Lawsuit blames video game for cop killings

[Preacherman]

From Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147722,00.html):

Lawsuit: 'Grand Theft Auto' Led Teen to Kill

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A lawsuit claims the video game "Grand Theft Auto (search)" led a teenager to shoot two police officers and a dispatcher to death in 2003, mirroring violent acts depicted in the popular game.

The suit announced Tuesday seeks damages from the game's manufacturers and two stores that allegedly sold it to Devin Thompson (search), now 18.

An attorney for relatives of two of the victims said Thompson, who is charged with murder, had played the video game repeatedly.

Thompson is accused of killing the three men in June 2003 after being brought to the Fayette police station on suspicion of driving a stolen car. Thompson allegedly grabbed one of the officer's guns, shot him and the other two, then fled in a patrol car.

The suit alleges Thompson purchased "Grand Theft Auto III" at the Gamestop (search) in Jasper and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" at the Jasper Wal-Mart when he was under 17. The games, which depict police killings and other acts of violence, are rated M, meaning they are appropriate for those 17 or older.

"What has happened in Alabama is that four companies participated in the training of Devin ... to kill three men," attorney Jack Thompson told The Tuscaloosa News, which reported the suit's filing.

Named in the suit are Wal-Mart Stores (search) and Gamestop along with Take-Two Interactive Software, the manufacturer of the games, and Sony Computer Entertainment, the maker of the PlayStation 2.

Messages left for officials of three of the companies were not immediately returned. There was no answer at the listing for Gamestop in Grapevine, Texas.

At a December hearing, authorities said Devin Thompson, when he was apprehended, told officers, "Life is a video game. You've got to die sometime."

 

[whm1974]

And who brought the PS2 for the teen? The parents?
If he was quoting the Bible when he was apprehended, should his folks sue Bible makers?

-Bill

 

[Standing Wolf]

I guess nobody's responsible for anything any more.

 

[standingbear]

...and where was mr and mrs mom and dad when all this was going on?












...exactly!

 

[Nightfall]

I'm guessing if the sights, sounds, and smells of shooting apart the flesh of that first cop didn't snap him out of his "video game fantasy", his head is so screwed up that Pong could have pushed him over the edge.

"What has happened in Alabama is that four companies participated in the training of Devin ... to kill three men,"

Moving a thumbstick on a game controler to manuever a stylized character to pick up a floating, glowing aproximation of an AK, then pushing a button to make him fire trained a kid to pull a cop's pistol from its holster, then shoot three people? I don't think so.

 

[Delmar]

y'all grab your wallets-I'm playing monopoly right now

 

[mbs357]

I hate hearing about this.
A kid shoots another kid.
It's never the kid's fault!
It's either:
His video game's fault.
His music's fault.
His drug's fault.
His gun's fault.
The gun maker's fault.
The gun dealer's fault.
The gun culture's fault.
Or maybe it's his parents' faults.
People want to place the blame on objects and other people too badly.
If someone does something, THEY did it. NO ONE made them do it.
I understand if someone straps bombs around you and makes you rob a bank...but there were no bombs strapped around this kid. He decided to murder those cops, not Take-Two, not Wal-Mart, and not Gamestop.
Some blame may be placed on his parents, though, they might not haev raised him well enough, let the games raise him. But then again, some kids are just plain MEAN.
Here I am, played Doom and Resident Evil and watched Clint Eastwood shoot people since I was five years old, but my parents raised me right. Takes a heck of a lot to get me violent. But then there are those kids out there, born into wealthy families (which mine is not) who are so spoiled they're mean, they're parents don't punish them. Then there are the kids who just don't care, the parents are good people and have tried but just can't get through to them.
In none of those cases did a movie or game make the kid do anything. Grow up with your parents beating you, and eventually you get stressed out and kill someone, it's still YOU.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

 

[garyk/nm]

This argument would be so easy to destroy, given the number of games sold and lack of similar incidents, but therein lies the trap. If not the games' fault, then Mr Thompson must be......all together now, class..........Insane!

Much like his attorney.

 

[zahc]

I'm sure I've played the GTA games well over 200 hours.

Never had a problem.

They are great games.

 

[WYO]

Let's face it, the victims' families are more than sure of who is really responsible, but I suspect that the responsible parties are impecunious and not likely to satisfy the claim. The game manufacturer and retail sellers have the deeper pockets, so that's who the victim families have to target if they want to recover some of their losses. I'm not condoning it, but that's the rationale. BTW, what would your family do if you were the victim under the same circumstances?

