An upsetting story comes from the USA. In a convenience store in the 20,000-person town of Mill Creek, there was an attack. Two boys shouted at an adult man, calling him an “NPC”: the man pursued the boys into a store and stabbed an 11-year-old boy with a knife. The boy is in serious condition.
What is known about the incident: The police report that the attack occurred on Wednesday evening, March 22 (via heraldnet).
It involves two boys, one 13 years old and the other 11 years old, and a 29-year-old man. The trouble began outside a “Dollar Tree” store.
The boys reportedly referred to the man as an “NPC.” Consequently, the man followed the children into the store and stabbed the 11-year-old with a knife. The blade he was allegedly using is reported to be between 13 and 15 centimeters long, according to the police. He also attempted to stab the 13-year-old.
“NPC” as a battle word to defame liberal thinkers
What does NPC mean? “NPC” originally means “non-player character” in video games. Since 2016, there has been a meme around the term. Here, “NPC” describes a person who cannot think independently. People with right-wing views use the term to attack liberal thinkers.
The term saw a renaissance in 2022 among people around controversial influencers like Andrew Tate on TikTok (via tiktok). It is claimed that people are arguing for a currently trending topic without truly engaging with it and making a conscious choice. Like NPCs, these people are said to have no independent free will. In Germany, similarly minded people use terms like “sheep” or “sleeping sheep” in a similar manner.
This is what the police found: According to the report, the injured boy was found in the back of the store, with an employee beside him.
The man sat in front of the store and was arrested without resistance. He is now facing two counts of first-degree assault. He had never been previously criminally active. The police found a blue knife sheath in one of his pockets.
How does the boy explain it? The 13-year-old speaks with a website. Apparently, the boys shouted “NPC” out of sheer exuberance when they saw the man, not expecting him to react that way and pursue them. Even when he was following them, they didn’t take it seriously.
They thought that if they could make it into the store, they would be safe:
When I saw that he pulled out a knife, I understood that it was no joke.
Boy in serious condition at trauma center, mother raises money
What happens to the man? The court has set bail at $500,000. He is currently in jail.
What about the boy? The boy was initially hospitalized and later transferred to a trauma center.
His mother is raising money for an operation via GoFundMe and says the boy has injuries to his lung and liver. He spent three days in intensive care. So far, $6,250 has been raised to cover the cost of the operation.
The woman says her name is Shanai and that she is a single mother of three children. She is swallowing her pride and asking the community for help because her family needs assistance now. The mother hopes to turn the tragedy into a story of triumph.
Both mothers of the boys say: they moved to Mill Creek because they thought it was safe there. But after the incident, they no longer feel safe even in the small town. There are junkies, homeless people; nowhere feels safe anymore. Both say they want to be more vigilant with their children and also with the surroundings.
There are repeatedly alarming cases of violence that we report on MeinMMO:
Konami fires employee – he attempted to bludgeon his ex-boss with a fire extinguisher
The title image is a symbolic image: Photo by wu yi on Unsplash
