Angry over broken video-game headset, a 28-year-old man shot his mother in the head, police say

Matthew Nicholson / Ceres Police Department

CERES, Calif.—A California man was so angry after his gaming headset broke following an argument with his mother that he grabbed a gun and shot her in the head, according to police.

Matthew Nicholson, 28, of Ceres, is being held in a California jail without bail.

About 9:48 p.m. Thursday night, Jan. 11, Ceres officers were dispatched on a report of a woman shot inside a home, according to police.

Police arrived to find a 68-year-old victim with a gunshot wound to the head. The woman was taken to an area hospital for treatment, but was eventually pronounced dead.

Investigators say the shooting stemmed from an incident involving a broken video game headset.

Nicholson had been in his bedroom playing video games when he got upset and began yelling, investigators say. When his mother went to check on him, he began to argue with her and ended up breaking the headset to his video game. Nicholson then blamed her for the broken headset and threatened to kill both his mother and father.

Nicholson then retrieved a handgun from the home and fired two rounds into an inside wall and then shot his mother in the head, according a Modesto Bee report.

After the shooting, Nicholson's father wrestled the gun away from his son, who then fled the scene in a vehicle and went to a relative's home in a nearby city, according to police.

Officers tracked the vehicle to the relative's home and took Nicholson into custody.

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