This is the saddest post I've ever written, and I've just completed 1,200 posts after over 5 years of doing this. I hate it when video games become somehow involved in crimes. But even Dance Dance Revolution can't seem to stay out of the picture, as is the case with the Newtown Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by Adam Lanza. Someone who is extremely disturbed and obsessed with video games. Usually the ones of the violent 1st or 3rd person shooter nature. But how in the world does Dance Dance Revolution fit into this? Adam had spent nearly four to ten hours at a time playing DDR at a local theater, going there almost every Friday through Sunday.
While we are at it, let's for once take a look into the mind of Adam Lanza and find out what made this guy tick. According to the official report, Adam had "significant mental health issues" and was also diagnosed with a mental condition known as Asperger’s disorder, also lacking empathy toward other people. But Asperger's disorder is said to be an autism-like disorder that is not associated with violence, so what was it that drove this maniac to kill 27 people, 20 of which were only children? The answer might shock you from what the report states, but also says it is still not crystal clear what made him do it.
A GPS belonging to the shooter revealed that he had went repeatedly to the theater to play DDR, and also had digital media at home showing him playing it. Two days before the shooting occurred, some anonymous user posted online that he would commit suicide, thereby making national news from it. From the relatives of Adam, they stated that he showed no signs of hostility that he would ever commit such acts of violence, but that he spent long periods not going anywhere, even though they lived in the same house and only contacted them by email.
Adam did have a hard drive that officials tried to extract data from to get more information, but the drive had been smashed by Adam to the point that they may never get data from it. An acquaintance of the shooter said that they played DDR a lot, and had conversations that didn't really involved any motives of violence, including being bullied in the past, but did state that Adam talked somewhat about expressing an interest in mass murders and serial killings. Not a frequent topic, but one that was brought up on occasion. There was also a bottle with the shooters name on it that had the name "acetaminophen with codeine" stated upon it, which was in the mother's bathroom and also a part of the master bedroom.
A number of weapons were also found which included knives, swords, spears, and so on. Now let's get to the part about where video games seem to fit into all of this. Besides Dance Dance Revolution, which to me seems to be something that he just played on the side and might not have had any real significance to violence, but then again I'm not a psychiatrist. Perhaps he used DDR to let off some steam or to relax aggressions within him.
There were also a large number of various video games in the basement or game room, some of which were listed in a report below.
-“Left for Dead”
-“Metal Gear Solid”
-“Dead Rising”
-“Half Life”
-“Battlefield”
-“Call of Duty”
-“Grand Theft Auto”
-“Shin Megami Tensei”
-“Dynasty Warriors”
-“Vice City”
-“Team Fortress”
-“Doom”
That's quite a list isn't it? This is also only a partial list, but one that shows what kind of games he played, including ones that involved content of a violent and mature nature. The report goes on to reveal something even more shocking. Among the topics and items seized were the following.
- Bookmarks pertaining to firearms, military, politics, mass murder, video games, music,
books, Army Ranger, computers and programs, ammunition, candy, economic books
- Two videos showing suicide by gunshot
- Commercial movies depicting mass shootings
- The computer game titled “School Shooting” where the player controls a character who
enters a school and shoots at students
- Screen shots (172) of the online game “Combat Arms”
- “Dance Dance Revolution” (DDR) game screen shots
- Videos of shooter playing DDR
- Images of the shooter holding a handgun to his head
- Images of the shooter holding a rifle to his head
- Five-second video (dramatization) depicting children being shot
- Images of shooter with a rifle, shotgun and numerous magazines in his pockets
-A document written showing the prerequisites for a mass murder spreadsheet
- A spreadsheet listing mass murders by name and information about the incident
- Materials regarding the topic of pedophilia and advocating for rights for pedophiles (not child pornography)42
- Large amount of materials relating to Columbine shootings and documents on mass murders
- Large amount of materials on firearms
- Comedy videos
- Images of hamsters
-Images of Lego creations
Yes, you saw right, "A computer game called "School Shooting", where a player controls the character to carry out a shooting in a school. Beats me what maniac would create such a thing, but there it is. There is more where this came from, but I wanted to share this with you in hopes you would share it with others. Also feel free to leave your thoughts and comments in the section below. Your feedback and feelings are always welcome. Perhaps you could add some of your own wisdom to such as senseless act. In the meantime, my heart goes out to the victims of the shooter. You can see their photos below. May their souls rest in peace.
There is a one minute video for you to watch from the Boston report link below. I suggest you take a look at it if you can stomach it. Each link also has more information than I've posted here.
Source for Dance Dance Revolution Report (Boston)
Source for Boston Report (extended)
Full Sandy Hook PDF Report
