After an argument in a video game 23-year-old stabs 11-year-old out of rage

First a video gamer argues with a fellow player, then he storms out of the house in a rage and stabs a schoolgirl who happens to be passing by. A 23-year-old man confessed to this near Paris.

DPA

12.02.2025, 19:58

dpa

A 23-year-old in France has confessed to stabbing an 11-year-old girl who happened to be passing by after an argument over a video game. He had left the house in a rage and tried to steal the schoolgirl's cell phone in a wooded area. When she fought back, he stabbed her, the trainee stated during his interrogation, said public prosecutor Grégoire Dulin in Evry. A murder investigation had been opened against the 23-year-old.

Eleven-year-old Louise had gone missing after school on Friday afternoon in Épinay-sur-Orge, south of Paris. Investigators found her body that night in a nearby forest. According to the public prosecutor, the schoolgirl was covered in numerous stab wounds that had been inflicted on her with great brutality.

Arrested man was an excessive video gamer

Both the 23-year-old's sister and girlfriend had described him as an excessive video gamer who quickly became agitated and aggressive during games, the prosecutor said. Before the crime, he is said to have argued violently with a fellow player of an online game. In the burst of aggression, he stormed out of the house, according to his own statement, to rob someone in order to calm himself down.

A short time later, he returned with cuts and, at her insistence, confessed to his girlfriend that he had done "something bad". The young woman is being investigated for failing to report a crime, according to the public prosecutor.

Local residents had identified the suspect from CCTV footage and investigators recovered traces of his DNA from the victim. The murder of the schoolgirl, who only had an eleven-minute walk home from school, had caused great shock in France. "This is a heinous crime", said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.