This is not the same as the perpetrators saying it's not their fault because the game made them do it. They probably will get around to arguing that at some point, though.

 

[LiquidTension]

If video games make people expert killers, y'all better watch out for me...my Half-Life 2 DM skillz make me an unstopable killing machine. That's me, Darth_Honkey, at the top:

 

[stevelyn]

The game's at fault. Uhhhhhh................riiiiiight.

 

[bigjim]

Its not your skills Liquidtension, you just have a small ping.

 

[tc300mag1]

i knew b4 i even opened the threadit would be either grand theft auto III .. Vice city or San andreas big surprise there

 

[beerslurpy]

I was hoping it would be duke nukem forever because it would totally rock if the game was ever released.

Actually I was hoping it was one of the Kings Quest games so we could kill the people who made them.

 

[zahc]

I have since cut down to 12 saves, <3hrs.

 

[ZeroX]

If he is 18 now, that means he was 16 when he committed his crime. Obviously, 16 should be more than old enough to distinguish reality from fantasy and right from wrong. Not to mention that the GTA games are some of the best-selling games in history and there have yet to be millions of cop killings. I have Vice City and San Andreas and I have yet to shoot a bunch of cops. :banghead:

Luckily, I don't think any of these ridiculous lawsuits have gone anywhere.

 

[Logistics]

the *only* fault.......

>>>
I hate hearing about this.
A kid shoots another kid.
It's never the kid's fault!
It's either:
His video game's fault.
His music's fault.
His drug's fault.
His gun's fault.
The gun maker's fault.
The gun dealer's fault.
The gun culture's fault.
Or maybe it's his parents' faults.
<<<<

The only "faults" are those of the judges that let this "blame game" crap slide. Instead of taking the high road and making a just and fair decision they buckle to the media and whatever is fashionable at that very moment, (for the most part). This in turn destroys society.

I don't care about prison over crowding.....CROWD the prisons/build more prisons and stop the revolving door. I'd rather have prison over crowding and increase prisons / prison guards than having cops on the street. It's real simple....keep violent people locked up if it's fashionable or not. Period.

 

[Logistics]

oh yeah zerox???

>>>
I have Vice City and San Andreas
<<<

Oh yeah zerox??? I don't think you should be able to own games like that, for societies own good you shouldn't. If it only saves *one* single life we will all be much safer. In fact, in the not too distant future we are going to introduce a bill with RFID tags in every violent game or any game machine so that we can more easily identify those possibly seeking to do harm to the "authorities" or in power. Do not worry though. This is all too keep you and your fellow sheeple tax payers safe and subservient.

and yes.....heavy on the sarcasm and tinfoil....But really is it THAT far off???

 

[BlackCat]

I'm still depressed that there won't be another GTA series game for PS2. Something like this could prevent them from making another game for PS3 though. Maybe someone should use their "mad killing skillz learned from the video game" to bust a cap in that lawyer.

I've played GTA:III, GTA:VC, and GTA:SA for hundreds of hours and I've done nothing wrong (morally or legally) because of it.

 

[psyopspec]

I can one-up the insanity level of this kid. From my local paper yesterday:

David Strom may have cut off part of his own tongue and set himself on fire in a bizarre homage to "Fight Club," a movie in which the main character leads a double life and attempts suicide.

That's the conclusion reached by state investigators and the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Brian Schlueter said Monday.

Strom, 33, was hospitalized Oct. 19 after paramedics discovered him in the farmhouse he shared with his grandmother, Dorothy Peterson near Underwood, Minn.

Strom was found handcuffed and suffering from severe burns from head to toe. The tip of his tongue had also been cut off.

After coming out of a drug-induced coma in December, Strom told his mother, Mary Olson of St. Paul, that three masked intruders attacked him in a pole barn near the farmhouse and mutilated his tongue before setting him on fire.

After extinguishing the flames, he was able to walk 200 yards to the farmhouse, where he dialed 911, he told his mother.

On Friday, investigators spoke to Strom for the first time since the incident and came away convinced his injuries were self- inflicted, Schlueter said.

"He (Strom) indicated he goes by two names, one of them is 'Tyler,' '' Schlueter said.

Strom told investigators he was alone at the farm and "it was Tyler who did this to him," Schlueter said.

