Consoles → Man Killed by Teen Video Gamers

From CNN news:

NEWPORT, Tenn. (AP) - Two teenage stepbrothers who told police they were mimicking a video game when they randomly fired at cars on a freeway were sentenced to juvenile prison Thursday for killing one person and wounding another.

William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, who turns 14 Sunday, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault. Under state law, they can only be held as juveniles until they are 19.

Juvenile Court Judge Ben Strand said he considered granting the boys probation, but said, ``I just can't bring myself to do that because it was a grievous act.''

Kimberly Bede, who was wounded in the June 25 attack, said the sentence was not harsh enough.

``I really don't think they got what they deserve,'' said Bede, 19.

From a wooded area near their home at the Smoky Mountain Country Club, the boys fired a .22-caliber rifle up to 25 times through a break in the trees at cars driving along Interstate 40 about two miles east of Newport. They said they were bored and decided to shoot at tractor-trailer rigs, just like in the video game, ``Grand Theft Auto.''

Aaron Hamel, 45, a registered nurse who had recently moved to Knoxville, was fatally shot in the head as he returned from a day in the mountains. Minutes later, Bede, of Moneta, Va., a passenger on a sightseeing drive, was wounded in the pelvis.

The boys wrote letters to apologize to the victims' families that were read in court Thursday.

``I didn't want to hurt anyone,'' Joshua wrote. ``This will stick with me the rest of my life.''

Oh great, I bet yall that their gonna blame video games again. This kids must be really stupid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How the fudge u gonna go and shoot at driving cars and expect not to kill someone and not get arrested? Dumb parents too. anyways what do yall think? oh yeah, i was also wondering where yall leave can u rent a mature game if ur not 18?? cause over here in california u can't, u gotta show ID, even at the video game store.

boy are those u's annoying.

There are always ways for underagers to get a hold of stuff that is meant for the older crowds. Whether it is guns, tobacco, alcohol, mature video games or porn there is always someone around that can hook a person up.

These kids got what they deserved for their stupidity.

No, they didn't get what they deserved. They deserve a life sentence for murder.

WEll now did they? I mean they killed 1 person, and wounded another one, and theyr gonna be out when their 19.

I did some really dumb stuff growing up, but picking up a .22 and taking pot shots at passing cars wasn't one of them.

Why in HELL do parents/guardians leave weapons lying around where kids have access to them. They should take away whoever their guardians are FOI card permanently. Growing up our guns were kept in a locked room in the basement. Inside the room they were kept in locked vault and all the guns inside the vault had trigger locks. Overkill? Maybe, but my parents ensured I wouldn't be using their guns for ANY purpose.

*end rant*
[text was edited by author 2003-08-29 16:02:14]

those fuckin retards are gonna get out when thier 19 eh. I think they should both get life in the slammah for being a stupid dumbass. This seriously is gonna hinder mature game development since no developer wants to be responsible for that kinda crap.

to bad they didn't have drugs on them at least then they would have got 30+ years.They should be executed by the state their is no need to have people like that on earth.

Just a bit of FYI, here in Florida (well, at least in South Florida), I've seen 10 year olds go into Electronics Boutique and buy Vice City and such... they don't enforce jack here. When I saw American Wedding, there were about 20 kids FOR SURE under 17 in the movie too- with no parental accompaniment I might add.

the stores dont care, its not their job to police what kids buy or what movies they see. that job belongs to the parents, only thing stores have to police are lotto, beer, tobacco.

back in the day when i was a kid i went to see something about mary we bought the tickets got a seat and the usher came in and escorted us out. They would'nt even give us our money back or let us go see a pg13 movie.I bet if someone complains they throw you out.I saw kids watching american pie 2 and that movie makes something about marry look like a disney movie.

you know a lawyer coerced them to say it was because of video games so they could probably get a lenient sentence..

WEll that sucks. Hey i'm also gonna go shoot people and say it was cause i playd Grand Theft auto.

You never heard about random mole and groundhog maiming becuase of the early arcade game 'Wack-a-Mole'. Kids are stupid they do really stupid things, and they never blaim themselves (sort of like the media). GTA sold millions of copies, how many acts were "caused or inspired" by that game? Who's to say that these kids wern't going to do something stupid before they played GTA3?

Don't even get me started on how many kids ate mushrooms and flowers only to find that they couldn't jump on people's head to scquash them.

said by Steimes:

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Don't even get me started on how many kids ate mushrooms and flowers only to find that they couldn't jump on people's head to scquash them.

