Media links Montreal mass shooting to games
Wednesday shooting spree in a Quebec college that left one dead tied to games by apparent killer's blog.
A 25-year-old Montreal man went on a shooting rampage at one of the city's colleges Wednesday, killing one and wounding 19 others before being killed by police, various media outlets reported yesterday. Today the same outlets are piecing together a picture of who the alleged shooter, named Kimveer Gill, was and are focusing on the fact that he played violent games, among other things.
The BBC News is reporting that the shooter apparently posted numerous times on a gothic lifestyle site, indicating that he liked to play Postal as well as a Web-based game called Super Columbine Massacre RPG.
The gunman also posted scores of photos of himself posing with a rifle, a hunting knife, and a black trench coat. A journal entry from the morning prior to the shooting said he was drinking whiskey and had been "crazy" and "postal" the night before. In one post, he wrote, "Life is like a video game, you gotta die sometime."
A similar sentiment was expressed by convicted killer Devin Moore when he was arrested for the murders of two police officers and a police dispatcher. Moore, who was ultimately convicted, told the arresting officers: "Life's like a video game. You've got to die sometime."
The creator of the Super Columbine Massacre RPG has since posted a statement on his Web site, which reads, "I am, like most, saddened by the news of the recent shooting at Dawson College. I extend my condolences to those affected by this painful event."
Florida lawyer Jack Thompson wasted little time in linking the tragedy to his ongoing attempts to have violent games curbed. In an e-mail sent to various press outlets with the subject heading "Jack Thompson Right Again," the lawyer said the shooter "literally trained on his two favorite murder simulation video games to go on his college shooting spree..."
"The massacre in Montreal is simply the latest tragedy of mass killing linked to violent virtual reality murder simulators," Thompson wrote. "The worst is yet to come. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., is set to release on October 17 the game Bully, which in every sense is a Columbine simulator."
Ironically, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board gave Bully a relatively tame rating of T for Teen earlier in the day.
Content you might like…
-
GDC '08: Postal III First Impressions

The over-the-top shooter series is stronger than ever, judging from what we saw at GDC.
- Feb 20, 2008
Users who looked at this article also looked at these content items.
Hot Stories
Newsmakers
-
Dragon Age: Origins Interview with Ray Muzyka
We chat with Ray Muzyka about some of the features in Dragon Age: Origins. Full Story
- Posted Jul 8, 2009 4:06 pm PT
-
Left 4 Dead 2 Doug Lombardi Interview
We talk to Doug Lombardi about Left 4 Dead 2 at a recent preview event in London. Full Story
- Posted Jul 3, 2009 4:42 pm PT
Featured Stories
-
Sony dismisses Activision threats, PS3 price cut rumors
Sony Corp. CEO Sir Howard Stringer brands third-party publisher's comments as "noise," SCEA CEO Jack Tretton says other consoles don't deliver the same value. Full Story
- Posted Jul 8, 2009 1:15 pm PT
- 1023 Comments
-
PS3 MGS4/Killzone 2 bundle now available
Best Buy begins offering rumored $400 retail configuration, which packs in 80GB console with nearly $90 of top-rated games. Full Story
- Posted Jul 7, 2009 11:19 am PT
- 489 Comments
-
Battlefield 1943 suffers server snafu
EA Dice's multiplayer-only downloadable shooter experiencing matchmaking technical difficulties after Xbox 360 launch this morning. Full Story
- Posted Jul 8, 2009 12:48 pm PT
- 158 Comments
-
Blizzard: Free-to-play WOW 'possible'
Lead designer Tom Chilton says the multiplatinum MMORPG champion could abolish monthly subscription plan by adopting microtransaction system. Full Story
- Posted Jul 7, 2009 12:43 pm PT
- 353 Comments
-
Square Enix retires Eidos publishing label
Japanese pub consolidates operations in Europe and NA, confirming some headcount reduction; British company's name will live on through dev studios. Full Story
- Posted Jul 7, 2009 11:15 am PT
- 147 Comments
Related Game
- Whiptail Interactive
- Running W Scissors
- Modern First-Person...
- Release: Apr 14, 2003 »
- ESRB: Mature
Recent News
Site Blogs
-
Battlefield 1943 Review Coming Monday
Battlefield 1943, the latest entry in the venerable Battlefield series, arrived on the Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network this...





376 Comments