Ronald Casey, the Kettering, Ohio-based gamer widely deemed an inspirational hero for using his own body to shield two players likely to be targets of shooter David Katz during the August 26 Jacksonville Landing gaming tournament massacre, has given his most revealing and heartfelt interview to date to Gamer World News Entertainment (GWNe).
The deeply moving interview, featuring several exclusive new revelations about the Madden NFL 19 tournament that claimed the lives of 28-year-old Taylor Robertson and 22-year-old Elijah Clayton, has just been posted on the GWNe site, as well as on YouTube and Facebook.
Created by television industry veteran Gayle Dickie, GWNe debuted in April as the definitive go-to source for premium video news stories about the professional competitive and casual eSports/gamer industry. GWNe features a total of 13 channels covering such diverse news and feature categories as Mobile, Tech, Health, College eSports, Girls of the Game, Tips, Reviews, Interviews and much more.
Putting Himself On The Firing Line
“I’m lucky to be alive,” Casey comments during the emotional conversation with GWNe host Brian Hanford. And thanks to his selfless heroism during the shooting, so are several of his fellow gamers.
A professional Madden player known in the gaming community as SirusTheVirus, Casey – who stands well over six feet tall and weighs about 300 pounds – reasoned that he could use his large stature to shield other gamers when the shooting began. Putting the needs of others above his own safety, Casey unhesitantly threw himself on top of two younger and smaller players – Joel Crooms-Porter, 18, and Matt Clark, 25 – in order to keep them out of harm’s way.
Words To Live By
Among Ronald Casey’s most powerful comments during the GWNe interview:
On Protecting His Friends: “These guys are babies to me, man, they’re children. My eyes are tearing right now…I’m a protector by nature; I know I’ve always been like that, but when you’re in a situation like this, you never know what you’ll do. The shooter kept shooting and the bullets just felt so close. I’m looking down at these guys just laying on the floor and I just made a decision. I can’t get to the shooter – too many people in the way {and} it’s too chaotic so I made a decision to go on top of them because I was the biggest guy in the room. I knew it was a pistol…so I decided maybe I won’t die, but if I get shot, at least they won’t get hit.”
On The Aftermath: “The first 48 hours were the worst by far…I’m still shaken up…My heart goes out to the families of those who were shot…Madden is a second home for me. I’ve been playing for 14 years and I could go to {any} major NFL city {in the country} and I’d know somebody there. This is a brotherhood. We are a family…This shooting did not happen because of video games…People don’t respect life like they should.”
The Road To Recovery
Like many of the gamers who found themselves suddenly transported from a fantasy world of eSports to a very real world of gunfire, death and injury, Casey is coping with PTSD symptoms as a result of the shooting.
As such, he is asking everyone to consider contributing to a special Ronald Casey GoFundMe. To donate to the fund, please visit gf.me/u/kzgpca.
Responding to public and industry outcries that everything possible be done to begin healing the literal and figurative wounds stemming from the shooting, Electronic Arts – the video game publisher behind the Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville – late last week reached out to players involved in the Florida tragedy offering to fly them to Los Angeles for a Jacksonville Tribute Livestream Event to take place September 6 at an as-yet-undisclosed location.
Despite the company’s overtures, however, some of the players have refused to participate in the event designed to show “solidarity and support” for those impacted by the tragedy because they believe Electronic Arts (EA) was too slow in its response to the shooting. Weighing in on the subject, Mr. Casey tells GWNe he’s only heard from EA on a global email, not individually, and suggests “a lot of the guys are afraid to speak out against {the company} out of fear of reprisal.” Nevertheless, he’s still tentatively planning to be there to “help in the healing process, promote positive change and find a way to move forward together.”
