Victims Of Deadly Jacksonville Landing Shooting Treated At Area Hospitals

Of the 12 people who were shot at the Jacksonville Landing on Sunday, ten survived and were treated at Memorial Hospital and UF Health Jacksonville.

The suspected gunman, David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, also died after police said he apparently killed himself.

Four victims were treated at Memorial Hospital, and, as of Monday night, all but one have been released. Six were treated at UF Health Jacksonville and officials said Monday evening that all but one had been released.

The Memorial Hospital patients are:

• George Amadeo, II, 17, who is listed in good condition.
• David Echevarria, 28, who was treated for minor injuries and discharged on Sunday.
• Alexander Madunic, 27, who was treated for a gunshot wound to the foot and discharged on Monday.
• Christopher McFarland, 31, who was treated for a bullet graze to the head and discharged on Monday.

UF Health Jacksonville only released the name of one patient: 25-year-old Timothy Anselimo, who, as of Monday evening, was in good condition at the hospital.

His mother, Sujeil Lopez, spoke at a UF Health Jacksonville press conference on Monday afternoon, where she told reporters about her son and what he’s going through.

Anselimo is a professional gamer who was at the Good Luck Have Fun video game room at Chicago Pizza on Sunday competing in the Madden 19 Southeastern qualification tournament. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks salaried video game team in April, and had just recently finished a six month contract in Milwaukee. Lopez said her son’s contract is set to pick up again in February, but now they don’t know if he’ll ever be able to play competitively again.

Anselimo was shot three times on Sunday. One bullet hit him in the chest and got lodged under his armpit. Another went clean through his hip. The third bullet went through the tip of a finger on his right hand before hitting his thumb.

Doctors successfully repaired his hand through orthopedic surgery on Monday and listed him in good condition after the fact, but it still remains to be seen how long it will take for him to recover, and if he’ll ever be able to compete at the same level.

Lopez said being a professional gamer was always her son’s dream.

“He’s been doing this since he was little,” Lopez said. “He loves playing games. He loves the NBA 2K and Madden field. He’s hurt. He’s destroyed right now with what has happened to him. Our main focus now is to get him better and back to where he needs to be.”

Lopez said her son started gaming as a child in New York. She let him play up to 20 hours a day because it kept him out of trouble.

“He was always a good kid and he’s a good man now,” said Lopez. “He didn’t deserve this. No one deserves this. And now he’s facing the fact that he might not even be able to use his hand ever again. It’s extreme.”

“He made it and he’s alive,” Lopez said. “But if he can’t play and he can’t work and he can’t do this, his life will be changed forever.”

According to Dr. Marie Crandall, a Trauma Surgeon at UF Health Jacksonville, 10 to 15 percent of the victims they see in her department are injured by some sort of “penetrating mechanism,” which means either a gunshot or stab wound.

“In 2018 most of those were gunshot wounds,” said Dr. Crandall. “And that is a little higher than most trauma centers around the country.”

Crandall went on to say that about seven to 10 percent of gunshot wound victims who go to trauma centers die from their injuries. Another 25 to 40 percent - and perhaps more - of the remaining victims struggle with long term issues. Many will need additional surgeries, physical therapy or occupational therapy.

And, according to Crandall, up to half of patients who were shot or stabbed will suffer from PTSD, psychological stress or acute stress disorders due to their injuries.

Brendan Rivers can be reached at brivers@wjct.org, 904-358-6396 or on Twitter at @BrendanRivers.