Ryen Aleman had headphones on and a controller in his hand, playing the popular football video game Madden NFL at a tournament in Jacksonville, Fla., when there were loud pops behind him. Other competitors began bolting out of the room. Something was wrong, he thought. When he realized the jarring sound was gunfire, Aleman told his video game opponent and instructed him to follow his lead.
“Let’s crawl down. Let’s crawl to the restroom,” he said.
Moving as fast as they could on their hands and knees, the two entered a stall together, closed the door behind them and stood on the toilet, reasoning that the sight of their feet from under the stall might tip off the gunman.
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