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Student Arrested For Using Phone App To 'Shoot' Classmates

Posted by Soulskill on from the probably-time-to-shut-down-that-old-quake-server dept.

New submitter Lord_Breetai sends word that a Louisiana high school student has been arrested for using a mobile app to simulate shooting his classmates. The app overlays an FPS-style gun and UI over a real background seen through the device's camera. The student tried it out and then unwisely posted a video of it on YouTube. Another student's parent saw the video and reported it to authorities. Major Wolfe of the local police said, "You can't ignore it. We don't know at what time that game becomes reality. He said it was a result of him being frustrated and tired of being bullied. He said that he had no intentions of hurting anybody. We have to take all threats seriously and we have no way of knowing that without investigating and getting to the bottom of it. With all the school shooting we've had in the United States, it's just not a very good game to be playing at this time." The boy is now facing criminal charges for terrorizing and interference of the operation of a school.

4 of 706 comments (clear)

  1. Unsure of reality? by KeensMustard · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Are you an officer of the LAW?

    Are you unable to discern when computer games have become reality?

    Here's some helpful signs for our boys in blue:

    Scenario 1: It's quite dark, there are men wearing suits with bright flouro stripes. Jeff Bridges is there. COMPUTER GAME HAS BECOME REALITY.

    Scenario 2: You like to play starfighter. You have just beaten the high score, and a man in a hat is inviting you to go for a ride in his car that can fly. YOUR GAME IS ABOUT TO BECOME REALITY.

    Scenario 3: You are hacked into a computer. Is it calling itself joshua? Is it seemingly reluctant to play Thermonuclear War? YOUR GAME IS ABOUT TO BECOME REALITY.

    Scenario 4: Your life doesn't resemble Scenarios 1 - 3? You life is not a computer game.

    Sorry.

    Play Again (Y/N)?

  2. Re:Really? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The root of the problem is that crime rates have fallen dramatically over the last two decades, while the number of police officers has not. The cops don't have enough real crime to deal with, so they fill the vacuum with make believe crime instead. The solution is to either reduce the number of police, or to refocus them on community policing and crime reduction rather than "making arrests".

  3. Re:Really? by fredprado · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sure it is. Politically correctness is basically a set of acceptable behaviors to which any deviation is considered atrocious and punishable. It is the attempt to control and conform people to the same ideas by force. What he did was completely harmless, and I personally find very fun, as I find fun to play Quake or GTA, for example.

  4. Re:Solidarity by Crudely_Indecent · · Score: 5, Interesting

    CRIMINAL CHARGES

    I'm wondering exactly what law he broke... Really, he had no weapon - just a phone. The next thing you'll hear about is some kid being arrested because he gave a dirty look at someone, because surely he was "thinking" of killing somebody.

    I hope a false arrest charge is brought against those responsible for this waste of public resources.

    --


    "Lame" - Galaxar