Read Online Newtown: An American Tragedy by Matthew Lysiak - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Matthew Lysiak
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and, most disturbing of all, mass killers. Alone and in the darkness, with the illuminated screen his only light, Adam had found a level of comfort in his world of computers and video games that he could rarely attain in the outside world. Behind “Kaynbred,” Adam was able to show a bravado and confidence that was unfamiliar to classmates and family who only knew him as an awkward and meek teenager.
The first signs of this abnormal obsession became evident at age fifteen, when Adam delved into World of Warcraft, a game in which players live in an alternate universe of dragons and monstersand must heroically conquer darkness and competitors to move ahead. By September 2009, Adam had become a regular fixture in the online gaming community for Combat Arms, a multiplayer first-person shooting game where the player is in control of a gun. The object of the game, like most first-person shooter games, is to kill the most enemy players. In Adam’s chosen “mission,” gamers had to achieve a set number of kills. The team that reached the most kills in the quickest amount of time was the winner, even if that meant turning the gun on yourself and committing suicide.
He was quickly accepted into the group of other online players as part of a “cluster,” who discussed strategies and gaming obstacles mixed in with small talk and occasional jokes. His online interactions went smoothly. He fit in and appeared well liked by the other players, showing none of the discomfort or struggle he would exhibit in face-to-face encounters.
Along with being a rare positive social experience for Adam, the game also provided an outlet for him to live out his growing military obsessions. In Combat Arms, Adam was allowed to create his own soldier, deciding everything from the clothes he wore and the weapons he used to the backdrop for the battles he fought.
In his alternative online universe, the skinny and frail teenager chose to create an imposing bulky muscle-bound soldier dressed in desert camouflage and also a light vest, goggles, and a black beret. He chose equally imposing weapons for his missions: the M16A3, a military variant of the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle, and the G23 pistol, which strongly resembles a Glock 10-millimeter handgun. Adam’s battlefield of choice was called the “Death Room,” a seeminglyabandoned secret facility with a multitude of tightly spaced areas.
Adam quickly immersed himself in this virtual world, logging thousands of kills over hundreds of hours of playing time. His Combat Arms online profile showed he played 4,901 matches or games, clocking more than 500 hours in front of the screen and tallying 83,496 kills, including 22,725 “head shots.”
While many opponents in Adam’s online cluster bragged about cheating by using codes that gave them an advantage over other players, Adam was “clean,” according to a watchdog group that monitored cheaters. He did not need to dupe the system to win.
That year Adam also joined an online community to indulge in another one of his passions: weapons. On August 25, 2009, Adam joined the gun-enthusiasts message board at thehighroad.com, a Website that bills itself as a group where “responsible gun ownership is discussed, threads include firearms specifications, tools and technology with Activism and rally points.”
While Adam kept his posts to a minimum, focusing mostly on legalities and questions about how to convert semiautomatic guns into automatic weapons, the seventeen-year-old’s brazen online persona displayed a vast knowledge of firearms. He easily kept pace with the group of primarily older adults.
From his first entry, it was already clear that he was well versed in weaponry when he opened up a discussion comparing two types of rifles:
“The CZ Vz. 58 is a rifle which is similar to the AK-47 only through their shared 7.62x39mm caliber and aesthetics. It functionsentirely differently and has no interchangeable parts with the AK-47, including the
The first signs of this abnormal obsession became evident at age fifteen, when Adam delved into World of Warcraft, a game in which players live in an alternate universe of dragons and monstersand must heroically conquer darkness and competitors to move ahead. By September 2009, Adam had become a regular fixture in the online gaming community for Combat Arms, a multiplayer first-person shooting game where the player is in control of a gun. The object of the game, like most first-person shooter games, is to kill the most enemy players. In Adam’s chosen “mission,” gamers had to achieve a set number of kills. The team that reached the most kills in the quickest amount of time was the winner, even if that meant turning the gun on yourself and committing suicide.
He was quickly accepted into the group of other online players as part of a “cluster,” who discussed strategies and gaming obstacles mixed in with small talk and occasional jokes. His online interactions went smoothly. He fit in and appeared well liked by the other players, showing none of the discomfort or struggle he would exhibit in face-to-face encounters.
Along with being a rare positive social experience for Adam, the game also provided an outlet for him to live out his growing military obsessions. In Combat Arms, Adam was allowed to create his own soldier, deciding everything from the clothes he wore and the weapons he used to the backdrop for the battles he fought.
In his alternative online universe, the skinny and frail teenager chose to create an imposing bulky muscle-bound soldier dressed in desert camouflage and also a light vest, goggles, and a black beret. He chose equally imposing weapons for his missions: the M16A3, a military variant of the Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle, and the G23 pistol, which strongly resembles a Glock 10-millimeter handgun. Adam’s battlefield of choice was called the “Death Room,” a seeminglyabandoned secret facility with a multitude of tightly spaced areas.
Adam quickly immersed himself in this virtual world, logging thousands of kills over hundreds of hours of playing time. His Combat Arms online profile showed he played 4,901 matches or games, clocking more than 500 hours in front of the screen and tallying 83,496 kills, including 22,725 “head shots.”
While many opponents in Adam’s online cluster bragged about cheating by using codes that gave them an advantage over other players, Adam was “clean,” according to a watchdog group that monitored cheaters. He did not need to dupe the system to win.
That year Adam also joined an online community to indulge in another one of his passions: weapons. On August 25, 2009, Adam joined the gun-enthusiasts message board at thehighroad.com, a Website that bills itself as a group where “responsible gun ownership is discussed, threads include firearms specifications, tools and technology with Activism and rally points.”
While Adam kept his posts to a minimum, focusing mostly on legalities and questions about how to convert semiautomatic guns into automatic weapons, the seventeen-year-old’s brazen online persona displayed a vast knowledge of firearms. He easily kept pace with the group of primarily older adults.
From his first entry, it was already clear that he was well versed in weaponry when he opened up a discussion comparing two types of rifles:
“The CZ Vz. 58 is a rifle which is similar to the AK-47 only through their shared 7.62x39mm caliber and aesthetics. It functionsentirely differently and has no interchangeable parts with the AK-47, including the
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