Thoughts and Prayers: Three people are dead, including the gunman, and nine injured after a shooting yesterday at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.

The shooter was identified as David Katz, 24, of Baltimore, but police had no explanation for his motive. Katz was an intense top-rated player of Madden NFL, the football game. He had lost and returned to the tournament with a gun.

Gov. Rick Scott said, “We have got to change, we’ve got to really stop and say to ourselves, ‘There’s something wrong.’”

The sound of gunshots could be heard on the live stream of the Madden 19 qualifying event at The Landing, an open-air marketplace with stores, bars, and restaurants. Video shows a red laser dot on one of the players before the shooting starts. You can’t see the shooting, but you can hear one man react with an expletive when he’s shot.

Silencio:As Pope Francis wrapped up his visit to Ireland yesterday, apologizing for the abuse of children, unwed mothers, and orphans, a former top Vatican diplomat claimed in a letter that Francis himself had been part of  covering up abuses and called for his resignation.

Carlo Maria Viganò, a former top Vatican diplomat in the United States and a staunch critic of the pope’s, said Francis and the Vatican bosses had covered up for  American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who resigned earlier this year amid accusations of sexual abuse.

Speaking to reporters on the papal plane, Francis declined to answer to talk about the accusation. He said,“I will not say a single word about this.” He said, “You have the sufficient journalistic ability to make your conclusions. It’s an act of trust.”

Sorry ‘bout That:While laments and accolades poured in from all over the world, President Trump issued a notably short and un-praising tweet after the death of Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Several news outlets now report that Trump killed a more effusive statement and said he would rather react on Twitter. He said,“My deepest sympathies and respect go out to the family of Senator John McCain. Our hearts and prayers are with you!”

Liar’s Poker:After one of the worst weeks of his tenure, Trump was on Twitter last night claiming 90 percent approval among Republicans, which is close to true, and 52 percent approval overall, which is not true. It’s a lie. His approval has never crossed 50 percent and the highest polling is 46.

Trump is propagandizing what he believes to be his success, while ignoring the swamp of criminality into which his administration is sinking.

Peter Wehner, a lifelong Republican operative who served three presidents, writes for The NY Timesthat the Republican party’s failure to sever itself from Trump is immoral. He writes, “A party that once spoke with urgency and apparent conviction about the importance of ethical leadership — fidelity, honesty, honor, decency, good manners, setting a good example — has hitched its wagon to the most thoroughly and comprehensively corrupt individual who has ever been elected president.”

Wehner says, “Corruption has been evident in Mr. Trump’s private and public life, in how he has treated his wives, in his business dealings and scams, in his pathological lying and cruelty, in his bullying and shamelessness, in his conspiracy-mongering and appeals to the darkest impulses of Americans.”

And Wehner concludes, “A warning to my Republican friends: The worst is yet to come. Thanks to the work of Robert Mueller — a distinguished public servant, not the leader of a ‘group of Angry Democrat Thugs’ — we are going to discover deeper and deeper layers to Mr. Trump’s corruption. When we do, I expect Mr. Trump will unravel further as he feels more cornered, more desperate, more enraged; his behavior will become ever more erratic, disordered and crazed.”

The Obit Page: Neil Simon, the playwright who redefined American humor and dominated the Broadway box office with his hits “Barefoot in the Park” (1963), “The Odd Couple” (1965) and “Plaza Suite” (1968),died in New York at age 91.

Simon had plays and musicals on the Broadway stage continuously from 1965 to 1980. In 1966, he had four Broadway shows running simultaneously.His titles are as familiar as Shakespeare; “The Sunshine Boys,” “Come Blow Your Horn,” “Biloxi Blues,” Brighton Beach Memoirs,” “Sweet Charity.”

Like woody Allen, Simon brought an urban Jewish humor and sensibility to his work. The early plays were loaded with quick punchlines, which presaged television sitcom humor, but made it hard for him to win over the critics. Clive Barnes, who was no pushover, said, “Neil Simon is destined to remain rich, successful, and underrated.”

The Sports Page:Hawaii hit a home run off the first pitch from South Korea then went on to win the Little League World Series 3-0. These kids are good. The Honolulu team gave up just three runs in the entire tournament, shut out four of its five opponents and struck out 53 batters in 34 innings.

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