Unhelpful

Originally credited to fictitious r33t.org author ‘Gylcau’

I live in the Chicago suburb of Joliet, and I play Ultima Online. My family includes a few highly religous people who are convinced that role-playing games are the work of Satan himself.

I received a newspaper clipping in the mail last Wednesday. There was no return address or any indication who sent it. Draw your own conclusions.

Angry videogamer charged with killing boy, shooting mother in their home

By Kyle Albesch
Tribune Staff

An 18-year-old South Side man was charged with first-degree murder Monday in connection with the shooting death of an online associate and attempted murder of the victim’s mother, according to Chicago police.

A woman was in critical condition yesterday with gunshot wounds she suffered during an attack Saturday when a male teen-ager forced entry into her East Chicago home and fatally shot her 16-year-old son, police said.

Detective Rick Patton said Alice Weatherspoon, 39, answered a knock at her door about 10:53 p.m. and was immediately shot in the head and neck twice by a masked youth.

Leaving her bleeding and crying for help, the assailant went into the living room and shot Bryan Weatherspoon several times in the upper body and fled, Patton said.

Weatherspoon and her son were taken by ambulance to Christ Hospital and Medical Center, where the boy died about 30 minutes after the attack, Patton said.

Patton said information gathered in the investigation indicated that the Weatherspoon youth and the suspect frequently played a computer fantasy game by Origin Systems called Ultima Online. In Ultima Online, players assume the roles of heroes in a world filled with dragons, knights, wizards, and demons.

Reports further indicate that there was some sort of altercation which took place in the game where the character played by the Weatherspoon youth constantly harassed and attacked the character of the suspect, causing a “death” in the game.

Another local Ultima Online player, who wished to remain anonymous, indicated that this sort of behavior is frequent in the game. Fierce rivalries are purported to be common, and some players get extremely upset when their charaters “die” a virtual death.