Sheriff: Boy shoots sister in video game controller dispute

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


The Associated Press
 Updated 7:24 pm, Sunday, March 18, 2018

Authorities in Mississippi say a 9-year-old boy has shot his 13-year-old sister in the head and wounded her after an argument over a video game controller.

Monroe County Sheriff Cecil Cantrell told local news outlets that the girl wouldn't give up the video game controller when her brother wanted it on Saturday. He says the boy shot the girl in the back of the head and that the bullet entered her brain.

The girl was rushed to Le Bonheur's Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Details of her condition weren't immediately known Sunday afternoon.

Authorities say they don't yet know how the firearm used in the shooting had been accessed. The sheriff added that the circumstances of the shooting are still being investigated.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Sheriff-Boy-shoots-sister-in-video-game-12762830.php

[TDale313]

1. ...

[SoCalMusicLover]

2. Ban Video Games!

Obviously if it were not for video games, this wouldn't have happened.

The Constitution does not give us the right to possess video games.

[Mosby]

46. the connection between video games and violence is well established

By psychological research.

Having access to guns just made it easier for the kid to act out in a deadly way.

[Jedi Guy]

60. Really?

A study from the University of York that followed 3000 participants found no link between video games and violence.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180116131317.htm

The attempt to link aggression to gaming has been ongoing since the early 90s at the very least. Every time there is a mass shooting, everything from Marilyn Manson to TV and film to gaming has been thrown out as a cause. It's the same moral panic nonsense that happened with rock music and comic books in the 50s.

As technology has allowed games to become more sophisticated and realistic, games tell stories that mirror the violence already present in the real world. If video games were priming people to become violent, one would expect violent crime to rise, as players become older and games become more violent. Instead, violent crime has decreased.

I and nearly all of my close friends grew up playing video games, from Mario to Grand Theft Auto. Not one of us has been involved in any sort of violent crime, nor has one of us raised a hand to another person in anger. That's anecdotal, sure, but the attempt to scapegoat gaming as a culprit for society's ills is frustrating and annoying.

At best, the jury is still out on whether or not video games contribute to real world violence. Some studies say it does, others say it doesn't. I wouldn't characterize the connection as "well established" at all.

[Mosby]

62. APA Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression

WASHINGTON — Violent video game play is linked to increased aggression in players but insufficient evidence exists about whether the link extends to criminal violence or delinquency, according to a new American Psychological Association task force report.

“The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behavior, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in prosocial behavior, empathy and sensitivity to aggression,” says the report of the APA Task Force on Violent Media. The task force’s review is the first in this field to examine the breadth of studies included and to undertake multiple approaches to reviewing the literature.

“Scientists have investigated the use of violent video games for more than two decades but to date, there is very limited research addressing whether violent video games cause people to commit acts of criminal violence,” said Mark Appelbaum, PhD, task force chair. “However, the link between violence in video games and increased aggression in players is one of the most studied and best established in the field.”

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/08/violent-video-games.aspx

So yeah, really. The problem researchers have showing a connection to criminal behavior and delinquency is having to navigate a web of intervening variables that muddy up the correlations.

[Jedi Guy]

63. And like I said...

The jury is still out. I can (and did) find studies that say the opposite. So it's hardly well-established that there is a link between gaming and real world violence.

[iluvtennis]

3. Where were the parents and why wasn't the gun locked up so these children couldn't get to them

[bettyellen]

4. The parents/ gun owners should be in jail right now.

[lostnfound]

22. Thatll make the girl recover quicker.. and deter other dummies from arming their 9 year olds

Or not

[LisaL]

25. The girl isn't going to recover. She died.

[lostnfound]

36. So sad. Nt

[bettyellen]

44. They already prioritized their own liberty over their kids life. So Im guessing jail would be a

deterrent.

Shes dead, because of a gun owners negligence. Theyre commonly not prosecuted for this. I’m curious how often they even lose their guns.

[mercuryblues]

29. Yup.

the registered owner of the gun should be arrested. The minimum sentence should be 5 years for a gun injury and 10 for a death. If neither parent are registered owners, both get arrested.

What kind of house is it where the kid thinks a gun is an answer to not getting his way?

[MichMary]

54. And then what happens

to the surviving child? He's killed his sister, he's probably deeply traumatized by it, and he should lose his parents til he's in his mid-teens?

I think the parents have probably been punished enough by losing their daughter; nothing the law could do to them could be worse.

[mercuryblues]

56. Apparently parents aren't punished enough

because this keeps happening, over and over again. The parents made their decision on how they wanted their kid to be raised the minute they left their gun unsecured and loaded.

