Police seize violent games in shooting investigation

Acting on advice of Jack Thompson, sheriff's deputies search home of suspected Louisiana killer and confiscate M-rated games.

Last week, sheriff's deputies conducting an investigation into the murder of a 55-year-old Louisiana man seized a number of games rated M for Mature from the home of a 16-year-old suspect, according to a report in the Baton Rouge paper The Advocate. The action was taken at the suggestion of controversial Florida attorney Jack Thompson.

Thompson told The Advocate that he suggested the sheriffs look for violent games in the youth's house because he felt the killings mirrored a scenario from Grand Theft Auto. The original reports indicated that the victim was beaten to death and shot in the face by the 16-year-old and a 17-year-old accomplice.

"Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer," Thompson told the paper.

While the police did seize the games, it's unclear exactly what role they will play in the investigation. West Feliciana Parish Sheriff's Captain Spence Dilworth told the paper, "I think it goes beyond video games, but who's to say?"

716 Comments

  • benfetch

    Posted Jun 7, 2006 7:13 am PT

    So he doesn't think that guns being legal and easily available in America has anything to do with it?

    What a joke.

  • sancezz

    Posted Jun 7, 2006 5:50 am PT

    "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer," Thompson told the paper....what?

  • League727

    Posted Jun 7, 2006 5:02 am PT

    ****************************************************************************************************************************************......****!

  • fonzieahmed

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:39 pm PT

    hmmm how come he knows all the scenarios? that means he secretly himself play the game all the time heh

  • Shraylo

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 7:48 pm PT

    Police: What should we do Mr. Thompson?

    Jack Thompson: Search his house for video games. I HATE VIDEO GAMES! THEY ARE EVIL AND TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO KILL!!!!

    Police (whispering): This guy is insane.

    Jack Thompson: INSANE?!!! I'M NOT INSANE!!! IT'S THE VIDEO GAMES I TELL YOU! THE VIDEO GAMES!!

    *Carl Johnson shoots the crap out of Jack Thompson*

    Police: Yeah, well, I guess that about settles it.

  • WiccanXavier

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 7:22 pm PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • kittykatz5k

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 6:12 pm PT

    Dick chaney's a video gamer then

  • xxstalker24xx

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 4:05 pm PT

    Is Jack trying to get all the perants to get use gamers kicked out thinking we might kill them or sombody. It dosnt seem like he's throught about what might have been the case and gone and blamed the games. Also anybody can shoot sombody in the head (thats if you are mad or its your job like a hitman) where do we see most headshots in detail FILM'S and program's. aahhh iam sick of this guy wheres that number for the Hitman.................jock o_O

  • NaturalJoe

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 3:05 pm PT

    hmmm, im a gamer, and the only reason i would shoot someone in the face would be for money i guess, so what does that make me? a hitman or a gamer?

  • ElHypno

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 2:06 pm PT

    Its all Grand Theft Auto's fault. It's mades me do it..... Yessss My Precious.

    I'm no history major but people were getting shot in the face before GTA.

  • GTAero

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 2:06 pm PT

    Man -its a matter of breed!..... Hasnīt nobody Parents or Teachers who can tell bad from good? I had a Father who told me to be careful with guns, I had a loving Mother learning me to care for others life.

  • ElHypno

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:56 pm PT

    "First, rock and roll. Then D&D. Then rap. Now video games. When will people realize it is THE PARENTS. I've been gaming/listening to rock music for 15, almost 20 years now, and I've never shot anyone in the face. The reason? My parents raised me to know better."

    "It's that devil rock music that you and your friends listen to... like Stryper. "

    I love how this thompson guy is always totally wacked out of his mind and completely misses the issues. Its like he is pulling the Tipper Gore trip all over again. Blameing Heavy Metal because its all satanic and then in a turn of complete insanity blameing rap music for what was happening in the hood. Talk about calling a symptom the root of the problem. What I hate to tell people like Tipper and Jack is entertainment is an expression of the existing culture. GTA wouldent be so popular if people didnt want a game like that. San Andreas is a #1 best seller a few years after its original release on PS2. So why arent the other ten million people who bought the game shooting old people in the face? Parenting? The knowledge of good and evil? The fear of incarceration? Who know and who cares? I have Rockstars hot new property right here.... Call the game, Stupid and crazy.

