A portrait of a troubled, depressed teenager with easy access to an unsecured pistol has begun to emerge in the days after the youth went on a rampage, killing 15 people before taking his own life.
The police have established that the teenager, Tim Kretschmer, 17, last year broke off a round of psychological counseling for depression.
Searching his bedroom, the police found violent computer games ”” in which, experts say, players digitally clothe and arm themselves for combat ”” plus brutal videos and play weapons that fire small yellow pellets, said Siegfried Mahler of the Stuttgart prosecutors’ office.
Violent video games are training films for kids to take their violent fantasies one step further. The final step is to carry the training out. He suffered from depression and it will probably come out later that he was also bullied. This has an eerie similarity to Columbine High School. Park Dietz the forensic psychiatrist did an excellent followup evaluation of Columbine and this video is available. The usual chicken/egg arguments will emerge claiming violent video games don’t cause kids to be violent but violent video games help disturbed kids rehearse and energize their anger.
I’d say the fact that his bedroom contained violent computer games, brutal videos and play weapons is a bigger problem with his parents than their failing to secure one pistol.