Maybe losing negligent parent(s) are what this kid needs. They have literally done such a bang up job so far. I also said the registered owner and only both parents if the gun was unregistered.

[EL34x4]

32. I'm going to place my bet that "parents" equal "parent"

...and that "gun owners" equal "momma's boyfriend" and that momma's boyfriend shouldn't have been allowed to posses a firearm to begin with.

Just a hunch.

[maxsolomon]

38. You let me know if/when your hunch is proved right or wrong.

It could be "Uncle Dumbass", too.

[EL34x4]

39. Here you go. Updated a minute after my post.

https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2018/03/19/video-game-fatal-shooting-victim-identified/437908002/

"Authorities don't yet know how the child had access to the weapon they say he used to shoot his sister, but authorities said they believe the weapon belonged to the mother's live in boyfriend."

Don't yet know if boyfriend was allowed to legally possess a firearm or not but, again, I'm going to bet on "not."

[maxsolomon]

40. Ah, America.

Good guess.

[bettyellen]

45. How does it matter if the man was a bio-father again? Plenty of dads and moms

Are careless idiots with their guns. The paternity is not an issue.

[EL34x4]

47. I was simply making a prediction regarding certain details...

...that turned out to be correct, that's all.

[GeorgeHayduke]

5. I suspect this has less to do with video games

and more to do with Mississippi.

[mr_lebowski]

6. Note to self ... if u want to own guns, make sure you only ever have 1 child ... (nt)

[jmowreader]

8. Or two video game controllers

[OldHippieChick]

35. Better yet, do not

procreate.

[Binkie The Clown]

7. Say what you want, there was only ONE cause for this: A gun in the house. nt

[LisaL]

27. And the kid somehow knew how to use it.

[Binkie The Clown]

34. What's to know. Every kid has seen guns used on TV.

I knew how to use a gun when I was old enough to watch cowboys on TV shooting up the town. There's no special knowledge required to point and pull a trigger.

[Dopers_Greed]

9. Charges for the parents/guardians?

[KG]

10. yay. guns.

[kchamberlin25]

11. If only she had had a gun to defend herself (sigh)

[jaxind]

12. Ha ha!

Ha ha! Yes, ban the video games... the guns have nothing to do with it! Of course, the gun nut wouldn't know that's sarcasm...they would be like "yes, yes ban the video games and keep the guns!"

[Vinca]

13. The GOP solution: MORE GUNS!

[LisaL]

14. Sister didn't make it.

[Deuce]

17. So sad...

[Submariner]

15. How does a parent now deal with this

Can you live in the same house together?

Send him off to live with a relative for a few years?

The sadness and anger must be unbearable.

[LisaL]

26. If you were his relative, would you want him in your home?

[lostnfound]

37. He is NINE. He needs to be adopted by two compassionate superhumans...

So much misery.

[MichMary]

55. He isn't a dog that needs to be "rehomed"

He is a child who has lost his sister, and you would rip him away from his mother as well?

[Tarc]

16. The Sheriff, of course, makes it about video games, and not guns

Authorities don't yet know how the child had access to the weapon they say he used to shoot his sister. It's also unclear how much knowledge the boy had of the dangers of guns.

"He’s just 9. I assume he’s seen this on video games or TV," Cantrell said. "I don't know if he knew exactly what this would do. I can’t answer that. I do know it’s a tragedy."

- https://www.clarionledger.com/news/

[mountain grammy]

21. I would argue it's not a tragedy, it's a crime,

to leave a loaded gun where a child can find it.

[LisaL]

24. Well, he knew enough to point it at the back of girls had and pull a trigger.

[moriah]

31. If he was too young to know the difference, the gun should have been secured.

I know it doesn't help the dead child, but there should be negligent homicide charges against the parents.

FFS, if a woman I know who was taking care of her three grandkids when the two oldest cooperated to unlock doors and drowned in the pond on the property (not her house, and her hearing wasn't that great, she was on the other side of the house separated from them by a running washer and dryer, realized that she wasn't hearing their babble when she changed a load over and found the chairs next to the door) was charged with manslaughter....

Then leaving a gun unsecured is equally as negligent.

[oberliner]

50. There won't be any charges

In Mississippi, there is no law that holds an adult responsible when children have access to weapons that are not secured.

[Codeine]

18. The only way to stop a bad 4th grader with a gun

is a good middle schooler with a gun?

Can you imagine what this little boy will be living with forever? And how does a mother hold and comfort a child who has taken the life of her other child? We have two kids of exactly the same age and gender and I can’t even comprehend this from a parenting perspective.

Fucking tragic beyond words.

[IronLionZion]

19. The only thing that stops a 9 year old with a gun

is more responsible parenting and having the gun locked up where kids can't get it. Not more guns.

