‘That doesn't define us': Jacksonville Landing reopens after mass shooting

PHOTO GALLERY: Victims of Jacksonville Landing shooting

The Jacksonville Landing is back open for business, two days after a fatal mass shooting. Workers spent Tuesday cleaning up, opening up and trying to get back to normal.

On Sunday, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said shooter David Katz killed two people, injured 10 more, then shot and killed himself at GLHF Game Bar, which is inside Chicago Pizza.

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While some restaurants and shops reopened Tuesday, the doors to Chicago Pizza and the game bar remained closed.

Tania Rivero brought her family to the Jacksonville Landing less than an hour after it reopened.

“Maybe one person was bad-hearted, but the majority of people in Jacksonville are goodhearted, and I want to show them that it’s OK to come here, and it’s a beautiful city, and I’m proud of it,” said Rivero.

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Cinco de Mayo restaurant, which is right next door to Chicago Pizza, reopened for lunch.

“I feel secure. If I didn’t feel secure, I wouldn’t open today,” said Cinco de Mayo manager Naly Vega.

Vega said gamers and Chicago Pizza employees ran into her restaurant during the shooting.

“I see people running through my back door, so they just ran and I’m like, 'wait, wait, what’s going on?' And a server comes at that moment. She says, ‘There’s a shooting,’” said Vega, who is pregnant.

Vega’s husband was working in Chicago Pizza’s kitchen, just steps away from the game bar. She said he ran to her when the shooting began.

Vega said she barricaded the front door with stacks of high chairs.

“I told everybody, ‘Just get in the bathroom. Get in the bathroom. We need to stay away from the windows. We need to be safe. I have to wait until the police come in and tell us it’s OK,’” said Vega.

She said one woman broke her ankle while running for her life.

Chicago Pizza cook Michael Rivera said he ran out a side door when the shooting began.

“I was cooking when a guy started shooting. I saw someone drop to the ground. I think he got hit in the head. I ran outside and there was a guy who got hit in his chest, one on his leg, some guy on his arm and someone else got hit twice,” said Rivera.

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Vega said police eventually came to let everyone who was hiding know it was safe to come out.

“A lot of my local customers have reached out to me and told me, ‘Naly, we’re scared.’ I said, ‘Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. That doesn’t define the Landing. That doesn’t define us,'” said Vega.

Lisa O’Connell placed a small memorial outside the game bar.

“I brought flowers for both of the victims and a [game] controller because that’s obviously what they love to do,” said O’Connell.

O’Connell said she used to work at the Landing, it’s where she met her husband, it’s where he proposed to her, and that’s how she wants to remember it.

Cox Media Group