    You power up by watching metal and rap videos, playing D&D and violent video games, then you have to traffic humans and drugs to get guns and ammo before the end of the school year, then you go on a rampage and shoot everyone. Then if your caught by the poilce you can choose who to blame it on... is it Snoop and Dre? Was it Judas Priest or Ozzy? Is it GTA and D&D? Sugar and Caffine? Ritilin? Tarantino movies? And everytime you go on another rampage the parental warning stickers on the games and music just keep getting bigger and bigger like the surgeon generals warning on ciggaretts. Until the world is one giant warning sticker against liveing life.

    I think it will be pretty cool, kinda like Final Fantsay meets Juiced, meets, Halo, meets the Sims, meets GTA.

  • crazy_boy166

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:39 pm PT

    wut fu@#$&* idiot!!!!!!!!!!!This guy is more stupid then my grand-ma!!!
    If was killing someone i would either shoot him in the head to make is death fast!lol "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer"

  • CloudStrifeFFO7

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:34 pm PT

    Jack is an idiot!

  • bxgt

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:33 pm PT

    nobody shoot people in the face unless ur a gamer......... wow
    i find that funny and offensive

  • Ryozo

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:32 pm PT

    I am again reminded that this man suffers from verbal diaharrea - every time he opens his mouth, certain brown stuff is spewed. Worse, even after he continues to prove this (anyone remember the $10K donation fiasco?) people actually take him seriously.
    That said, has anyone tried reductio ad adsurdum on him? By his 'logic' we should be awash in stunt drivers (Need for Speed, Burnout, etc.) and combat pilots (Ace Combat, Airfore Delta Strike), to name two 'examples'.
    And how does he answer that little fact ToddFromDilbert was so nice to bring to our attention? ( http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/viort.htm )

  • CloudStrifeFFO7

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:31 pm PT

    Man Jack is an idiot!

  • lvlUNE3B

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:18 pm PT

    "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer."
    You are right Jack.

  • Denji

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:17 pm PT

    Hm, video games are bad eh? I recently heard something on the news about the future of surgery done by robots while the doctor is behind a control panel. These doctors are REQUIRED to play video games quite often to hone in their abilities for their hands and eyes, and quick responces. Cause they said "It's like playing a video game" So the better they get at video games, the more experience they get and the easier operating this surgical device becomes. They are even told to play an hour of video games even before conducting a surgery to keep themselves "sharp". This my friends is no joke, I've seen it on my local news channel, I don't remember where it is but there is only one right now, but I believe it would be in circulation within the next 25 years or so in every hospital in North America. I just wish I had a link to prove it. What I feel is, video games are good for this society, the times are changing. Soon EVERYTHING will have a microchip, and I have a feeling that in the future of say the next 50 years, you won't go far without being a gamer. So get over it Jackie. Video Games are for the greater good, it's apart of the growing technology in this world, it's never going away. I myself (and I'm sure many many others) have adopted the mentality, if you had a bad day, want to shoot someone, DO IT IN A VIDEO GAME. Want to drop a nuclear bomb? Do it in a video game! I suggest you actually focus on REAL PROBLEMS of this world instead of trying to revive your already expired 15 minutes of fame. You've lost before, you're finished Jack, you can't imply or own selfish will and ideals onto everyone else just cause YOU don't like it. Just move on, no one's going to listen to you anymore.

  • damagooon

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 1:10 pm PT

    Lets remove all games over the world... lets see if crime decreases... you moron.

  • jaefrmbk2k

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:46 pm PT

    i'd really like to shoot jack thompson in the face, but i don't think i could live with the guilt of being forever labeled as a cold-blooded gamer.

  • buckybuckster

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:37 pm PT

    So if they hadn't found the games what would Mr. Thompson have blamed it on then??? Couldn't it be that uhhh... I don't know...maybe these kids were nuts in the first place!?! And isn't it interresting that Jack knew that the killing mirrored things in GTA? Could Mister Thompson himself be a player of GTA?? Yeah I know JT, you played it in the name of research...yeah right!

  • Kfoss

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:37 pm PT

    "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer," Thompson told the paper.

    WHAT...JT you need to be thrown off a cliff by means of the Half Life Gun....so DOG can throw you back....and then we have a game of catch...with you as the ball...LOLOL

    he is completely out of his mind and for cops to follow his direction?!?!?! there about as dumb as he’s is!!!..and to equate gamers with nut job killers?!?!?!....ya know JT thanks for giving the gaming community another reason to hate your existence with pleasure....

  • gamestef

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:24 pm PT

    No comment !