[CozyMystery]

20. The real reason we need strict gun control

The real reason we need strict gun control is that gun owners and sellers cannot curb their use of guns to lawful requirements, and they cannot keep their guns out of the hands of those who will use them unlawfully.

The problem lies with gun owners. It is not caused by the victims. It cannot be solved with more guns. It can be solved with fewer guns and fewer gun owners. We need serious restrictions on gun ownership. Ya, ya, preaching to the choir.

Stringent training in the use of guns for those that have them. Think this isn't necessary? An example is when my mom had her house broken into 4 times while she was at work. One of her friends bought her a Glock. I went to check on her because she had a migraine. The Glock was sitting on her bedside table, loaded, and ready to go. She explained that it was protection from burglars. She had never shot a gun. I called her friend and he came and got it.

Then I called my brother. He gave her his Rottweiler -- and her house was never broken into again. And Mom was never lonely again -- she had a best friend for the rest of that dog's life. (Not saying Rottweilers or other dogs are the answer for making some people feel safe in their homes.)

Use permits after stringent background checks. Severe restrictions on reasons a person can own a gun, on how many guns they can own, and on what types of guns they can own.

We are all victims of this lack of legal behavior on the part of gun owners. Victims include everyone who knows and cares about the person killed, injured, or threatened. Victims include everyone who is affected by gun crimes, including all of us who are horrified by them.

The results of these crimes are horrific to the injured and the survivors. PTSD, families torn apart, funerals, lifelong complications from injuries, increasing fears of law-abiding citizens ... the list can run on forever.

To me, the results of gun crimes go directly to the issue of the restriction of gun ownership rights. Why should X's right to be able to procure a gun and commit a crime overshadow the rights of all of us to live peaceful lives unfettered by fear of the next gunshot?

[Javaman]

23. We must ban video games because siblings never fight!

and the responsible parents aren't to blame, of course, how could they know that the 9 year old knew exactly were the gun was, that it was loaded and how to use it! not the parents fault, it was the video game that showed him how to do all of that. yup!

we are a cartoon nation, with cartoon people with cartoon values.

[Ferrets are Cool]

28. If ONLY the sister had been packing.

Just in case any here are sarcasm impaired.

[Squinch]

30. Owner/purchaser of the gun should go to jail.

[EL34x4]

41. Again, I' bet the "owner" and the "purchaser" are two different people.

And the "owner" (aka momma's boyfriend) is five hundred miles away right now.

[Squinch]

42. Then both should go to jail.

[oberliner]

49. Under what law?

In Mississippi, there is no law that holds an adult responsible when children have access to weapons that are not secured.

[moriah]

57. Is there a law that specifically exempts not securing firearms from being "culpable negligence"?

https://law.justia.com/codes/mississippi/2016/title-97/chapter-3/section-97-3-47/

Every other killing of a human being, by the act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, and without authority of law, not provided for in this title, shall be manslaughter.

Bolding mine.

If they wanted to, they could charge, unless there's a specific law saying not properly securing firearms doesn't qualify as culpable negligence.

And if people are going to keep making videos of yelling at loaded guns and them not firing to say "guns don't kill people", then they must accept there is no such thing as an "accidental discharge". Every time a gun goes off, a human had to do something, or failed to do something they should have known to do.

And considering the "three Cs" gun owners are taught its their responsibility to keep their guns away from (criminals, children, and the clueless), yes, a reasonable person should have known better.

It's not going to bring back their child. The woman I mentioned in another thread who was charged because she didn't hear the kids get outside was able to plead and only get an ankle bracelet. But it WOULD mean that homr couldn't have firearms in it anymore, which is probably a better outcome than the system taking the one child they have left -- the other option.

[Squinch]

58. Yes, get it? Thats the problem.

[SpankMe]

33. Painful tragedy

Can you imagine this boy will go the rest of his life with the knowledge that he killed his sister. I wonder what's going through his mind right now?

[Codeine]

43. It breaks my heart knowing

that his mother will probably never hold him in her arms again. Imagine being a nine-year-old boy and knowing, deep in your heart, that mommy will never really love you again.

Devastating.

[ManiacJoe]

48. Proper secured storage of guns is a good thing and relatively cheap.

There is no excuse.

[fleabiscuit]

51. The parents should be charged with clild endangerment. nt

[oberliner]

59. There appears to only be one parent in the picture

And her live-in boyfriend, whose gun it was.

[fleabiscuit]

61. Then both of them. nt

[greyl]

52. "video game controller dispute" is the story, but

might not be the truth.

[riversedge]

53. good god!! No words.