Rampage in German School

Perun

Perun

His name struck fear into hearts of men
Staff member
For those of you who think that only your country is fucked up, catch the latest news:

Germany shooting spree 'kills 15'

This is, I think, the third major killing spree in a German school after the ones in Erfurt in 2002 and Emsdetten in 2006. Allow me to predict what is going to happen now: For the rest of today, everybody is going to be shocked, and the evening news will present first reactions from German politicians. The tabloids will feature soppy headlines in the next days, and by tomorrow evening, everybody will be talking about Killerspiele ("Killer Games", i.e. first-person shooters) being responsible. Some people will point out the guy's father had sixteen guns at home. And most people will answer to the Killerspiele-claim with reactions ranging from "I play them too and I never killed anyone" to demonstratively hosting first-person shooter LAN parties, and sales of T-shirts reading "Killer Game Player" will shoot through the roof again. People will try to pinpoint a reason for the spree, either that the guy was fucked up to begin with, that his parents didn't care for him, that his dad was a gun fanatic, that he listened to heavy metal, or that he played first person shooters, not realising that it could be more than one reason. TV psychologists will have a field day, and the topic will be used as a platform for upcoming election rallies. After the elections (September), it will be all forgotten about again. Talk about a fucked up society.


EDIT: I already read the first comments from people I know: "I'm going to play a killer game now" and "that's the average amount of traffic deaths every day".
 
Sorry to hear about this Per, I feel your pain; not only in the event itself but in the inevitable reactions.
 
It's the reactions, really. I'm not feeling emotional about the rampage (not any more than ones that happen elsewhere anyway), but I'm pissed off at how people deal with this.
 
I get that.  Its the 'somebody else is to blame' theory that goes around so much.  Its not that the kids were just fuckers, its that some one has to be at blame-- the school, the parents, guns, music, booze, whatever.  When society starts to take some responsibility, this won't happen as much (IMO).
 
Yeah, some people are just born out of their minds. Nothing to do about that..................... Gattaca
 
well, if anyone on these forums had a loved one affected by this tragedy, let me say that I'm sorry for your loss.

As for your predictions, Perun, spot on. I can tell you that's exactly how it would play out here in North America as well. I've seen it too many times - Columbine, Tabor, Dawson, Virginia Tech, etc. Always the same way.
 
*reading this topic while shaking his head*

Some people are emotional about such rampages and that's why they react.

That's how emotions work. That's how minds work.

Some others are not emotional about such rampages (until some family member or friend is involved - then they'll beep different), but that doesn't mean that they need to make themselves angry about other peoples' reactions instead of the real terror.

Remember the Twin Towers? How big does a disaster need to be before people react emotionally?
 
Sorry mate, I don't respect reactions like wearing a t-shirt that says "Killer Game Player" on it.

And I'm not making this up. This actually happened in the past, and it's going to happen again.
 
edit: sorry, I think I missed the point. I understand it better now.
Sadly, people who like (to provoke) violence in the streets exist.
 
Perun, your analysis is almost exactly what happened here in Finland after the shootings last fall.  Except I haven't seen that "killer game t-shirts" thing at all, so that's something unique to Germany I guess. 

Anyway, I don't really know what to say about this shooting.  It's not the first time, it's probably not the last time, and it's sad as always.
 
I've got to admit that I never liked the "killer games". In fact, I think most of them are morally repugnant. Any recreational activity which involves even pretending to kill another person disgusts me.

I don't think such games can create a real killer. But they do contribute to a general desensitization to violence, and that can't be good.
 
Sorry, I've been brutally slaughtering Japanese in Call of Duty, by stabbing them in the virtual throat with a virtual bayonet, and in my spare time, have been watching the battle scenes from Saving Private Ryan over and over and over again.  Did I miss something?

In all seriousness, I believe that the problem is not people being desensitized to violence; I believe the problem is a lack of moral teaching by society.  Our society was brutally violent even in the most peaceful of times, and I think the recent increase in school shootings has less to do with video games and more to do with the increasing inability of our family structure to impart basic values on our children.

Having said that, games and movies are appropriate for a certain age level for a reason; a child who sees tv violence from age 2 is going to be different than someone who plays their first shooter game at 15 or 13 years old.  But it still comes down to this: bad parenting.  Parents who don't care what their kids watch/do.
 
From what I have heard in the media is  that this German kid appeared to be totally normal.

He was a trained shooter, and also worked out in a sportschool as well. His father own a lot of weapons, kept them in a safe. All but one, which was in the parental bedroom.

The environment was one of hardworking people, with perhaps not enough attention for their kids.

A lot of the victims are girls and women, it's not yet sure if this has to do with the motive.
 
From what I heard of the Finnish school shootings, both the shooters were "normal".  Average achievers in school, rather quiet but not without friends, not poor.  Almost exactly the same profile as this German shooter.

The Finnish shooters both listened to metal (industrial metal and modern rock à la Rammstein and In Flames respectively, IIRC), that got some backlash.  And they played video games (but then, half the youth do).  Tomorrow's tabloids will be full of either "gasp, the shooter listened to metal" or "gasp, the shooter played shooting games".  Though I hope not, it would weaken the stereotype and maybe point the media and general public to look elsewhere for easy culprits.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
I've got to admit that I never liked the "killer games". In fact, I think most of them are morally repugnant. Any recreational activity which involves even pretending to kill another person disgusts me.

I don't think such games can create a real killer. But they do contribute to a general desensitization to violence, and that can't be good.
Click to expand...

Completely agree! I used to love said games and even movies (My review for Friday 13th makes that clear), but sometime in the last 5 years I feel I've been resensitized and now I can't stand them.

Especially Call of Duty games. WWII was a horrible event where thousands perished and now people use it as entertainment. I wonder if the kids playing it have any clue about their grandparents involvement in it.
 
It now appears that the kid wasn't so normal after all. He was mobbed and made fun of by his peers and ignored by his teachers, he had been treated for depression at a psychiatric hospital and due for more treatment. He was apparently a gun fanatic, and had unlimited access to the gun and ammunition he used. And he played a lot of Counterstrike. He also seems to have openly announced the rampage in an internet chatroom the night before.
 
I wonder how he got that shitload of ammunition that he carried with him, and if his irresponsible father will be punished for the gun.
 
He got the ammunition from his father/from home. Investigations are already running against his father.

EDIT: I just heard they're trying to charge the father with negligent homicide or even assisted murder.
 
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