9-Year-Old Accused of Killing Father While Copying Call of Duty

Recently, a tragic case surfaced in Utah, with prosecutors accusing a nine-year-old boy of brutally murdering his father because he was obsessed with violent video games. In particular, Call of Duty: Warzone has been named – because reportedly, the boy used weapons that can be found in the game that he played. It has been claimed that the nine-year-old would frequently consume ‘age-inappropriate content’, including ‘particularly violent games’.

The boy’s father, a 32-year-old from Tooele, Utah, was found bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head. He also had extensive lacerations believed to have been caused by a hatchet that was found at the scene. In one report, it was claimed that the child was sent to bed early because he was misbehaving, which could have served as the instigation for this incident. It has been mentioned that the boy had behavioural issues, but prosecutors are more readily leaning on the video game connection here.

Call of Duty Fronts the Blame

Violent video games have long shouldered the blame for many tragic situations that have typically ended in murder. From mass shootings to bloody rivalries, violent video games have found their way into prosecution packets and arrest warrants the world over. In 1999, the Columbine shooters were said to have been addicted to Doom, a first-person shooter. In 2012, a shooter targeted an elementary school in Connecticut – and it was subsequently revealed that he was ‘obsessed’ with video games.

In 2019, then-President Donald Trump directly called out violent video games:

‘We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence. We must stop or substantially reduce this and it has to begin immediately.’

In this recent case that surfaced in Tooele, Utah, a nine-year-old has been accused of slaughtering his father with a Glock handgun and a hatchet. It has been claimed in various reports that Call of Duty: Warzone is fronting much of the blame because the game contains similar weapons and ways to attack opponents. Investigators are now looking at ‘how and/or why these specific methods and weapons were used in the homicide’, referring to ‘information housed on the boy’s smartphone and tablet’.

The links are shaky at best, but it’s far from being the first time that prosecutors have jumped at labelling violent video games as the root cause of a tragic situation. There have been references to a family dispute, behavioural problems, and easy access to a loaded firearm, but the first thought on the minds of many is that the boy played violent video games.

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