Grand Theft Auto IV Blamed In Murder Case

[Doom972]

"the victim and the juvenile had a normal, loving relationship, and even shared the same bedroom."

Is this kind of thing normal over there? It seems a bit suspicious. Could it be that he was being molested?

It's a possibility, but there'd need to be more evidence than just 'they shared a bedroom'. Edit: that should say 'they shared a bed'.

Sharing a bed with a kid that you're the guardian of is normal up to a certain age. When does it become too old ... I don't know. Besides it's possible to share a bed without fucking.

I know that. I would've said nothing about it if it was a parent/sibling, but I wouldn't consider a caregiver family. Again, I asked because I really don't know if that kind of thing is the norm over there. If it is, then don't mind me.

 

[ssgt splatter]

OMFG!
Why does he have access to a LOADED handgun?!
How did he GET access to a LOADED handgun?! Was it just lying around in plain sight?!
Why was an 8 year old playing GTA 4?
Why are police blaming a video game and not the caregiver or the parents who obviously did a piss-poor job of teaching the kid right from wrong and what is real and what is not real?
Why is FOX News...actually, I shouldn't ask that particular question. It's a given really.

If what FOX News says about violent games is true, then I should've commited mass murder myself a dozen times over by now. I've been playing violent games, First Person Shooters at least, since 007 Goldeneye came out when I was 7 years old.

 

[Eve Charm]

You know what I kind of have to agree a bit to the fact if you lock an 8 year old in a house with a loaded gun and grand theft auto and no parent or anyone teaching the child about either, they'll probably shoot something more then 50% of the time.

What should be obvious tho is this happened first for keeping a loaded gun in the house in a way an 8 year old can get to it, and second bad parenting for not teaching the reality of any of the circumstances he acted out and for being in the circumstance in the first place. Then you can give and very very mile away distance third that grand theft auto was in the mix as " something with guns in it thats cool"

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

I'm sure if there were no video games, no television, and no other forms of entertainment in the house, someone would spin the story to paint the dust mites or perhaps the brand of hardwood floor finish as a bad influence on the child.

As others have said, the boy had no right to be playing that game in the first place. And rather than chalk this one up to the lack of proper (for that child in particular; I realize not all cases are the same) adult supervision or even giving the whole situation an in-depth look, they're filling the informational void with "video games kill people"-brand packing peanuts.

 

[Aircross]

"We have a child who does not know the impact of the consequences of the act he committed," Sclynski Legier, a lawyer, told CNN affiliate WAFB. "He truly doesn't understand that."

Hmm, I wonder why he doesn't have a solid understanding of what's right and wrong...

 

[Phrozenflame500]

Seems like a pretty standard "let's talk about video games not gun control" thing.

 

[Ickabod]

First why is any parent letting their 8 year old son play GTA?
Second why is any parent letting their 8 year old son hold on to a loaded weapon unsupervised?

Yeah let's just blame the game Fox, bang up work you're doing there.

 

[odolwa99]

Louisiana, huh? I reckon that kid gets the lethal injection before the year is out.

 

[1337mokro]

I think the fact he had access to guns is what influenced this kid, that and the fact that he was a little psychopathic bastard.

Why the fuck does a kid have GTA4? Why does he have a goddamned loaded gun?

Oh it happened in Louisiana? You're lucky that's all that went wrong there.

 

[GoddyofAus]

Ahhh the eternal hunt for a scapegoat continues.

 

[Hagi]

And the sad part is, this will keep on happening as people start locking away video-games instead of loaded handguns.

I mean seriously? This needs blame shifted away? It's not blindingly and glaringly obvious to everyone that under no circumstances should an 8-year old have access to a loaded handgun? Let alone unsupervised?

Seriously, I don't understand the line of reasoning... Is it simply sheer stupidity and incompetence by those involved? Willful ignorance? Malice? Something else?

I mean I can understand the reasoning behind letting adults have access to guns, I may disagree with it but I understand it. But this? Why are there only two lines in the original article on how the hell that kid got a loaded handgun and an entire paragraph dedicated to video-games? How do priorities get that utterly fucked up?

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Who the the hell lets an eight year play with a real gun, and a loaded one at that? A GOD DAMN EIGHT YEAR OLD! What the hell did people think would happen? I mean maybe you could argue that the parents and day-carer maybe should not allow a eight year old to play GTA but you cannot in anyway excuse allowing a young child to have easy access to a loaded weapon. It's the same principle of why people keep medicine and power tools locked away from children as they can unwittingly cause harm to themselves and others because they often don't fully appreciate the dangers that come from these things. The only thing to blame here is the negligence and lack of due care by the gun owner, who sadly paid the price for it.

 

[Riobux]

"Fox13Now"

Slow day then? At least at Destrucoid they don't stoop to reporting about "OH GOD, SOMEONE SAYS VIDEO GAMES CAUSE VIOLENCE!" every time someone utters it, as though it means something. I hope I'm not the only one who has noticed the decline in news quality on this website.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

"Although a motive for the shooting is unknown at this time investigators have learned that the juvenile suspect was playing a videogame on the Play Station III, Grand Theft Auto IV

In other words "We don't know what the motive was, so we're blaming video games."

Why was a firearm in reach of an 8 year old in the first place? Why was an 8 year old playing Grand Theft Auto IV in the first place?

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

So the first main point is this... WHY the HELL was an EIGHT YEAR OLD playing GRAND THEFT AUTO which VERY CLEARLY has a rating of EIGHTEEN+??!! There's a reason why games like this have ratings, because they aren't meant to be played by people younger than that. Now 15-16 year olds playing it? I can vaguely understand, but 8?!

I've said it in every thread like this, both I and my brother played GTA since we were kids. My dad refused to allow me to play GTA when I was young for a while but it wasn't long before I began, I'd have been around 8, 9 or 10 when I started. I have yet to shoot either of my parents, my brother or sister and I haven't didn't go on a shooting rampage around my school. Neither did hundreds of thousands of other kids like me who played violent video games as children. No, we all had parents who didn't neglect to teach us right, wrong, and the difference between reality and entertainment media.

OT: This is more than likely a display of neglectful parenting than it is a video game or mental health issues. The kid's 8, he shouldn't be playing games like this if the parent isn't going to teach them the ins and outs of this shit and they certainly shouldn't have access to a loaded gun.

 

[Andy Shandy]

Apologies to the deceased for laughing (as unlikely as they may be to read this), but this is almost at the point of parody now, the amount of blame that "those vidyagames" get.

But yeah, plenty of people have already said it, maybe you shouldn't be allowing the 8 year old easy access to a gun.

 

[MiskWisk]

I don't understand how people can be so wilfully stupid about these sorts of things. It's like they get happy about the fact they are blatantly talking out of their arse.

Slightly more OT: I'm just going to repeat "why on Earth was an eight year old allowed near a bloody handgun." That should really be the main thing.