Tyler is the name of the dark alter ego of the protagonist in the 1999 film, "Fight Club," a movie Schlueter said Strom "had more than an average interest in."

In addition to Strom's statement, evidence collected at the scene indicated no one but Strom was in the pole barn that evening, Schlueter said.

Using DNA analysis, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension recently determined latex gloves, a hat and a pop can found in the pole barn belonged to Strom.

In addition, the handcuffs involved and the knife used to cut off part of Strom's tongue belonged to Strom.

That evidence and the fact the dirt floor of the barn revealed no signs of a struggle helped convince investigators that Strom burned and mutilated himself, Schlueter said.

"It (Strom's story) didn't make sense from the start," the sheriff said.

Strom is recovering in a Twin Cities hospital, where he may have to stay for two years, his mother said in a recent interview.

Efforts to reach Olson Monday by phone and by e-mail were unsuccessful.

In the earlier interview, Olson said her son's survival was a miracle.

"There's no way he should have lived," said Olson, who started an Internet prayer circle.

She said her son has a bi-polar condition and moved to the farmstead late last summer to help his grandmother remodel the house.

The move was also an effort by Strom to re-evaluate his life and distance himself from harmful cycles in his past, his mother said.


Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Olson at (701) 241-5555

No plans for a civil suit have been announced yet; much the better, as it probably wouldn't go over too well in this part of the country.

 

[4v50 Gary]

It's only part of the problem. The other part is the media (cinema, television that is loaded with violence). The third part of the equation is lack of parental control.

 

[mbs357]

The only "faults" are those of the judges that let this "blame game" crap slide. Instead of taking the high road and making a just and fair decision they buckle to the media and whatever is fashionable at that very moment, (for the most part). This in turn destroys society.

Even better, gj.

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Well, playing Dark Side in Knights of the Old Republic, I had an urge to get a light saber and chop innocents up, but dang, no light sabers to be found!

Sick sick.

 

[JPM70535]

Lots of good responses, and although I am in complete agreement that the majority blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the shooter, I suggest that other factors, played a more than passing part in this and similar incidents.

There are literaly mllions of youngsters and adults who regularly play violent video games and are not affected but for a momentary rise in heart rate and blood pressure, and for whom they are no different from Pong or PACMAN. Included in these millions unfortunately are those folks whose mental faculties can not distinguish between real life and the virtual world. To them, the killing of a Policeman in real life, causes no permanent damage, he dies, and comes back to life the next time the game is played, Presto!, its magic.

These same "Mental Defectives" (for lack of a better term) Have been raised to believe that nothing is ever their fault and Blame for whatever they do can be assigned elsewhere. This attitude begins at home during the formative years of early childhood, (Little Johnny is a good boy who really didn't mean to bite little Sally, he was just expressing himself.) ( Little Johnny is so sorry he was driving drunk and struck the station Wagen load of Nuns, He promises never to do it again,and besides, the car dealer never should have sold him the Sports Car with the big V-8.

Throughout this country today, runs rampant the belief that Kids who rob, rape and murder are not responsible for their actions, that Society is to blame for the abberent behaviour, and to prove the validity of this belief, we'll file a Lawsuit against any company, or person (Police) or Government, and sooner or later we'll find a jury who agrees and who's verdict blurs the issue to the extent the perp. who committed the crime is seen as the real victim.

Back to the Video games, I must admit that when I was a youngster (many years ago) there were no video games, violent or otherwise to influence my behaviour, and with the exception of horror comics, there was very little to incite me or my cronies to violence, and our diferences were settled on the playground after school with nothing more lethal than a right hook. After the fight, it was over and we took our split lips and bloody noses home. BTW, our parents would not have dreamed of filing criminal charges or Lawsuits.

One thing we would never have thought of doing, killing a Cop, because we knew the consequences of such an act would bring swift and sure retribution by other Cops. Plain English, You probably would not made it to the point of arrest. Chances are you would resist and be DRT.

On the other hand we knew all of the Cops by name, went to school with their kids, and generally liked them and knew that we could turn to them for help.

So what has changed? The only factor other than the ones mentioned earlier, and the only one I would consider as a mitigating circumstance is Stress.

Stress, mixed with a steady diet of violent video games znd the lsck of personal responsibility seem to me to be the only differences that could account for the rash of Police killings.

JPM