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Dawson shooting game taken off-line by creator

“Dawson College Massacre,” a controversial videogame based on the 2006 shootings at Dawson College that killed one and wounded 19, was removed from the Internet on September 17 by its creator, a computer programmer with the screen name Virtuaman.

Virtuaman initially refused to remove it despite numerous complaints. He only did so after discovering that the game offended the victim’s family.

“I don’t really care who or what plays my games, I don’t really care if the average person is angry about my game or upset,” Virtuaman said.

“The victims, however, I can understand they could be upset knowing this thing exists, and I can understand if they are angry at me. [But] some that I spoke with were not angry with me. They were great people. They were able to understand that it’s just a game that tries to explore the mind of a killer.”

The game was posted on the Internet shortly before the fourth anniversary of the shooting. It irked many close to the incident and received mixed reviews from others.

Despite complaints, police were unable to take the game down since it did not violate any laws.

“We did what we could do, which is strongly suggest to the Internet provider to take out the game because we didn’t think it was of good taste,” said Marie-Elaine Ladouceur, a spokeswoman for the Montreal Police Department.

Despite police urgings, both Virtuaman and the U.S.-based website initially refused to take down the game.

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