Parkland Parents Angry at Video Game That Allows Players to Act Out a School Shooting

Parents of school shooting victims, and other survivors of mass shootings, are decrying an upcoming video game that is set to allow players to commit a school shooting--as well as stop one. Active Shooter, which is scheduled for a June 6 release, is a "dynamic SWAT simulator," where players can choose whether to be an armed officer who is responding to a shooting, the shooter, or a victim trying to escape. The game will be sold for $5 to $10 in the online marketplace Steam, which is run by the Valve Corporation. The game comes with a disclaimer: "Please do not take any of this seriously. This is only meant to be the simulation and nothing else. If you feel like hurting someone or people around you, please seek help from local psychiatrists or dial 911 (or applicable). "It's disgusting that Valve Corp. is trying to profit from the glamorization of tragedies affecting our schools across the country," Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina died in the February shooting in Parkland, Florida, said in a statement. "Keeping our kids safe is a real issue affecting our communities and is in no way a'game.'" The father of another Parkland victim, 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg, called for a boycott on Twitter. "I have seen and heard many horrific things over the past few months since my daughter was the victim of a school shooting and is now dead in real life," Fred Gutenberg wrote. "This game may be one of the worst." Andrew Pollack, the father of 18-year-old Meadow Pollack, who was also killed in Parkland said the game would desensitize young people to potential school shootings. "The last thing we need is a simulated training on school shootings," he said. "Video game designers should think of the influence they hold.