Recently, an eight year old was involved in shooting his 87-year old grandmother. This occurred, according to authorities, after the minor had played Grand Theft Auto IV and was apparently influenced by the events that happened in-game. As is per the norm, it didn’t take long for the mainstream media to jump on the bandwagon and once again blame video games for causing violence in the youth and yada yada.
Publisher Take Two Interactivee has issued a response to CNN regarding the link between the crime and the minor playing GTA IV. “Ascribing a connection to entertainment – a theory that has been disproven repeatedly by multiple independent studies – both minimizes this moment and sidesteps the real issues at hand.”
The minor, for his part, won’t be charged with the crime since under Louisiana law, no one under the age of ten can be charged with criminal responsibility. And video games are apparently the problem here?
