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>>> LOUISIANA DEPUTIES SAY AN
8-YEAR-OLD BOY SHOT AND KILLED
HIS 87-YEAR-OLD BABYSITTER.
NOT BY ACCIDENT AS THE BOY FIRST
EXPLAINED IT BUT WITH INTENT.
THE VICTIM ACCORDING TO
AFFILIATE WBRZ IS THE BOY'S
GRANDMOTHER.
THE SHOOTING HAPPENED THURSDAY.
THE SHERIFF SAYS THE BOY
INTENTIONALLY SHOT THE WOMAN IN
THE BACK OF THE HEAD AS SHE SAT
IN HER LIVING ROOM.
STILL HE WON'T BE CHARGED
BECAUSE THE STATE LAW EXEMPTS
KIDS YOUNGER THAN 10 FROM
CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY.
THE MOTIVE HERE, DEPUTIES DON'T
KNOW, BUT SHERIFF'S OFFICIALS
SAY THE BOY WAS PLAYING THIS AT
THE TIME.
>> WELCOME TO AMERICA.
>> STOP SHOOTING PEOPLE YOU
MANIAC!
>> HE WAS PLAYING THAT JUST
MINUTES BEFORE HE FIRED THE GUN.
GRAND THEFT AUTO 4 IS RATED
MATURE, MEANING FOR PLAYERS WHO
ARE 17 YEARS AND OLDER.
AND SO I'M GOING TO TURN NOW TO
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST DAVID
SWANSON.
DAVID, THIS IS DRAWING A LOT OF
SPECULATION THAT THERE IS A
CONNECTION HERE.
DO YOU THINK IT'S POSSIBLE FOR
THE VIDEO GAME TO HAVE CAUSED OR
CONTRIBUTED TO THE BOY SHOOTING
HIS CAREGIVER?
BECAUSE SHERIFF'S OFFICIALS SAY
THE TWO HAD A LOVING
RELATIONSHIP.
>> WELL, I DO THINK THAT THERE'S
A POSSIBILITY CONNECTION HERE.
AND, YOU KNOW, LOOK, THE BIGGEST
PART OF RESEARCH WE KNOW SO FAR
BECAUSE OF ALL THE SHOOTINGS WE
HAVE IS THERE'S NO CLEAR CUT
CONNECTION BETWEEN VIOLENT VIDEO
GAMES AND ACTUAL ACTING OUT.
HOWEVER, KIDS THIS YOUNG, WHEN
THEY SEE EPISODES OF TELEVISION,
WHEN THEY SEE VIDEO GAMES, THEY
ARE LIKELY TO GO AHEAD AND MODEL
AFTER WHAT THEY SEE ON THESE
VIDEO GAMES AND TELEVISION.
WHY AN 8-YEAR-OLD WAS PLAYING A
GAME LIKE YOU'RE SEEING ON YOUR
TELEVISION SCREEN RIGHT NOW IS
BEYOND ME.
THIS IS CLEARLY ALSO A LACK OF
SUPERVISION.
>> YOU'RE SAYING THAT THERE
COULD BE AN ISSUE HERE OF
MODELING.
OBVIOUSLY, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE,
TAKE TWO INTERACTIVE, MAKER OF
THE VIDEO GAME, RELEASED A
STATEMENT.
IT SAYS ASCRIBING A CONNECTION
TO ENTERTAINMENT, A THEORY THAT
HAS BEEN PROVEN -- OR DISPROVEN
REPEATEDLY BY MULTIPLE
INDEPENDENT STUDIES BOTH
MINIMIZES THIS MOMENT AND
SIDESTEPS THE REAL ISSUES AT
HAND.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT
REACTION?
AND ESPECIALLY WHEN WE ARE
TALKING ABOUT THIS GAME THAT IS
SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYED BY KIDS
WHO ARE 17 YEARS AND OLDER?
>> YEAH.
LOOK, A VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY IS
GOING TO PROTECT THE PRODUCT
THAT THEY PUT OUT THERE.
THEY'RE RIGHT.
THERE'S NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE.
BUT THE MORE THAT WE LOOK INTO
THIS, THERE'S EMERGING EVIDENCE
THAT SUGGESTS THAT YOUNGER KIDS
BECOME DESENSITIZED TO VIOLENCE.
THEY START TO ACT OUT VIOLENTLY
IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY SEE ON
TELEVISION.
LOOK, I'VE GOT THREE KIDS.
I COACH THEM IN BASKETBALL.
WE EVEN HAD A KID COME UP TO A
BASKETBALL PRACTICE AND SHOW ME
A MOVE HE TOLD ME AFTERWARDS, I
SAW THAT ON A VIDEO GAME.
THERE'S NO DOUBT IN MY MIND AS A
PSYCHOLOGIST WITH A PRACTICE
WITH OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE
THAT FOR CHILDREN, WE'RE GOING
TO SEE THAT THIS EVIDENCE STARTS
TO SHIFT AND CHANGE.
THAT THEY DO MODEL WHAT THEY
SEE.
AND THAT IN THIS CASE THERE'S
LIKELY A CONNECTION.
>> SO YOU SAY LIKELY A
CONNECTION.