AUSTIN — The aftermath of Sunday's deadly gaming tournament shooting that killed two people and injured several others in Jacksonville, Florida, is being felt as far away as Central Texas.
"What happened this weekend is sort of just on the far end of an extreme that we can't even comprehend or even imagine happening in our own space here," Lauren Akamine told KVUE.
Akamine owns Mothership Books and Games in North Austin, a popular social gaming center that offers tabletop gaming, PC gaming and more.
"The only thing that we worry about is just someone new coming in that's gonna, maybe, use some inappropriate language, right? Not really worrying about someone coming in and bringing a gun and getting upset and then using it, which is just absolutely appalling," she said.
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Social gaming centers, like Akamine's, are considered safe spaces by people in the gaming community, places where people can be exactly who they are free of judgment.
"I used to just come in and game and now I come in and game with friends," Caleb Spiars said.
Spiars is no stranger to Mothership. He's been a customer for years.
"Everyone in here is cool," he said. "I trust the people in here."
And it beats staying at home and playing games.
"You can get lost, sitting there at home, just making ... putting it on an altar. 'This is gaming. This is all I do.' And then you stop giving family and friends time. And here, you get the best of both worlds," Spiars said.
Sunday's deadly shooting won't change Spiars' habits.
"[Mothership] is not a place where you can be rude, you can be truly biased and disgusting in your thoughts," he said. "The second that happens, you get confronted. If it happens again, don't come back. That's not what this place is about."
Akamine said she doesn't plan to make any changes following the shooting.
"I'm really hoping that it's really just this outlier that's not something that's going to be considered the norm or something that people have to worry about," she said.