spotme has a little kid that now will grow up without his dad. Trueboy was a good kid. All of this is so heartbreaking.
— Kevin (@ToKeNasty) August 26, 2018
The other person killed was identified as 27-year-old Taylor "SpotMePlzzz" Robertson. The gunman, David Katz, killed himself at the scene, according to CBS News.
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