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Times Online: German school shooter copied Far Cry 2 photo

The Times Online, following the great news media tradition of linking violent acts to videogames, has noted that German school shooter Tim Kretschmer was a gamer, making sure to note "sinister" parallels with Ubisoft's mercenary-themed FPS, Far Cry 2.

The article claims, falsely, that Kretschmer dressed in a black camo uniform to better emulate the FPS, a game which, as far as I've played so far, contains not a single item of clothing that falls within that description. Parallels were also drawn between the game and the killer's decision to hijack a car, as well as wield a Beretta 92 handgun. 

"You can see their influence in the way these school shooters aim and shoot accurately and move from one target to the next, moving through people dispassionately," said Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Grossman, who for some reason is still treated as an expert in these situations, despite his humorous belief that videogames can make people accurately use real guns. As someone who has recently started playing Far Cry 2 myself, I can tell you that I cannot even accurately fire a NERF Gun, let along a Beretta 92. I don't even know what a Beretta really looks like. 

Tim Kretschmer was a pathetic loser. A worthless psychopathic coward who couldn't take it just because some girl rejected his sad virgin arse. Whether he played Far Cry 2 or not, that would never have altered the fact that he was a nutjob, and a f*cking crybaby nutjob at that. Let's stop trying to take focus away from what a frigging pussy he was, because that's something I don't think ever gets emphasized enough with these spineless dickwads. They're pussies, and the news needs to stop justifying them and start calling them out.


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46 comments | showing # 1 to 46

Takeshi's Avatar
Takeshi at 03/15/2009 21:13
So did he have Malaria too then? I couldn't aim a gun without looking for the analog sticks. And change the settings to inverted.

Pussies indeed.
4knuckleshuffle's Avatar
4knuckleshuffle at 03/15/2009 21:22
Jesus Sodbuggering Christ. Too many retards in this world.
Wack's Avatar
Wack at 03/15/2009 21:24
As Chris Rock said: "What happened to just plain crazy?
icarus's Avatar
icarus at 03/15/2009 21:25
"You can see their influence in the way these school shooters aim and shoot accurately and move from one target to the next, moving through people dispassionately," said Lieutenant-Colonel Dave Grossman.

Or it could have been the fact that the kid was handling and practicing with guns since he was 8 years old according to the article. Just a guess.
mrplow8's Avatar
mrplow8 at 03/15/2009 21:28
Every time a shooter comes along there just happens to be a school shooting for people to blame it on. Coincidence? I think not...

I say it's all some sort of marketing gimmick. Ubisoft must have paid this kid to shoot up his school as a publicity stunt.
B-Radicate's Avatar
B-Radicate at 03/15/2009 21:30
I loved Far Cry 2, but I can guarantee that if this kid emulated FC2 that he would have had to pause for a loading screen every time he switched buildings and that alone would have been enough time for the cops to get there.
LukienAkeela's Avatar
LukienAkeela at 03/15/2009 21:52
If he would was really emulating FC2, he would have froze about 60 percent through his "act".
Chronic Logic's Avatar
Chronic Logic at 03/15/2009 21:53
CocoJambo's Avatar
CocoJambo at 03/15/2009 21:58
"Would you sign the fucking petiton?!" *kicks the person's head of*

Man, Postal 2 was awesome far all the wrong(right) reasons.
ThunderHeartXI's Avatar
ThunderHeartXI at 03/15/2009 21:58


This is my face in reaction to everyone's inability to draw proper conclusions without jumping on the backs of video games. I think there is something to be said about socially awkward, depressed and spiteful people existing since the dawn of civilization and the fact that the kid's dad kept guns in the house.
mikeyed's Avatar
mikeyed at 03/15/2009 22:05
Wow, Jim. I am guessing you hope to be picked up by some big conservative blog for having flamed the guy, then have him create a profile on Destructoid just so he can troll you. I pray to the Internet gods on high that your wish comes to fruition...
Eschatos's Avatar
Eschatos at 03/15/2009 22:12
You can't even hijack cars in Far Cry 2. You either blow it up, or wait for the drivers to get out and then shoot them.
TheDreadHawk's Avatar
TheDreadHawk at 03/15/2009 22:12
"dressed in a black camo uniform"

So if I wear a long sleeve black shirt and pants I'm wearing army camo and I want to shoot people?

WELL FUCK ME. I guess i'll stick to t-shirts.
Cahuatijo's Avatar
Cahuatijo at 03/15/2009 22:22
As long as humans are allowed to breed with mollusks, kretschmers will exist and so will the lieutenant-colonel. Just end mollusk-human coupling forever or abort all interspecies babies.
sickNasty's Avatar
sickNasty at 03/15/2009 22:26
Spot on Jim. These kids are pussies.

And I've played FPS's for years, and I think I would be scared of blowing my face off if I ever handled a real gun.
Furyfire's Avatar
Furyfire at 03/15/2009 22:26
...I wonder if we'll be this stupid when we get people in our age/generation group into the newsroom and congress?
Shakey1245's Avatar
Shakey1245 at 03/15/2009 22:26
I can tell when the saftey is on/off, know how to re-load properly as well as accurately adjust my aim to account for wind speed, distance, steadyness of hand and kickback from the shot from playing First Person Shooter videogames.

