The tragedy that befell the young students and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary will be remembered for years to come.
One of the more disrespectful reminders of this tragic school shooting is the creation of an online video game based on the tragedy. This video game, “The Slaying of Sandy Hook,” has since been taken down but it has left plenty of people and survivors infuriated.
The game allows players to take control of Adam Lanza as he exits his home after shooting his mother to death. Afterwards, players make their way over to Sandy Hook Elementary and proceed to shoot the denizens of the school. Once the game reaches its conclusion, a list of statistics is displayed onscreen – the number of people who survived, how many died, the amount of students/teachers killed etc.
The news of this shooter comes just a month before the first anniversary of the December 14, 2012 event. Donna Soto is the mother of the deceased teacher Victoria Soto (27), who was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal for shielding her students from Lanza’s gunfire during the massacre.
Donna Soto relayed her outrage over the game to the Hearst Connecticut Newspapers Group:
It’s absolutely disgusting that somebody thinks this is funny. We’re all suffering. All the families are suffering. We’re coming up on December. My daughter’s birthday just passed. It just adds insult to the suffering that we’re dealing with. It’s just incomprehensible that someone would think this kind of thing is wanted.
What’s most interesting about this game is the fact that the credits section identifies its creator as Ryan Jake Lambourn of Australia. It also includes links to gun control websites and to their elected representatives. One could argue that the game wasn’t made to make light of the Sandy Hook Massacre, but to instead bring attention to the senseless violence that can be prevented through stricter gun laws.
“The Slaying of Sandy Hook” was previously playable, but has since been taken down. So the question remains – was there indeed a message being displayed through the creation of this game?