Boy, 8, shoots 90-year-old Grandma after playing video game


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New Orleans, LA- Investigators say an 8-year-old boy intentionally shot his 90-year-old grandmother in the head Thursday night in East Feliciana Parish. The motive is still unknown, but deputies point out that the boy was playing the video game "Grand Theft Auto IV" minutes before the shooting.

The community of Slaughter  :huh:  is in shock after the boy was able to access the family's gun and shoot his grandmother, Marie Smothers, in the head while she was watching television. According to the sheriff's office, Smothers was the current caregiver of the boy.

"Where did she have the gun?" asked Johnnie Scott, a neighbor. "Where did he see the gun, was it in his eyesight? That's the thought that goes through my head."

The boy's access to the gun is what concerns LSU Health Sciences Center child psychologist Kristopher Kaliebe the most. However, he says, access to a violent video game such as "GTA4" may encourage aggressive behavior.

"From a behavior therapy perspective, I would say that's practicing," said Kaliebe. "So, if you have a video game where someone shoots at a target, that's sort of practicing shooting at a target. When you have a video game that is shooting at a human being, that is practicing shooting at a human being."

The game is rated "M" for mature audiences. It is recommended for ages 17 and older, but Dr. Kaliebe says such rating systems are rarely enforced by caretakers.

"In some ways it's a perverse incentive because a lot of the kids would sort of like the video games that are not for them," said Kaliebe.

Dr. Kaliebe says the games may have influenced individual violent crimes. However, while video game use is on the rise, certain crime statistics have been dropping. So, he says, making sure guns are locked is the most important thing, no matter how kids are spending their free time.

 

The child was released to his parents Thursday night.

Louisiana law prohibits authorities from charging the child with a crime because of his age, the sheriff's office said. The law states: "Those who have not reached the age of 10 years are exempt from criminal responsibility. However, nothing in this article shall affect the jurisdiction of juvenile courts as established by the constitution and statutes of this state."

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How the hell did these parents let their child get to a gun? Some people really should not pollute our gene pool :/

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Well, the scapegoat lobbyists are going to have a field day, specially seeing as there's a new one on the way, and they've tried to ban every version of it.

While I have this post, why the hell was the child allowed to play GTA in the first place?

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List of things that went wrong here:

#1. Parents allowed child to play M-rated video game with no supervision (seriously stop buying ****ing adult games for your children WTF is wrong with you?)

#2. Parents didn't lock up the ****ing guns and left it out loaded so he could pick it up and shoot his grandma. Gun safes exist for a reason.

 

Last but not least:

#3. Child used gun on grandmother, not his parents, allowing them to produce more offspring and further pollute the genepool. 

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Oh geez not the "Rock and roll made me do it.." -or- "the video games made me do it.." 

 

this is a crucial time to teach this kid a lesson that choices we make have consequences.

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I blame the caregiver... obviously not caring what the child played at 8 years old - that is a symptom of bigger issues in the parenting and raising the kid. Of course the 8 year old had a warped sense of reality and acted out.

 

Is it the games, not directly, but is it overall a ###### poor family situation and deep issue? Yes.

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Wait, the cops made a bigger deal of the video game he was playing rather than the fact that an 8 year old should have zero access to a firearm? if this was at his parents house or if their is a surviving owner of the gun or house they need to be charged to the fullest extent of the law.

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