Three new lawsuits have been filed against The Landing, Electonic Arts and various parties involved with the Landing Shooting. These lawsuits reveal new details about the shooter, who lawyers believe had a well-documented history of "odd" behavior and should have been known to be a threat.
Morgan & Morgan is representing 35 survivors of the shooting that left two gamers dead, and about a dozen people injured, before the gunman killed himself.
In the pages of these lawsuits, filed by Anthony Montagnino, Justin Lee and Alexander Madunic, survivors describe the moments leading up to the shooting and the moments where they were crawling over others to get out alive.
Anthony Montagnino was shot an injured. Within his suit, it is described that David Katz, the shooter who took his own life after killing two gamers and injuring a dozen more, was known to be "odd."
"Despite his flaws, David Katz was a successful gamer, having won at least one Madden NFL tournament affiliated with the Buffalo Bills. Katz streamed his games on Madden 16 and 17 for popular viewing and potential compensation. There are Madden NFL message board threads which discuss how frustrating an opponent David was, but that his behavior was often odd," the lawsuit goes on to read, "EA directly or indirectly through its affiliates and agents, had access to sufficient information about David Katz that they should have identified him as a potential risk at in person-tournaments."
The suit goes on to detail an instance where Montagnino had heard from his friend, Elijah "Truboy" Clayton, who died after being shot at The Landing incident, that while in Las Vegas, Clayton did not feel comfortable getting into a cab with Katz.
"True Boy wasn't comfortable sharing a cab with Katz. Katz was visibly upset and even threatening at that time. True Boy reported this incident to EA, but nothing was done."
Anthony Montagnino Lawsuit on Scribd
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"Hopefully, fingers crossed, companies like EA learn from this situation but this should have never happened," said Morgan & Morgan Attorney James Young.
There are eight defendants total named in the lawsuits. Survivors of the shooting suing the Landing, Chicago Pizza, the GLHF Game Bar, and it's owner, the security company at the Landing, and Electronic Arts, the gaming company that hosted the event.
"The Landing has had a number of incidents, deadly incidents and knew they needed to increase security," said Young.
Two of Morgan & Morgan's clients have officially filed their lawsuits, Tony Montagnino and Jacob Mitich, both shot.
Alexander Madunic complaint by Destiny Johnson on Scribd
Chicago Pizza was issued a Cease and Desist order right after the traumatic events took place because of the modifications to the layout of the game bar. "Some of the injuries which occurred were not a direct result of being shot but of an inability to escape even if it was a fire or any kind of emergency situation," said Young.
Young said these lawsuits are about more than just money. "They're all very interested in insuring that future gaming competitions are made safe and secure and so in addition to money damages, we're seeking an injunctive relief, which is a court order requiring EA to get improve and increase their security practices in all future events."
First Coast News reached out to the owner of Chicago Pizza and Tony Sleiman with the Landing after hours Thursday night, but have not yet heard back.
Young said he expects 33 more lawsuits will be officially filed in the next two weeks. The dollar amount to be received if the survivors win the lawsuit in money damages will be decided by the jury in a trial.
Justin Lee complaint by Destiny Johnson on Scribd