Sandy Hook Killer's Video Gaming Obsession: Not What You'd Expect

[fusi0n]

Sandy Hook Killer's Video Gaming Obsession: Not What You'd Expect

SEXPAND

If Adam Lanza?the shooter responsible for last year's Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre?had a video gaming obsession, it appears to be Dance Dance Revolution, according to a comprehensive final report the state of Connecticut released today about the mass killing.P

 

From data recovered from a GPS device his mother had given him, which recorded his movements up to the day before the shootings, Lanza was playing DDR "most every Friday through Sunday," for "four to ten hours," says the report.P

 

It's quite a different picture of Lanza than what emerged in mainstream media?and particularly in a fulminating news conference held by the National Rifle Association?about Lanza's gaming habits and the implications they influenced his behavior. 2P

 

To be sure, investigators recovered several video games from the family home, and among them are titles very familiar to the violent video games debate: Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Doom and Left 4 Dead. But other titles cameo in the report, too, including Pikmin, Paper Mario, Shin Megami Tensei, LEGO Star Wars and Kingdom Hearts.P

 

The conclusion of the report, signed by Stephen J. Sedensky III, the state's attorney for the Danbury, Conn. judicial district, does not mention video games at all in speculating on Lanza's motive. "What we do know is that the shooter had significant mental health issues that ... did affect his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others, even those to whom he should have been close."P

 

The report also noted Lanza's "familiarity with and access to firearms and ammunition and an obsession with mass murders, in particular the Columbine shootings."P

 

Investigators recovered a number of video games from the Lanza home, where the shooter killed his mother before driving to Sandy Hook Elementary School to carry out the Dec. 14 massacre, which left 26 dead and two more wounded. Additionally, interviews also described his gaming habits which cover a wide range of genres. A search warrant was served on Blizzard Entertainment, makers of World of Warcraft but what investigators found in that search is not described.P

 

Of games and gaming habits described, only Dance Dance Revolution is discussed in great detail. Investigators recovered video of Lanza playing it and knew that he had a preferred outfit when going to a local movie theater to play: a gray hoodie and slacks. After a 2011 snowstorm, Lanza was not seen at the theater until February 2012, and when he returned to play DDR he did so by himself.P

 

"An acquaintance of the shooter from 2011 to June 2012 said that the shooter and the acquaintance played DDR quite a bit," the report says. "They would play the game and occasionally see a movie. They did not play first person shooter games at the theater. The shooter had stamina for DDR and never appeared winded unless really exhausted."P

 

The Sandy Hook killings fixated public anger on a number of institutions, one of them the National Rifle Association, the nation's foremost gun lobby. Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's executive vice president, excoriated violent video games as a proximate instigator of school gun massacres, naming titles such as Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. Of those games, only Grand Theft Auto was found in the Lanza home.P

 

A smashed Xbox 360 whose hard drive was unreadable was recovered from the home, and Lanza also appears to have intentionally damaged his PC hard drive in order to make it unrecoverable.P

 

In addition to the games, investigators found "a large number of firearms and related items in the home," the report says, with all of the firearms involved in the incidents "legally purchased by the shooter's mother over the years."P

 

Investigators also found items that indicated a macabre interest in gun massacres at schools?including a book about the 2006 shooting at a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa., and photocopied news clippings from 1891 about the shooting of school children. Lanza also apparently maintained a spreadsheet with information about mass shootings over the years.P

 

Though the report is careful not to draw any conclusion as to what motivated Lanza to carry out the rampage, it notes in detail his mental health history. Lanza had been bullied in school, and was increasingly described as antisocial and lacking social skills as he got older. In 2005, he was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and his mother was said to have worried about what would happen to him if something happened to her. "The mother took care of all of the shooter's needs," the report says. They found a check meant to purchase a pistol for Lanza, as a present that Christmas.3P

 

These are all of the games mentioned in the report. All titles are verbatim from the report.4P

 

Left for DeadP

Metal Gear SolidP

Dead RisingP

Half LifeP

BattlefieldP

Call of Duty5P

Grand Theft AutoP

Shin Megami TenseiP

Dynasty WarriorsP

Vice CityP

Team FortressP

DoomP

Phantasy Star OnlineP

Paper MarioP

Luigi's MansionP

PikminP

Combat ArmsP

World of WarcraftP

Dynasty TacticsP

Kingdom HeartsP

Kingdom Hearts 2P

OnimushaP

The Two TowersP

Call of Duty 2: Big Red OneP

Call of Duty: Finest HourP

Dead or Alive 3P

HaloP

Halo 3P

LEGO Star WarsP

MechAssaultP

MercenariesP

MGS2 SubstanceP

Panzer Dragoon ORTA6P

PSO7P

Shenmue IIP

SpidermanP

Splinter Cell 2P

Splinter Cell-CTP

Star Wars: BattlefrontP

Star Wars: Republic CommandoP

Tenchu: Return from DarknessP

The Return of the KingP

Worms Forts Under SeigeP

Two pistols, two rifles and a shotgun were recovered, either from the scene of the crime or the Lanza home. Investigators found 253 live rounds of ammunition on his body.P

 

The entire report may be viewed as a .pdf here.P

 

To contact the author of this post, write to [email protected] or find him on Twitter @owengood.P

L

Source: http://kotaku.com/sandy-hook-killers-video-gaming-obsession-not-what-yo-1471421158

[KingCracker]

The news last night said that he had a video game labeled school shooting. He also stopped communicated with his mother face to face 4 days before he went to sandy hook. He would only communicate by email with her.

