No, don't ban violent games. Because teenagers are all hateful and self-centred (no joke, see Columbine and past shootings yourself if you don't believe me.)

We shall continue to weep on for teens like this, and they deserved to be executed by hanging for doing these crimes and besides, these people makes me feel ashamed to be a group of youths.

Oh please, don't you know. Take2 has cleaner crews they send out whenever an incident happens. They bribe the police, take all evidence linking an incident to them.

Gosh. You are all so naive.

Man the tinfoil in my hat itches.

I bet Jack Thompson jumped on this case like all the other ones, and in this case I believe an "Oh SNAAAP!!" is in order.

Wow, I find it almost unbelieveable that an 18 year old didn't own any video games or a computer. Weird.

@Kajex

"Or did they need the manual to tell them that you have to approach form behind and press ‘b’?"

you bring up my favorite point to put in peoples face when they say that games are simulators, like when my crazy aunt said "Need for Speed is a simulator teaching me to flee the police in a car", even though when i look for the x button in my car its never there.

also i'd like to say i think jack needs a new soapbox for this case, his old one broke.

Jack Thompson wrong yet again. What else is new? This is just another case of JT making up nonsense hoping that the shooter was a gamer. Just like when he claimed the Washington DC sniper might be a gamer who "trained on Halo" riding a bike and shooting people from scene to scene. Wrong. Or just like he claimed that Bully is a "Columbine Simulator". Wrong. Or just like he claimed his Louisiana bill was bullet proof and constitutional. Wrong. Or that Midway Games embedded his image in the newest Mortal Kombat game. Wrong (it was user created). Or like how he claimed The Sims had nudity in there that was embedded by the developer. Wrong. The list goes on and on and on...

Now if we can only find out the idiot in the Utah Legistature that proclaimed the Mall shooter trained on GTA as fact, even though it was a bogus claim. Any idea who it was, Dennis?

@Zerodash

I agree, I don't understand how these type of things can be allowed for any lawyer to do. Perhaps thats what they meant by unprofessional conduct, but they were speaking about during a case. I guess if the lawyer isn't in a case at the time and sending emails that have nothing to do with the case, they could say any nonsense they want. Even if they have no proof, have never been there, don't know the attacker and are bat sh*% insane.

That's one thing I don't get. He states over and over that the games must have been ditched, yet when you step back, you wonder why on earth someone would WANT to ditch them. Are they evidence? Are they relevant to the interests and connections to the crime they just committed? Could they not have just left them home on the presumption that they were going to come back? And why on earth would they HAVE the games on hand to begin with? Did they play in the cars they used to get to their locations? Or did they need the manual to tell them that you have to approach form behind and press 'b'?

Now Jack will have to do something he's not accustomed to.............be reasonable and logical.

I'm very happy this turned out to be the case. For once we're not going to get the blame for someone pulling a stunt like this.

Is this what the video game industry has to deal with anytime a tragedy of this manner occurs? Wait for the police to prove that Thompson is simply senile? I can't believe they put up with his harassment after he has been proven wrong, and his accusations do nothing but damage their reputation. I wonder if the industry would be able to sue him for libel and slander considering all the trash talking that he's done.

It's sad when the media makes mention of something like that as if it an unsual occurance and that we should be surprised that a person can actually be a crazy killer without having played any sort of video games.

@Jabrwock

I am sure they will and then it will be like: Guy wore a trench coat just like Columbine, and the guys from Columbline played video games therefore video games caused this tragedy. Ban video games!

@gs2005

"In fact, Talovic did not even own a computer or a video-game system, Burbank said."
"he’ll make something up that fits his conspiracy theory if he wants to concerning this"

I remember the Jacob Robida case, and JT even told the police to search the highway, because clearly he'd ditched his in-car-video-game-self-pleasuring-device as he fled. Didn't ditch the weapons he was carrying though...

John Bruce Thompson lies all the time-he'll make something up that fits his conspiracy theory if he wants to concerning this. His prior lack of success across all fronts does not matter to people who are looking for a scapegoat...

Maybe the fact that he didn't own a computer/video game system is the reason he went on a killing spree.

@Falcon

It's not really about Jack, although he was the one who claimed the kid did play video games. This is more in regards to report on a subject that usually has people try to tie video games to. Most people would much rather it not BE about Jack, but this wouldn't be gamepolitics if it weren't covered due to the relevence of games and politics that Jack immerses himself into. And law is still a part of politics, as well, so you can't just ignore the school shootings that supposedly "were caused by this person playing video games."

And indeed, superb job by the SLCPD- they do have their faults, but this is them shining.

"In addition to the new info about the games, the Deseret News report contains an excellent description of the Salt Lake City P.D.’s professionalism and bravery under fire in responding to the mall shooting incident."

You can say that again. Those police officers are amazing. Kodus to them for stopping what could have been much worse.

The Video Game information is just icing.

Cue Jack Thompson saying that the killer either "ditched the evidence", or the police "disregarded the evidence" in 5, 4, 3, 2...

[...] Source et Source [...]

Is anyone staying on top of reporting JT's crap/lies to the Florida Bar?

[...] You may have heard how Salt Lake City teen Sulejman Talovic (he was 18 yrs old) recently went on a muderous rampage through a Mall in Salt Lake ultimately killing 6 before being killed himself. Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank has stated that he and his crew are still looking for a motive. Talovic apparently did not own a PC or any kind of game console, therefore making a “GTA made him do it” explanation impossible. Surely the media would have loved to make the video game connection but in this tragic case, that connection doesn’t exist. Source: [GamePolitics] Feel free to spread the love...These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

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