Games have been linked to yet another school shooting. Tim Kretschmer, 17, of Alberville Secondary School in Winnenden spent the night before his assault playing FarCry2. Kretschmer walked into his school armed with a Beretta pistol and continued to kill fifteen people before turning the gun on himself. The whole situation was said to be brought on by a girl rejecting Kretschmer at a party. Kretschmer was also noted by people as quiet and polite.

The German Chancellor said that she was looking into what could be done to limit the use of violent video games but would not release any more information.

The lesson is that we must be attentive to all young people — that’s true for parents and educators. We must do all to prevent children from having access to weapons and from them having to face too much violence.

Kretschmer also played Counter-Strike, another game featuring gunplay, and TacticalOps, a special forces action game, both of which have a 16 certificate in Britain.