The shocking case of a 14-year-old who allegedly shot his sleeping parents last Friday is growing more disturbing, as investigators reveal violent video games may have been a motive in the crime.
Nathon Brooks, 14, was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder Monday morning, after he allegedly shot his parents, Jonothan and Elizabeth Brooks, multiple times Friday night at their home in Moses Lake, Wash. Both parents survived the shooting.
According to area new outlet KXLY, prosecutors asked that Brooks be tried as an adult. Bail was set at $500,000.
Investigators report that Brooks allegedly admitted he had wanted to kill his parents for years, and that he may have been pushed over the edge after they grounded him and deprived him of his video games.
According to a Moses Lake police report obtained by iFiber One News, Brooks claimed he played video games "24/7," up until his parents took them away. Furious over the decision, Brooks allegedly pried open his parents' gun safe and took out a .22 caliber pistol, according to iFiber One News. Brooks reportedly told police he then spent 90 minutes weighing whether or not to kill his mother and father.
"Ultimately the voice telling him to do it was louder than the one telling him not to,” the police report said. “He said he just heard over and over in his head that he would be able to do whatever he wanted if he killed his parents.”
While Brooks originally told police his parents had been shot by an intruder, surveillance camera footage reportedly captured the teen walking through the house with a gun. The camera had been set up by Brooks' parents to make sure he did his chores.
Neighbors told King 5 News in Seattle that Brooks seemed like a normal kid who played basketball and didn't get into trouble.
Washington's Columbia Basin Herald reported on Tuesday that Jonothan Brooks was released from the hospital, while Elizabeth Brooks was still being monitored. Nathon Brooks' sister, who was unharmed during the shootings, is being looked after by family members.
This case may remind some of a similar shooting in 2007, when 16-year-old Daniel Petric shot both is parents after they told him he couldn't play "Halo 3."
"You just gradually push moral boundaries and values and priorities out the way. Eventually you don’t even know who you are anymore," Petric reflected later. "I just wanted to play the video games ... I don’t think anything short of me getting what I wanted would’ve stopped me."
Petric was convicted of killing his mother -- and severely injuring his father -- and is currently serving a 23-year-to-life sentence.
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