Oh . . no wait hang on no I can't

Do y'know why?

BECAUSE I'VE NEVER USED A GUN!
Critikal Sneek's Avatar
Critikal Sneek at 03/15/2009 22:28
girls reject me all the time but you don't see me going around shooting people.
Purringturtle's Avatar
Purringturtle at 03/15/2009 22:36
@Furyfire,

Sadly, the answer to that is probably yes. The people in power almost never actually get it. We won't be upset about video games.. but holographs will be the next big "evil".. or maybe some sort of paintball with consequences. Rock music has been "evil", novels have been "evil", plays that didn't involve religion have been "evil", it's just gaming's turn, and something will one day take its place, probably with our generation.

Personally I want wicked holographs.
Rogue Trooper's Avatar
Rogue Trooper at 03/15/2009 22:40
The first vidgame I remember playing was Operation Flashpoint and all sorts of Army sims followed after that and they did nothing to prepare me for firing a gun. Hell, it took me forever to stop fliching and closing my eyes whenever I fired. The most vidgames have done is helped me identify what gun is what. But in that respect, reading Tom Clancy has helped more there then any vidgame.
Satsumomo's Avatar
Satsumomo at 03/15/2009 23:23
There's one thing that IS related to videogames:

Ever since the army has started using videogames to train their soldiers, they have obtained a 100% fire rate from people going into combat for the first time. This means that nowadays we are not afraid to shoot a gun. I'm completely against linking videogames to shootings, but you can't deny that they have helped in building confidence on firing a weapon.
gamadaya's Avatar
gamadaya at 03/15/2009 23:53
I haven't beaten FC2 yet, but I've played it a lot (game is freaking huge for an fps!). There is nobody that I have seen that wears predominantly black clothing. You don't get bonuses for shooting guys in the head like the article says, but I have it for the PC. Maybe there's an achievement or trophy for that. There is no Beretta 92, because if there was, I'd be all over that shit. Maybe you unlock it later, but I don't even see it in the gun store, so I'm betting it's not in the game. Whoever wrote this article is more than likely lying out of his ass.
mix's Avatar
mix at 03/16/2009 00:02
That screen cap looks like my daily stroll to buy milk, did you hack my computer to get that?
motti's Avatar
motti at 03/16/2009 01:16
I've been playing video games all my life and I couldn't shoot a target a couple of metres away. Also the kid was a spoilt brat who always expected everything to go his way. One last point. I may be wrong, but how does counter strike etc have anything to do with killings that (in the specific words from the article) "resembled and excecution"?
mistic's Avatar
mistic at 03/16/2009 01:58
Whether he played Far Cry 2 or not, that would never have altered the fact that he was a nutjob, and a f*cking crybaby nutjob at that.

QFT!
Jidai Geki's Avatar
Jidai Geki at 03/16/2009 02:06
Hahaha videogames make you shoot more accurately. If that's true I should be shooting like fucking Riggs by now.
Tet's Avatar
Tet at 03/16/2009 02:48
And just like the main character in Far Cry, he was off his depression meds and mainly targeted women. Oh wait...
Nicojay2's Avatar
Nicojay2 at 03/16/2009 02:53
I can't wait until the day some moron believes they can shoot a gun as video games characters do and horrible injures their wrist or elbow from improper handling. This of course happens all the time but not directly linked to game emulating moron, just plain ol' I wanna fire a gun an' feel like a big man moron.
Nicojay2's Avatar
Nicojay2 at 03/16/2009 03:04
Just a quick second comment.

When reading the linked article, as soon as I got to in bold "From fantasy to fact: Game link to massacre" I thought surely that should be "From fact to fantasy" as that was the direction the article was now taking.
darphfather's Avatar
darphfather at 03/16/2009 04:31
I have to admit .. I agree with this.

I'm sick of video games being blamed for the violence in society.. especially since that violence was there previously. .. If they want people to blame they should look closer to home... THE PARENTS!
JustLikeBuck's Avatar
JustLikeBuck at 03/16/2009 04:38
Wooo! Far Cry 2! I love that game!

Oh...

I love the word expert. Unlike Dr, or Professor, it's almost always self applied. I should know; I'm an expert in these things ;)
fadecy's Avatar
fadecy at 03/16/2009 04:48
If you play video games and go on a murderous rampage then of course video games must be the cause. It couldn't be tv or movies or the internet. Or maybe even the fucked up mind set?
Sexualchocolate's Avatar
Sexualchocolate at 03/16/2009 04:52
To be honest, I've played games a lot longer than I've been shooting, but my first proper shoot was with a couple of guys who are in the army, one of which is a MPO trainer.

My first proper shoot, and I was nicknamed "the sniper" by the army guys, I couldn't miss! They figured it's down to my playing games, but it's just the ability to scan past a moving target and pull the trigger as you pass it. Aparantly someone who hadn't played hours of FPS games would fire as their sights hit the target, rather than where it will be when the shot gets there.

Still, I doubt i could pull off a headshot with a pistol. I'd like to give it a try, but I'm not a psycho, I value my life.

