Story highlights
The victim was 87, public records show
The gun belonged to the caregiver, two CNN affiliates report
The boy won't face charges because he is younger than 10
The video game maker rejects any suggestion its game might have sparked killing
An 8-year-old Louisiana boy intentionally shot and killed his elderly caregiver after playing a violent video game, authorities say.
Marie Smothers was pronounced dead at the scene with a gunshot wound to the head in a mobile home park in Slaughter, Louisiana, the East Feliciana Parish Sheriff’s Department said in a prepared statement. Slaughter is about 20 miles north of Baton Rouge.
Authorities identified the woman as the boy’s “caregiver,” without stating whether she is a relative. But CNN affiliate WBRZ reported that the woman was the boy’s grandmother.
Smothers was 87, public records show.
“By accounts of relatives of the victim, as well as friends of the family, the victim and the juvenile had a normal, loving, relationship and even shared the same bedroom,” the sheriff’s department said.
The gun belonged to Smothers, WBRZ reported. CNN affiliate WAFB reported that a man identifying himself as the boy’s father also said the gun belongs to Smothers.
Although the boy initially told investigators that he accidentally shot the woman Thursday while playing with a firearm, the probe led authorities to believe he “intentionally shot Mrs. Smothers in the back of the head as she sat in her living room watching television,” the sheriff’s department statement said.
The boy won’t face charges. Under Louisiana law, a child younger than 10 is exempt from criminal responsibility.
“We have a child who does not know the impact of the consequences of the act he committed,” Sclynski Legier, a lawyer, told CNN affiliate WAFB. “He truly doesn’t understand that.”
The boy is now with his parents.
Neighbors say the mobile home park is generally a quiet and safe place, and they wonder why precautions hadn’t been taken.
“Where did she have the gun? Where was It placed? Was it in his eyesight? That’s what kind of thoughts are going through my head,” Johnnie Scott told WBRZ.
Violence in video games
While the motive is unclear, the sheriff’s department implied the child’s activities in a violent virtual world may have led to the killing.
“Although a motive for the shooting is unknown at this time investigators have learned that the juvenile suspect was playing a video game on the Play Station III ‘Grand Theft Auto IV,’ a realistic game that has been associated with encouraging violence and awards points to players for killing people, just minutes before the homicide occurred.”
The game’s maker, Take Two Interactive, rejected the link.
“Ascribing a connection to entertainment – a theory that has been disproven repeatedly by multiple independent studies – both minimizes this moment and sidesteps the real issues at hand,” the company said in a statement.
Studies by reputable academic and medical sources have come to a variety of conclusions. The Obama administration has called for more research.
Critics of video game violence and industry supporters have long debated whether virtual violence leads to actual violence. The argument has become more heated since 26 people died in a December shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The shooter, Adam Lanza, was reportedly obsessed with violent video games.
Is media violence damaging to kids?
Speaking soon after the shootings at Sandy Hook, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who led his state through grieving after a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, speculated about a connection.
“There might well be some direct connection between people who have some mental instability and when they go over the edge – they transport themselves, they become part of one of those video games,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Perhaps that’s why all these assault weapons are used.”
A month after the Sandy Hook shooting, John Riccitiello, president and CEO of the video game maker Electronic Arts, said in a conference call with bank analysts there wasn’t a connection, but the industry faces a “perception issue,” the BBC reported.
Opinion: Video games didn’t cause Newtown shooting
Vice President Joe Biden, who is heading an inquiry into the causes of gun violence, has floated the idea of taxing violent games and sending proceeds to help victims and their families, Forbes.com reported.
CNN’s Josh Levs and Mike Pearson contributed to this report.