Report on Sandy Hook Killings Does Not Blame Games
Official summary report looks to mental health issues and gun ownership
The official summary report by the State of Connecticut Department of Justice into the atrocity shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 12th 2012 has named a variety of video games belonging to the shooter but lends not credence to the notion that the games were responsible for the violence.
The report states, "The obvious question that remains is: “Why did the shooter murder twenty-seven people, including twenty children?” Unfortunately, that question may never be answered conclusively, despite the collection of extensive background information on the shooter through a multitude of interviews and other sources. The evidence clearly shows that the shooter planned his actions, including the taking of his own life, but there is no clear indication why he did so, or why he targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School." It then lists a number of video games in the shooter's home:
The list of video games includes, but is not limited to:
Left for Dead
Metal Gear Solid
Dead Rising
Half Life
Battlefield
Call of Duty
Grand Theft Auto
Shin Megami Tensei
Dynasty Warriors
Vice City (sic)
Team Fortress
Doom
All quite violent. But then the report states:
"He played video games often, both solo at home and online. They could be described as both violent and non-violent. One person described the shooter as spending the majority of his time playing non-violent video games all day, with his favorite at one point being Super Mario Brothers.”
Then... "The shooter liked to play a game called Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), which is a music video game in which the player stands on a platform, watches a video screen and moves his feet as directed by the video. A home version of this was seen and photographed in the shooter’s home.45 Several videos of him playing DDR were found on digital media taken from the home."
It also states that, "What we do know is that the shooter had significant mental health issues that, while not affecting the criminality of the shooter's mental state for the crimes or his criminal responsibility for them, did affect his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others, even those to whom he should have been close. Whether this contributed in any way is unknown.
"The shooter did not recognize or help himself deal with these issues. He had a familiarity with and access to firearms and ammunition and an obsession with mass murders, in particular the Columbine shootings."
Guns kill people. Video games don't.
Read the full summary report here (PDF).
The report states, "The obvious question that remains is: “Why did the shooter murder twenty-seven people, including twenty children?” Unfortunately, that question may never be answered conclusively, despite the collection of extensive background information on the shooter through a multitude of interviews and other sources. The evidence clearly shows that the shooter planned his actions, including the taking of his own life, but there is no clear indication why he did so, or why he targeted Sandy Hook Elementary School." It then lists a number of video games in the shooter's home:
The list of video games includes, but is not limited to:
Left for Dead
Metal Gear Solid
Dead Rising
Half Life
Battlefield
Call of Duty
Grand Theft Auto
Shin Megami Tensei
Dynasty Warriors
Vice City (sic)
Team Fortress
Doom
All quite violent. But then the report states:
"He played video games often, both solo at home and online. They could be described as both violent and non-violent. One person described the shooter as spending the majority of his time playing non-violent video games all day, with his favorite at one point being Super Mario Brothers.”
Then... "The shooter liked to play a game called Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), which is a music video game in which the player stands on a platform, watches a video screen and moves his feet as directed by the video. A home version of this was seen and photographed in the shooter’s home.45 Several videos of him playing DDR were found on digital media taken from the home."
It also states that, "What we do know is that the shooter had significant mental health issues that, while not affecting the criminality of the shooter's mental state for the crimes or his criminal responsibility for them, did affect his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others, even those to whom he should have been close. Whether this contributed in any way is unknown.
"The shooter did not recognize or help himself deal with these issues. He had a familiarity with and access to firearms and ammunition and an obsession with mass murders, in particular the Columbine shootings."
Guns kill people. Video games don't.
Read the full summary report here (PDF).