Pastor Says He Forgives Son for Killing Wife, Shooting Him

[catlover79]

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-pastor-...,7095699.story

By Suzanne Stratford

Fox 8 News Reporter

11:28 p.m. EDT, June 8, 2011

WELLINGTON, Ohio— Three-and-a-half-years ago, Pastor Mark Petric's life changed forever when his then 16-year-old son, Daniel Petric, fired a 9mm hollow point round into his head.

Daniel then fired multiple shots into his mother, Sue Petric, instantly killing her.

The case garnered national attention when the teen's defense attorneys claimed his addiction to violent video games lead to the tragedy.

Pastor Petric said his son became addicted to the games after a snowboarding injury.

"He couldn't leave the house," said Petric, "so he wanted to buy an X-Box and play video games and we said 'fine.' "

At first, the teen only played sporting games, but then he began playing games like "Halo-3" with his friends.

When the Petric's discovered the game, which Pastor Petric calls "extremely violent and gory," they took the game away from their son.

"My son Danny was angry with us," said Petric.

On October 20, 2007, while Mark and Sue Petric prepared to watch the Cleveland Indians baseball game at their Brighton Township home, Danny entered the room and told his parents he had a surprise for them.

"We thought he was going to apologize," said Petric.

Instead, Danny shot his father in the head at close-range and killed his mother.

Petric came to moments after being shot and saw his son sitting next to him. "He kept trying to give the gun to me. He was trying to make it look like a murder-suicide."

Fortunately, one of the Petric's daughters, and her husband, arrived at the house to watch the game.

They got the gun away from Danny and called 911.

Petric was rushed to MetroHealth Medical Center where he remained in a coma for more than two weeks.

"That's when I found out my wife had died," said Petric. "I was so angry, I wanted to kill him...and I told God that."

Petric remained angry while recovering from his shattered skull and jaw injuries.

"I was shot in the head with a 9mm bullet. People don't survive that," said Petric. His doctors agreed, but they couldn't heal his emotions.

"I told God, 'I hate that kid. I never want to see him again,' " said Petric.

But the pastor from New Life Assembly of God said God had other ideas.

"I was reminded of the words of Jesus on the cross, 'forgive them father, they know not what they do,' " said Petric. "I just started crying and the Lord said, 'I'll enable you to forgive your son.' "

By the time Danny faced trial, and was eventually sentenced to 23 years to life, Pastor Petric and his entire family had forgiven him.

"People say, 'you're just a forgiving guy.' Oh no, without God, this would not be possible...not with something like this," said Petric.

Petric often visits his son, who has apologized for his actions.

The family is now on a mission to get violent video games out of the hands of children.

"I'm gonna fight them. They put weapons in the hands of our children that teaches them to murder, and that killing is okay," said Petric.

He also hopes people learn from his example how to forgive people in their lives.

Although Petric does have bad days and battles with depression, he knows his life is moving forward.

"The hardest thing is, I miss my wife...it's hard...lot of good memories there, but she's never coming back."

Copyright © 2011, WJW-TV

[Marvo301]

This is an amazing story of God's grace! It's only by the grace of God that this man and his family were able to forgive his son.

[dlemond]

I'm not real thrilled with violent video games for kids.

But that is one bullsh-t excuse.
That's just masking your pain- unwilling to admit underyling reasons.

That kid had issues, knew what he was doing, and has to pay.

Forgive all you want, but don't delude yourself that it was the games.

[catlover79]

I think that parents have to be vigilant about what video games their kids can/can't play, much like with TV shows or movies. Unfortunately, this family learned that lesson the hard way.

[Marvo301]

I admire this man for making something positive out of this tragedy by making it his mission to keep violent video games out of the hands of children so no other families will have to go through what his family went through.

[Tubehead]

i'll be parying for the pecaher. sad story i'll prayfor the boy maybe one day he might give his life to christ. i'll keep prayingfor the family.

[catlover79]

^ We can only hope and pray!!!

[old grouch]

I'm glad that the dad was able to forgive his son, no matter how hard it was. It also shows that forgiving others is sometimes a long process but it is possible. I will think about this story the next time I feel like carrying a grudge against somebody.

[JamesG]

Originally Posted by dlemond

I'm not real thrilled with violent video games for kids.

But that is one bullsh-t excuse.
That's just masking your pain- unwilling to admit underyling reasons.

That kid had issues, knew what he was doing, and has to pay.

Forgive all you want, but don't delude yourself that it was the games.

One thing to mention is that this isn't really a 'kid', he was 16. That's just one year younger than the age Halo 3 is made for (Rated M for Mature 17+).

This whole thing with movies and video games making people kill is crap. It sounded like he was pissed off that he got his game taken away. He had his own anger and issues that needed to be resolved and that's not the fault of the game itself.



For myself, I was raised on horror films and played violent video games at a young age and haven't killed anyone.

I think it's important that children be taught the difference between reality and fantasy at a young age.

[Janice]

He's more forgiving than I could ever be if anyone killed my husband. He comes first in my life. I agree with dlemond that the video games excuse is bs. Millions of teens play those games. If it wasn't that, he would have found someone/something else to blame.