[Soldiers33]

Games dont make you go shooting people. I play team fortress 2 daily and have never had a single thought about going out and doing it for real. Who ever thinks games play a role are idiots. If the person wanted to kill someone he would, regardless of what game he played. If he played dance dance revolution most time, why didnt he go into the school and dance there then.

[KingCracker]

Games dont make you go shooting people. I play team fortress 2 daily and have never had a single thought about going out and doing it for real. Who ever thinks games play a role are idiots. If the person wanted to kill someone he would, regardless of what game he played. If he played dance dance revolution most time, why didnt he go into the school and dance there then.

Not saying that video games made him do it but he didn't only play dance dance revolution, there are a lot of violent video games in the list of games. Why didn't the story post one of those up as the image instead of dance dance revolution?

[fusi0n]

Not saying that video games made him do it but he didn't only play dance dance revolution, there are a lot of violent video games in the list of games. Why didn't the story post one of those up as the image instead of dance dance revolution?

Because it is the one he played most and A LOT of.. It was part of his routine.. He played from Friday-Sunday

[KingCracker]

Because it is the one he played most and A LOT of.. It was part of his routine.. He played from Friday-Sunday

So? He could of played one of the violent video games for like 3 weeks in a row before then. Just saying that he didn't just play dance dance revolution.

[spudtrooper]

Games dont make you go shooting people. I play team fortress 2 daily and have never had a single thought about going out and doing it for real. Who ever thinks games play a role are idiots. If the person wanted to kill someone he would, regardless of what game he played. If he played dance dance revolution most time, why didnt he go into the school and dance there then.

 

Gaming can be a way for emotionally detached people to become further emotionally detached from society and emotionally attached to virtual worlds that feel real to them.. i think that's a problem..  but not one just limited to video games, just a symptom thereof.  It's still usually bad parenting, bad homes & poor family skills that would lead to such.

 

it's pretty pathetic on the front page of neowin is an article about how people want to kill each other in video games and swear at each other and publish it for the world to see and some people seem genuinely ###### off they can't do that.

 

Are we sure video games aren't eroding away at our interpersonal and communication skills when our biggest complain is not being able to tell the world we told someone to **** off?  freedom of speech is one thing..

 

I say this as a gamer and as a parent..  i've slipped away into many fantasy universes and never thought to kill someone at any point in time - but i have seen the dirty side of what happens to people in these virtual worlds from broken families to lost jobs to divorces and what have you.. some people may not just be able to handle any of it and break.

 

but i tend to agree, its mostly about us not giving a hoot about each other.. not necessarily that games are bad.. they just have no real positive social structure in those games and more often then not its socially backwards and can foster bad ideas - whether someone was just trolled into such beliefs or not.  games take a lot of humanity out of human interaction and its something our generation will be dealing with.

 

in the 80's it was the desensitization from 24x7 cable tv.. now its video games.. both have a merit of truth while not being wholly to blame.

[nowimnothing]

So? He could of played one of the violent video games for like 3 weeks in a row before then. Just saying that he didn't just play dance dance revolution.

 

You really should read the actual report. From the PDF that was linked by the article:

 

The GPS found in the home and reportedly belonging to the shooter indicated that he regularly went to the area of a theater that had a commercial version of the DDR game in the lobby. In 2011 and up until a month before December 14, 2012, the shooter went to the theater and played the game. He went most every Friday through Sunday and played the game for four to ten hours.

 

...

 

An acquaintance of the shooter from 2011 to June 2012 said the shooter and the acquaintance played DDR quite a bit. They would play the game and occasionally see a movie. They did not play first person shooter games at the theater.

 

 

So for nearly two years he played the game almost every weekend, three days a week for 4-10 hours per day. I think that's a reasonable reason to be highlighting that game over others.

[Lord Method Man]

Good way to get in shape.

[freak180]

are we still going on this bunch of bull. I find superman and batman more believable... lets move on :|

[compl3x]

are we still going on this bunch of bull. I find superman and batman more believable... lets move on :|

 

 

What bunch of bull?

 

--

 

WHy are all of the OP's sentences ending with .P?

[Rohdekill]

Games dont make you go shooting people. I play team fortress 2 daily and have never had a single thought about going out and doing it for real. Who ever thinks games play a role are idiots. If the person wanted to kill someone he would, regardless of what game he played. If he played dance dance revolution most time, why didnt he go into the school and dance there then.

 

As much as I'd love to agree with you, the reasoning you used made no sense.  Just because YOU reacted or did not react a certain way does not mean others won't.  

 

That said, this guy had deeper issues than just video games.  To even attempt to pass blame to any single instance as being the cause of his actions makes no sense.  Deeply disturbed people are (typically) not set off by a single action/behavior.  Rather a combination of events/behaviors over a period of time.  Unfortunately, people tend to point at the easiest excuse as the cause.

[+Red King Subscriber²]

Easy Access To Guns > Playing DDR

[Growled Member]

Games dont make you go shooting people.

 

I agree, for normal people. Who knows how it effects sick people?

[Andre S. Veteran]

Whoa, I didn't know playing Dance Dance Revolution could be so dangerous to your mental health. I guess we should ban ALL videogames just in case.