Halo 3 An Unwitting Accomplice In Murder Trial
Once again, video games are being dragged into the spotlight in case involving murder. This time around, a 16yo Ohio is boy accused of the murder of his mother and shooting of his father. It seems the boy brought a copy of Halo 3 home (how did he get it in the first place) and his father rightfully confiscated the game and locked it in a box. Unfortunately he locked it in a box alongside his 9mm pistol. The boy somehow got into the box, retrieved the gun and game, then proceeded to shoot his parents, killing the mother, injuring the father and then tried to frame the father for the crime. The boy's lawyers are claiming that he was not in his right mind at the time of the shootings since he had been suffering from an illness that kept him housebound for over a year.
I am always amazed at these stories that show what people are willing to do in the name of video games: running away from home, theft, murder. I mean, these are GAMES people. They are supposed to be fun. Is a little $60 disc in a plastic case really worth all the trouble? Is it really worth your life or the life of others? Of course people do similar crimes over much less, but it's a shame to have to see our favorite past time constantly under scrutiny as the root of all evil. Especially in cases like this where the ownership of a game is the cause of the crime and not the content of the game itself. Once again I have to ask, is it really worth it?
Trial of Teen Who Shot Parents Thrusts Halo 3 into Media Spotlight [GamePolitics]
Fruit Brute
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 16 December 2008
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: crime, halo 3, murder
I applaud the father however for doing what a lot of parents don't do - take charge of what games the kids play. At 16 you can easily get ahold of a game like that if you have the right friends or sources, but when dad or mom sees you playing it, then they need to step up like this father did. As far as the kid goes, I don't care how housebound or sick you are, no game is worth hurting someone over, let alone killing them. I hope they throw the book at him. And I wish the father well and hope that this story does not discourage other parents from taking charge over their under 18 children.
Hopefully people also make a better effort in securing their weapons. I'd rather they not have guns in the house (in the first place) but understand why people feel they need one.
So wait... 16yo are not allowed to play the game in the US? Here in Europe, it's 16+ by PEGI.
And even if it's 17+ or something, it's just a frikkin' year. It's not as if he's magically more adult by then...
So yeah, it was a good idea for the father to take away the game if the kid can't handle it, but he seemingly made some other poor choices along the way of raising his kid. First and foremost, he had an apparently loaded gun in his house.
Which turned out to be a great idea, didn't it...