  • nathanthegame

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:20 pm PT

    ScapeGoat so maybe he will serve less time or plead insanity......freakin lame..... all that effects every single gamer in the US. Cause some idiots have issues and they blame it on games.

  • maxsteel86

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:10 pm PT

    This Jack guy is just bitter cos he's parents wouldn't buy him a commodore 64 when he was a boy :-P

  • starcutter20000

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 12:00 pm PT

    "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer," Thompson told the paper.

    Everytime Jack Thompson makes a public statement such as this, I die a little more inside.

  • GamezRlife21

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 11:03 am PT

    is this guy joking? I mean seriously joking? And how would he know about the GTA senarios unless HE PLAYED THEM....gotcha there huh? Yeah, playing halo 2 and GTA really makes me wanna go kill some people....uhh.....yeah....No body shoots some one in the face unless your a video gamer or a hitman....wow, that is priceless! Or it could just be cause they're crazy, but no no, it was DEFINETELY the video games...not revenge or anything, no, video games made him wanna kill some one, yep, case closed boys, now how bout' those donuts?

  • mixjon

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:58 am PT

    awsome i just got an idea for a new sig

    "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer," ............Jack Thompson

  • Unknown_Legend

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:52 am PT

    Hey, Jackass Thompson, I once shot a marine in the face by accident when playing Halo, does that make me a hitman? a killer? Go to hell Jackass Thompson

  • Sundart

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:44 am PT

    And how the hell does Thompson know about GTA scenarios????? Shall we say....HYPOCRITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • wingchunstudent

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:42 am PT

    I…I get it now. Violent video games = Violent people. It is so simple. Why couldn't I have figured that out. I must've been too busy playing violent video games and plotting world domination.

  • anjul

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:42 am PT

    "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer,"
    OR if you want to KILL THEM!! He acts as if no one could possibly figure out on their own that opening a human cranium and spilling it's contents to the ground onto the ground will more certainly cause death than anything else. What is it with this guy? The reason I haven't shot anybody in the face is because I haven't wanted to kill anyone.

    What he is doing now is he's getting more ammunition against video games. The police probably didn't care too much about taking one more thing as evidence, so they took it at Jack's request (probably shortly after he presented himself as an expert, which he seems to think he is). If the evidence amounts to nothing, which it probably will, they'll put it back, no big deal right? WELL.....not quite, because there are a lot of stupid people that Ol' Jack will be able to tell how "ultra-violent" video games were confiscated in a police investigation, THUS helping to INJECT he idea that video games are a legitimate cause of violence.....I mean, they were confiscated in a police investigation, so they MUST be!!

    Also, all authority is self assigned. Even if you have a title like "burger flipper". Dress up in a suit and go talk to someone with:
    a. A straight face
    b. A legitimate sounding reason for whatever bullsh*t you're telling them.
    c. Some sort of description of your credentials
    (in case they don't find your demeanor serious enough)
    You'll be amazed at what you can do.

    People have accepted certain objects as icons of knowledge, or education. This is may be a stupid aspect of our social workings...but think about it.... how often have you seen some guy in ripped jeans, a dirty t-shirt, and with a forest for a beard, who's pushing a grocery cart along on the street......and thought to yourself, "WOW!! He must have graduated from Yale...."
    If you see a man in a business suit, the first impression is that he at least has a well-enough paying job and that he isn't a moron, you could also assume that it's part of his work attire, "maybe he works for a bank....or he could be a lawyer.....he IS wearing very formal attire...." This is for good reason too, since most of the time certain basic assumptions(at the very least 'suit man' must be headed to/from a formal occasion) are indeed correct.

    How about this, i'm going to say that:
    'PEOPLE WHO EAT BREAD, KILL OTHER PEOPLE'
    so, let's look at all the murderers throughout history....i'll start with Brutus.... there's a reason they say that Romans need not but bread and whine.
    Well.....let's just skip to the fact that bread is in, Burgers, Hot Dogs, you can eat it with peanut butter on it, you eat it with various meals....so i think it's safe to say that almost every single person in the U.S. has eaten bread. Meaning most killers eat bread..... so that MUST mean that bread eaters are homocidal!! Why, we should start testing bread to see if it contains chemicals that increase aggression.....i'll bet it does!!

    It's ridiculous conclusions like this that have plagued every new fad and entertainment medium for the past CENTURY. Hell, even BALLROOM DANCING was at one point thought of as dirty and inappropriate.
    "Oh my GOD!! They have to hold hands AND their bodies together?!"
    "His hand's on her WAIST!!"