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BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

but seriously, I don't got out slaying monsters because I play RPGs (I do own a sword though) I also dont go out and beat the sh!t out of people, and then fire a fireball at them, because I play fighters (although If I could throw fireballs, I might.) Its just a matter of people blaming their own actions and faults on stimuli that they should know is fictional. It's just like the whole D&D is devil worship outcry. *shrugs* what actions of mine can I blame on all the DDR I play?

That whole concept of kids killing people is getting old, it went out right after copycat "homosexuals do interior design" TV shows got big, which hopefully will die soon as well.

The next new big thing is newlywed actresses selling replicas of their wedding rings on QVC. I saw J-Lo's gawd awful ring when my fiancee was surfing the tube, and I wanted to hurl.

In the eighties it was "Ozzy made them do it" or "Judas Priest made them do it", never the fact that somebody had other mental/social problems.

I blame the laughs that I had watching Ozzy try to play a DVD on Ozzy. I blame the "Vice City" attitude on Snuffleupagus becoming real.

the parents are not always at fault. Yeha some parents Dont care what there kids watch IN theaters or at home. Shit some parents Are the cause of there kids finding there porn. IM so tired of this lame ass Excuse of blameing Shit IN Life On Other things. Just fucking Fess up to the fact that maybe SOme Kids Or just Fucking assholes. Becuase WE all play the same games we all watch the same Tv shows and NEws. We All Do whatever we want when we want. video Game or not ITS JUST PLAIN OLD FUCKING COMMON SENSE TO NOT KILL SOMEONE. And TO NOT SHOOT A FUCKING GUN INTO A CROWD OF peoples cars. IF you ask me the only thing at Fault here is the kids its not like You buy a car and you know how mnay miiles you will get from it Before you have any problems. This is a human and they WIll act Very much like a Wild and untamed animal. But unlike animals They Should Have Some Common Sense. Some kids Get Straight A's in School and Others Flunk and Drop Out. And none of the parents Ever ask for either (yeha yOU can Just hope they Will Get the srtaight A's but no garentee) as For Putting them to Jail for the rest of there lives. Is worthless.... because There LIves have yet to start. if anything the only thing in prison they will learn is MOre Tricks Of the trade (the trade being CRIME) . maybe NOw the only thing they know is how to Be Stupid and Act like Fuckers... But when They go to jail for a nice 6 years and come out at the age of 19 where they can Now drive cars and Do things a 14 year old Just couldnt DO. then WE got a Fucker who has been in the Traning For 5-6 years All the Tricks He learned In prison and so on... then We will DEF have something to put the blame on and it Wont Have anything ot Do with Electronic entertainment..... Im just so tired of people not accepting REsponsablity For things they Do and always looking for a scap goat.... I think they should be in Prison till 19 at Which then They should be REleased With the understanding that if they ever get into Any TRouble With the law What so ever (not talking TRaffic Violations here) that They will then server The REst of a Life sentance.... then i would love to see How fucking cool they think Shooting at cars with a loaded gun is... sorry just my two cents... (im not in a good mood at the moment )

still every time i see these cases i joke with my friends i should nail a bear with napalm. then blame EQ.......course i say it jest.

still every time i see these cases i joke with my friends i should nail a bear with napalm. then blame EQ.......course i say it jest.

LOL!!

I agree with u brokentwice.

I thought brokentwice's random capitalization was really some sort of secret code. Now I see it truly is random with only the slightest amount of consistency.

Anyway, I also did some stupid things when I was a kid. It's strange how one simple decision can change your life forever. I luckily was spared any punishment for what I did and was able to realize what I did was wrong.

These kids made a bad choice and their whole lives are ruined. Very sad for everyone involved. I say: Put them to death!

You just gotta be on drugs to do something so stupid like that. That's just sad...

I wouldnt Say Drugs... I mean after all not All ram is Good ram heh

In the video game dont people bleed to death and die when you shoot them? And dont the cops chase you like you have done a BAD thing? So if people die in the video game, and people die in the real world, how are you expecting someone NOT to die?

said by vic102482:

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In the video game dont people bleed to death and die when you shoot them? And dont the cops chase you like you have done a BAD thing? So if people die in the video game, and people die in the real world, how are you expecting someone NOT to die?

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Maybe they think they'll respawn with an Enforcer and 50 bullets.

IMO, this is still the best explanation that exists for this topic.

If your mind somehow translates images on a screen to detailed instructions for killing people, your mind is fucked up to begin with.

Has anyone thought that maybe these kids just said they did it because of a video game just to get a lenient sentence?

Or even worse, their lawyer instructed them to say this?

I mean it's almost like pleading insanity!

"Oh, well I play GTA and thought it would be fun to do!".
"I did not know people could really die! Where's the reset button?".

You have got to be kidding me! This punks should spend a minimum of 40 years in prison!