ROUND ROCK, Texas — It's a moment that changed a Round Rock man’s life forever. The day a shooter opened fire at a gaming conference in Jacksonville, Florida, killing two people and injuring 11 others.
The mass shooting took place at a Madden gaming tournament in August, nearly six months ago.
“I do remember at one point laying on the ground by a table thinking, 'I’m not going to get out of here,'” said Tony Montagnino.
Montagnino was shot playing Madden football. That's something he never imagined would happen.
When a gunman opened fire at the gaming tournament in Jacksonville, Montagnino was hit in the lower back. Months later, the wounds have healed but the scars still remain.
“What's worse than getting shot is visually seeing people shot because your body heals very quickly and you have scars that will remind you of stuff like that, but your mind never gets over that,” said Montagnino.
He said the pain and trauma of what he went through still linger in his mind.
“There's days I don't want to get out of bed,” said Montagnino. “There's days that I cry for no reason."
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The father and husband said he's trying to continue on with life as usual, but surviving a mass shooting changes you. He said when he goes out, he still pays close attention to where all the exits are and scans every person that walks in a room.
Despite it all, after several months, Montagnino is learning to live life again.
“After it happened, I didn't think I was going to play competitive Madden anymore,” said Montagnino.
But he is.
“I'm probably top 30, top 30 in the world right now,” said Montagnino.
He attended his first gaming conference since the shooting just a few weeks ago.
“There [were] metal detectors, security guards,” said Montagnino. “It's cool to see a lot of those places going in that direction."
He said he refuses to let what happened to him keep him from enjoying the second chance he 's been given.
“I get better every day and I didn't want something like that to dictate my life,” said Montagnino. “Something as simple as waking up every morning, you appreciate that a lot more because you know, after going through something like that, you know in an instant it can be done."
Police said after targeting other gamers, the suspect eventually turned the gun on himself. Since the Jacksonville shooting, many have called for tighter security at gaming events.
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