A new online computer simulation game has surfaced and stirred up controversy for its very negative content. The game, titled "The Slaying of Sandy Hook Elementary School" is meant to let users re-enact the Dec. 14, 2012 shootings perpetrated by Adam Lanza, which included the death of 27 people including his mother.
According to The Hartford Courant, the game begins at Lanza's home in Newtown Conn. and instructs the gamer to "Shoot Mother" and "Get AR15 and Clips." Gamers then move through the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary School re-enacting the horrible event that took place less than one year ago that resulted in the deaths of 20 first graders and six teachers.
According to the article, the relatives of Sandy Hook teacher Victoria Soto, who was killed in the attack, discovered the game and have since denounced it on Twitter after news reports of its existence came to their attention on Monday night.
"Please tell us how playing a game that recreates how Vicki died would be beneficial? Please tell us," the family-endorsed account said on Tuesday to Ryan Jake Lambourn, the game's creator.
The game is extremely controversial for obvious reasons but it's important to note that violent video games were thought to be one of the causes that made the gunman do what he did. Lambourn, however, defends his actions saying he is simply using the videogame medium to draw attention to the fact that stricter gun control measures are necessary for this country - a policy perused by many in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Shootings.
This is not the first time Lambourn has walked the line of controversy with his games. He also created a game about the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.
"Here we are nearly a year after Sandy Hook shootings in which 26 people were killed and absolutely nothing positive has come of it," he said.
U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy, who led the gun control movement in the Senate following the shootings at Newtown did not share Lambourn's approach drawing attention to the gun control issue.
"To make a game about the murder of 20 children and their six teachers is absolutely sickening," he said. "I hope the very disturbed person who could think of something like this sees the cruelty of what he's done and stops it."
The game has been removed from many of the sites where it is active and playable. An online petition has been started to boycott and ban any website or web service from hosting the game.
Update: This article originally listed the wrong date for the Sandy Hook Shootings. It has since been corrected.
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