Teen Shoots Parents After Being Denied Halo 3
Meet Daniel Petric. It was reported yesterday that he is being tried in court after he shot both of his parents, killing his mother. Over what? The simple fact that they would not allow him to play Halo 3. Petric, having left the house to sneak and purchase the game without his parents’ knowledge, was apparently homebound due to a staph infection after a snowboarding accident. When he came home with the game that he was not old enough to play (he was 16 when the incident occurred), his parents, like any RATIONAL set of parental units should do, confiscated the game and put it away in their closet.
Petric got into a locked box in the closet where the game was being held and retrieved his father’s 9 mm. In a disturbing twist, he walked into the living room and asked his parents to close their eyes, because he had a “surprise” for them. The rest, as you know by now, is rather unfortunate, as he shot and killed his mother and left his father bleeding as he shoved the gun into his hand. Had it not been for Mr. Petric’s daughter and her husband visiting with the intent on catching some sports on TV, it’s likely that he would have died as well. Our deepest condolences go out to the Petric family.
But you know, we’ve seen this before. Protesters against violent video games will take the stance that it was in fact the game that caused Daniel to commit the heinous crime, and instead of seeking actual mental help for an obviously troubled teen, games will come under fire yet again.
Interestingly enough, Daniel’s lawyers argued that the stress of being homebound pushed him to pull the trigger. However, I believe it’s just a matter of time before Halo 3 will join the ranks of Call of Duty 4, Grand Theft Auto IV, and a multitude of other pieces of software for hunks of plastic and metal that are not capable of sentient thought as PARENT/CHILD KILLERS, KITTEN STONERS, AND RAPISTS. Even more intriguing is the fact that in many of the recent cases we’ve seen where a minor commits a crime and a video game is somehow involved, the parents have done the right thing and have taken the games away from the children who should not be playing them.
Yet, still, it must be the game’s fault. It’s a sick world we live in these days. I’m hoping that there won’t be any more news of this sort to report in the near future.
News Tags: disgruntled teens, Halo 3, News
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I always think it’s a shame to find myself on the automatic defensive over articles like this, knowing that somebody will try to make the link to videogames more than it really is.
Also, are kitten stoners young cats who had a bit too much catnip?
These aren’t the actions of a game influenced child. These are the actions of a seriously disturbed child with anger issues. They need to lock this kid up and get him some serious help instead of playing the blame game.
Also, cats are lazy as is…could you even tell if it was stoned? :)
BAN THIS SICK FILTH. On a serious note, It’s sad for two reasons. One because of the death and two the fact that as soon as the Daily Fail gets their hands on this…
Violence existed long before Video Games, Marilyn Manson, Violent movies, and television existed. People that accuse anything other than the individual is a moron. But we live in a society where blame is always placed somewhere other than where it belongs.
He’s attempting an insanity plea due to ‘video game addiction’. I wish I was kidding.
It’s a bit sad that gamers in general automatically go on the defensive about these things. From what I’ve heard aside from the fact that a game was involved they aren’t actually blaming games or gaming. If they haven’t taken the easy route yet, I wouldn’t expect them to.