Teen’s killer may have driven from California to Texas to end video game feud, cops say

A California man drove 1,700 miles and killed a Texas teen he met through online video games, police say.

The 23-year-old traveled from Pleasanton in the San Francisco area to Flower Mound, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, and killed 18-year-old Matthew Thane at his home early Tuesday, police say.

Police say the man was wearing a helmet and lured Thane outside by setting fire to a propane tank before fatally shooting the teen, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Investigators say they connected Thane’s death to the suspect because they played video games with each other. Cell phone data showed the California man drove from his home to Texas and back within 72 hours, police say.

When Flower Mound detectives and Pleasanton police tried to serve a search warrant at the man’s home, he is believed to have died by suicide as officers tried to get him out of his home Wednesday night, police say. An autopsy is pending, and the man’s identity hadn’t been released Friday.

In social media posts, Thane’s family says he went by “JPN” or “Japan” in online gaming and played “Call of Duty,” The Mercury News reported.

A Flower Mound police spokesman told the news outlet detectives are investigating whether the killing was related to a gaming feud, the news outlet reported.

“(A video game dispute) is a consideration we’re looking into,” Capt. Shane Jennings told the Flower Mound Leader. “Our investigators are analyzing evidence at the scene to see if that’s the case.”