Las Vegas-area events to aid Jacksonville shooting victims

Las Vegas-area video gamer Sal Villa was at a loss for words following the Aug. 26 mass shooting at a Madden NFL 19 tournament in Jacksonville, Florida.

“It was a bit of a roller coaster the day of the incident,” Villa said of the shooting, in which tournament participant David Katz shot and killed two people, then himself. Eleven others were injured.

To raise funds for those affected by the shooting, Mario Party Wars — a UNLV-based video gaming club — teamed with two video game stores to host tournaments Saturday and Sunday. The club will donate tournament-entry proceeds to a gofundme account created by Samanthia McGlaughn, a patron of the GLHF Game Bar where the shooting occured, Villa said. The fund will help cover funeral, medical, counselling and other costs, McGlaughn has written.

Villa, 28, said that as the club’s CEO, he felt compelled to do whatever possible to help.

Retro City Games will host a tournament featuring the original NFL Blitz for Nintendo 64 on Saturday, while Press Start Gaming Center will host a Madden NFL competition Sunday. Both stores also will offer tournaments for nonsports gamers.

Press Start Gaming Center owner Andy Reanrungroch said the event will demonstrate that the Jacksonville shooting “is a segregated incident, and it shouldn’t have a negative impact on places where people play video games.”

Mario Party Wars was founded in 2013 to mostly cater to the Nintendo video game franchise Mario Party. Most of its 60 members are affiliated with UNLV, although the club plans to branch out by the end of the year, Villa said.

Club member Cristian Zamudio, 26, planned to be at Sunday’s event and said of fundraising for fellow gamers, “We all take care of our own.”

“We’re taking something bad and creating something wonderful out of it,” he added.

Contact Jacob Lasky at 702-383-0219 or jlasky@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Jtlasky on Twitter.