    Ten years from now we're going to think back and laugh that anyone was even mildly worried about video games being banned. As has happened with all other entertainment.

  • Aqualungs

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:27 am PT

    How's this for a near future scenario:
    *Cop pulls someone over*
    "Is there something wrong officer?"
    "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"
    "About 55, give or take."
    "Precisely"
    "But isn't the speed limit..."
    "Yes it is sir. You look pretty young, do you play video games?"
    "Yes i do sir."
    "You wouldnt happen to play...violent video games, would you?"
    "Sure, that's not a crime is it?"
    "Sir, step out of the car, your under arrest."
    "What, what for?"
    "Sir we have direct orders from Supreme police chief, Jack Thompson, to arrest anyone who plays videogames, especially violent ones, because of the increased risk of them shooting someone in the face, and as everyone knows, only hit men and video gamers shoot people in the face."

  • MONTE_BLK

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:15 am PT

    Why it is that Rap music and Video games get the blame for parents not doing their job of control what their kids do? This is why the State of California will soon have to build a prison for people under the age of 16 because parents can't do their job. Yes, I am a parent and my kids fear me because I do my job. I don't blame video games and rap music. Maybe Rockstar should make a game about Parents controlling their Kids. And yes, I play these same games. They are going to learn this trash some day and I rather teach it to them and to let them know that this entertainment. Also let them know what could happen if they do it in real life. This is called teaching them RIGHT FROM WRONG!!

  • Midnightfalcon9

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 10:08 am PT

    "I play videogames, therfore i kill and therfore I am t3h PwnZ0r"

    yeah.....right.....
    I have to feel sorry for our american brethern gamers, at least they still get decapitations on PoP the two thrones....unlike us poor Brits. You all really do have a problem with your Senators and Congressmen don't you?

  • jimbo102671

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:58 am PT

    EddyPee: "Thats right people-prove his case by taking every chance to swear and abuse him."

    We wouldn't have to if JT didn't make cracks like "Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hit man or a video gamer."

    I've tried my best to keep it clean here. I mean, I'd like to print what I really think about JT, but it'd only be censored.

  • jimbo102671

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:45 am PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • EddyPee

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:41 am PT

    Thats right people-prove his case by taking every chance to swear and abuse him.
    And the most violent people I know do play a lot of video games.

  • Lucribis

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:41 am PT

    Okay, this is just really insulting to us, the video gaming community, that Jack Thompson has grouped us altogether in the same group as "hitmen". Honestly, I think we should start some type of legal movement based on this, because it is slander or libel for him to label us all in the this fashion. I think it's damaging to our reputation as gamers and, furthermore, adds fuel to the flames for those who only go by what they hear and do not have any facts. The Video Game Voters Network could be a good place to start, and for those who as of yet have not been there, should possibly join for the sake of your own video gaming futures.

  • BlowOffJerk

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:22 am PT

    xspawn69: How bout we blame the appropriate people... the juvenile and his parents

    Now why would we want to do that?

  • flashtek

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:19 am PT

    Someone needs to arrest this kids parents, for poor parenting. Video games dont raise kids parents do!!!

  • jimbo102671

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:11 am PT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • xspawn69

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:10 am PT

    How bout we blame the appropriate people... the juvenile and his parents

  • xspawn69

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 9:09 am PT

    I an a 30 year old prosecuting attorney, I play GTA and will buy GTA 4 next year (and probably Saints Row), and yet, I never felt the urge to shoot someone in the face. Attorneys like Mr. Thompson are the ones who give the rest of us a bad name.

  • Abraxas82

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 8:43 am PT

    Its amazing how ignorant some people can be. Open your eyes Jack Thompson.

  • sasuke55

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 8:30 am PT

    My question is who are the people that vote this guy in office??? he is obviously not right in the head.

  • Fraquelli

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 8:21 am PT

    well...I dont know about this particular 16-year-old.
    but noone can deny that there ARE people who are "inspired" to kill by violent video games, especially GTA.
    GTA3 was banned in Japan because of that.

  • Hell_Dude

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 8:11 am PT

    DONT GIVE GAMES TO PSYCHOS

  • DragFire24

    Posted Jun 6, 2006 8:02 am PT

    Btw if you don't like these games, just don't buy them or play them.
    Don't comment about them if you don't like them, in this way you will only see a wrong and enlarged picture...
    Only who plays, understand and enjoys a game can judge it. Surely not you!

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