That's all it is, these shootings are kind of the suicide attempts of the past, just a "I'm going to a load of you wankers with me" suicide attempt.

It's not the games, movies, music or anything that is to blame it's socienty, putting way to much pressure on kids to fit in, the greedy, selfish competitive nature of a capitalist system forces kids like this who don't fit in to be jealous, angry and depressed. Causing these kind of "blowouts".
Mr Wrighty 987's Avatar
Mr Wrighty 987 at 03/16/2009 05:04
so Farcry 2 trains killers! wow so your gun jams all the time and it takes 20mins to walk from one side of the map till the other, also its not very good at all.
faultymoose's Avatar
faultymoose at 03/16/2009 06:04
"Still, I doubt i could pull off a headshot with a pistol. I'd like to give it a try, but I'm not a psycho, I value my life. "

It's exactly the same, but completely different.
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 03/16/2009 06:18
Also, the Beretta 92 isn't in Far Cry 2.
Sneltje's Avatar
Sneltje at 03/16/2009 06:18
It's like Wack mentioned "As Chris Rock said "What ever happened to just plain CRAZY!?""
It's always easy for the media/politicians to blame it on games/movies/music just to avoid them for being the target.
As for me it's really easy the guy was crazy and why?

a) His parents made him like this!
b) Due to the fact that most of the parents have to work hard to get all the bills paid their is no time to really know and parent your kids!
c) Maybe the guy's parents where not in to the kid problems with girls.
d) All above.

In the end it's really said to say that it's due to games that these things happen.

Chop!!
Cough's Avatar
Cough at 03/16/2009 06:52
I just want to say that i agree completely with Purringturtle. God dammit, can you imagine? "the constant use of holographic nodes made the poor boy to allucinate and shoot everything".
It makes me sick, and it will make me sick when on of my own generation is fucking up holograms. Or whatever.
John Johnson's Avatar
John Johnson at 03/16/2009 11:43
But was he paid in diamonds?
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 03/16/2009 12:15
I've shot a real gun before and I will tell you that my experience with video games had no impact on how well I hit my targets.
dfielder's Avatar
dfielder at 03/16/2009 14:21
Jim , I'd like to think that if we lived in the same city we'd be friends. I'm glad you call them pussies too. Great article!

You need to change 'Along' to 'Alone' though , little error. Unless Along is another way to put it?
dfielder's Avatar
dfielder at 03/16/2009 14:28
Also another tid bit of information from the article

"Kretschmer’s father had started taking him to a shooting range at the age of eight, according to Zdenka Karanovic of the Lautenbach gun club. Just three weeks ago he went back to the range with his father, telling him he wanted to practise his aim"

How can you possibly link this to videogames after that?
Archwright's Avatar
Archwright at 03/16/2009 14:40
[odd rant]
Ok, I play video games, and I can fire a gun (despite having no real training). I'm pretty accurate too. But I think that comes from an high level of inborn manual dexterity. I picked up typing really fast, I can take apart parts of cars easily, I chop food with big knives at high speed. I'm just plain GOOD WITH MY HANDS. Nothing to do with video games. Some people are just good at things. Yeesh.
[/odd rant]

The big problem is people confuse matters. Just because "All men are created equal" is a viable societal precept, does not mean we are all tabula rasas (blank slates).

Sure, there are environmental issues. The kid seemed to have a messed up family life, and wanted to escape. Escaped into video games. Reached a breaking point, went out like a postal worker. Next thing you know they'll be connecting Dalmer and Manson to video games.
The White Light's Avatar
The White Light at 03/16/2009 14:57
I agree with the point in the article you make, saying that Kretshmer was a fucking loser. I hate the way the media always makes these people out to be a lot deeper than they are. Most of them are douchey little fucks who get pissed off when no one likes them. If they could see the way the media portrays them, they would LOVE it.
Chilly's Avatar
Chilly at 03/17/2009 13:43
Here's an idea!! In pre-school give every child a gun and whoever lives at the end of the day can then play games, then we could blame gaming on gun crime! :D

Experts explode with horror!
Sparta2020's Avatar
Sparta2020 at 07/27/2009 12:15
ok ok, the next time a girl rejects me i'm going to go play america's army (which is a game the army sent me (in a early high school recruitment effort)so that when i grab my dads gun i will remember trying to aim that battle while crouching i will always get a head shot and 10 points will appear over my head. all these new stations throwing thing out of proportion i know personally have gamers in there studios. they should have them play it for themselve and then have the GAMEER INTERPRET the content in the game, cause all this shit they saying makes it sound like those ultra old game will an annoucer that has a super gruff voice sayin"100POINT" everytime i scratch my ass. the next time i here some shit like the mass effect sex scene or attacking the industry that i specialize in, those news people will here all i have to say. if things keep goin like they are, they will ultimately fail because the people tryin to take down games get there info from the media and the 2 second clips they see when THERE CHILDS ARE PLAYIN. the media exagerate there stories and when the developers disprove there theories imma be laughin my ass off as the jusdge bangs the gabble.
http://truestarmag.wordpress.com/
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