A Thai video game distributor halted sales of Grand Theft Auto yesterday after a teenager confessed to robbing and murdering a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the game.
“We are sending out requests today to outlets and shops to pull the games off their shelves and we will replace them with other games,” said Sakchai Chotikachinda, sales and marketing director of New Era Interactive Media. “We are also urging video game arcades to pull the games from service.”
An 18-year-old high school student, now in custody pending further investigations and a trial, faces death by lethal injection if found guilty of robbing and killing a 54-year-old taxi driver with a knife over the weekend.
Police said the youth, an obsessive player of Grand Theft Auto, showed no sign of mental problems during questioning and had confessed to committing the crime because of the game.
“He said he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game,” chief police investigator Veeravit Pipattanasak said.
Veeravit said the teenager was incensed that he could not afford to play the video game.
The teenager was charged with robbery and possession of a weapon, and could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted, Veerarit said.
The youth, described by his parents as polite and diligent, was arrested late on Saturday after he was found trying to steer a cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the severely wounded driver in the back seat, newspapers reported.
Grand Theft Auto, now available in its fourth edition, has been criticized for depicting violence including beatings, carjackings, drive-by shootings, drunk driving and prostitution.
A senior official at Thailand’s Culture Ministry said the murder was a wake-up call for authorities to tackle the issue of violent video games, and urged parents to pay closer attention to what their children played.
“This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse,” said Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the ministry’s Cultural Surveillance Center. “Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner.”
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