A 28-year-old man allegedly shot and killed his own mother in their home in Ceres, California after an argument rooted from a broken video game headset. The 68-year-old woman sustained severe head injuries and later died at a hospital.
According to a press release published by the Ceres Police Department, Matthew Nicholson had an argument with her mother while he was playing video games. Matthew lost in the video game he was playing and threw a tantrum, prompting the victim to check on his son. The two then had a heated argument. In the middle of their dispute, Matthew broke his video gaming headset and pinned the blame on her mother. Out of rage, Matthew then shot her own mother in the head without hesitation.
Police personnel then responded to the incident at exactly 9:48 p.m. on Jan. 11 (Thursday) and found the victim fighting for her life. Mrs. Nicholson was immediately transported to the nearest hospital to receive medical attention, but was nt able to make it. According to reports, Nicholson's father wrestled the gun away from his son. The suspect then fled the scene on wheels and went to one of their relatives in the City of Riverbank.
Police were able to apprehend Nicholson in the Riverbank area and he was then taken into custody. Nicholson is now behind bars at the Stanislaus County Jail and is serving time without bail.
The incident in Ceres is not the first video game-related shooting in January. Earlier in the month, 25-year-old Tyler Barris from Los Angeles was arrested after a swatting incident, resulting to the death of an innocent man in Kansas. Just like Nicholson's case, the shooting in Kansas ignited from a feud between two video game players. One player involved in the dispute posted a fake address and dared the other to swat him. Barris then called the police to reports a false hostage-taking situation in the victim's house that led to the death of Andrew Finch, 28.
