http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/03/24_ap_moreweise/[q]Thompson sees parallels between the videogame, "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City," and Jeff Weise's animated production "Target Practice."
"It's a nearly precise replication of that game, even down to the exploding police car," says Thompson. "Also, the soundtrack of these two flash films, as they're called, that Weise prepared to basically let people know what he was going to do, have sound tracks of videogames on them."
Calls to the company that makes "Grand Theft Auto," Take2 Interactive, were not returned. And it's still not clear if Jeff Weise played video games. [/q]
Um..... where should we start with this stupidity?
Presumably, the Nazi/Hitler-worship, the dead (father) and brain damaged (mother) parents and the likely mental illness, has aboslutely nothing atall to do with it. No, it was all because he played a game. Er, a game which he might not actually own. Or have ever played, now I think of it. In fact, there's no evidence that he'd even heard of it. But still, it's the games fault.
Because how else would you know that a grenade blows stuff up if you hadn't played Grand Theft Auto? (er... assuming the flash animation being cited is actually by our nutty murderer kid, which isn't actually proven...)
EDIT; oh, and of course the animation itself lists a favourite film as being
Elephant - a film about a Columbine style shooting (which he couldn't have legally watched either due to the age rating) - not that could have had a bearing on anything, oh no no no. It had to be GTA.
Oh, and need anyone point out a 16-year old isn't actually legally allowed to buy any GTA game, what with the age ratings and all? So even if he had a giant Vice City poster up on his walls, copies in every cupboard. and wrote 'GTA told me to kill!' on blood on the walls, it'd still be down to the fault of the shop which sold him the game.
