Wow, this is even more retarded then I thought.
I don't see how you can blame the kid here for everything. If the kid had serious issues with violence, and violent media, then the parent's not only should have known this, but kept him locked up.
How the hell was he at friend's homes for 18 hours on a frequent basis? If you put restrictions on your child you should make sure they aren't going somewhere else to bypass them. If he wasn't mature enough to deal with violent media, why would he be mature enough to restrict himself from it?
[citation][nom]JMS3096[/nom]And don't give me that BS about how the "environment" and "religion" of the home forced him to it. I'm 17, in a Mormon home with plenty of rules as well. I am only allowed to play those games with ratings that correspond with my age. I didn't sneak out and buy M-rated games or play them at friends' houses before my time. I patiently waited... and waited... and waited... until I was 17. [/citation]
He was 17 when this happened. The ESRB said this game was appropriate for someone of his age.
And no one here believes anything 'forced' him to do something. But don't you think it's a parents job to know your kid is mentally unsound? The fact that they didn't know he was this suspetable, and that he was gone 18 hours a day, sounds like some serious negligence.
If they had appropriately dealt with violence, in a mature manner, rather them simply shunning it, he probably wouldn't have been that interested in Halo, might have actually picked up a real game.
The kid needs to go to a mental hospital, and the parents need to be spade and neutered. Killing someone mentally unsound is idiotic, his parent's pretty obviously didn't really care what he was doing.