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• Hudson mother seeks answers after son addicted to computer game shoots himself
• Hudson girls roll over River Falls, play Rice Lake here Saturday night
• Hudson boy skaters advance to sectional final with 7-2 defeat of New Richmond
• Bernard, Rude get on the ballot in race to represent Hudson on County Board

By Joe Winter

A 21-year-old Hudson man shot himself to death shortly after a long stint playing an Internet game to which he was addicted, and his mother is looking for answers, information and closure.

During his 12-hour stints at the computer logged on to Everquest, a role-playing game, Shawn Woolley's epilepsy was sometimes triggered by the flickering screen and the seizures on at least one occasion left his bedroom trashed.

"He preferred to have seizures and play the game because he was addicted," said Elizabeth Woolley, Shawn's mother. "He couldn't understand why I objected to him playing the game for hours on end. He couldn't understand why I was upset. Shawn had no desire to be non-addicted."

Elizabeth Woolley said the last computer screen Shawn saw still registers on his computer, but to unlock that secret by entering, Woolley needs to find out his password. She currently has only his user name.

For that reason, and to investigate the possibility of a class action lawsuit against the makers of the game, Woolley has tried to telephone his Internet friends, but they also are addicted and invariably hang up on her.

Woolley fears that some type of suicide pact may have been drawn up, and that there may be more victims. If there are such suicides, however, they would be scattered around the world with no logical link to connect them, so they could seem unrelated, she said.

"He didn't want to do anything except get on the computer. Then viola! That was his life," Woolley said. "It consumed him. Nobody could pull him back."

Many people play Everquest -- some even marry their role-playing charcters on-line -- and don't get addicted. But the fact that the game can be played for hundreds of hours without any kind of resolution has brought increasing concern about addictions such as Shawn's.

Woolley said she did everything possible to get Shawn help prior to his suicide that took place last Thanksgiving. She insisted that he have steady employment. She notes that he was well-liked by his co-workers.

Woolley contacted a St. Croix County mental health care program and tried to get Shawn to reside in a group home, thinking that socialization with real people, not Everquest characters, would be beneficial. Woolley feared Shawn was becoming suicidal, but officials told Woolley that without an actual threat by Shawn, who was now an adult, they couldn't take protective action.

A part of that process, Shawn saw a psychologist. A series of medications were later prescribed for depression, seizures and being schizoid, but Shawn often wouldn't take them. When a search of his apartment was done after the suicide, not a single pill was found, Wooley said.

Shawn lived at home for the first phase of his addiction, but he became increasingly withdrawn and wouldn't interact with family members, rather holing himself up in his bedroom. Shawn ended up getting his own apartment six months before the suicide.

"He was driving me crazy. When he was in his own place, without me to tell him to get off the computer, he was just in his perfect world," Woolley said. "Shawn was playing constantly and he wouldn't let me in the apartment. It looked like he hadn't cleaned it in weeks."

At one point, there were almost 300 pizza containers laying around the apartment. Rather than go shopping, which would take time away from Internet play, Shawn was simply bringing home pizza from his workplace, Papa Murphy's.

Woolley last saw Shawn the Friday before the suicide, then knocked on his door the following Tuesday. Shawn wouldn't let Woolley inside and she needed to contact the landlord. They found a chain keeping the door shut and the landlord suggested that Woolley cut it.

"I didn't want to break in," Woolley said. "So I pounded on his windows for an hour."

The next day, which was Thanksgiving and the day of the suicide, Woolley found the door with its chain had not been moved. "Then I got scared," she said. It turned out that about 6 a.m., Shawn logged off Everquest and then shot himself.

"I didn't get to say goodbye and he didn't get a chance to come to me and say he needed help," Woolley said.

Shawn bought a gun on Nov. 13. It was about that time that Shawn quit his job at Papa Murphy's and said he had gotten another, at Wal-Mart, which turned out not to be true.

"Shawn said that 'only my true (Everquest) friends understand me,'" Woolley said. When one of those friends stole some money from Shawn, he broke into tears because he felt that person he trusted had let him down, not because of any financial loss, Woolley said.

Woolley notes that Shawn had a job he liked, family, friends and an apartment. "Shawn shunned all that for playing the game."

Shawn had stopped going to church, but toward the end some friends with whom he worked, who attend Faith Community Church, convinced him to go to church with them. Shawn had stopped believing there is a God, but Woolley said she takes solace in knowing his new friends told Shawn there is a God who cares.

"I wasn't angry at God," Woolley said. "He's totally carrying me. There's no way I could do this without him. It's so painful."

Closure hasn't come yet for her. "It seemed to get worse. I was numb at the funeral, but when that wore off it was awful," Woolley said. "I was raised to think that you couldn't cry. My therapist said that crying is a gift and that you should not feel bad."

Still, Woolley said her faith continues to be strong and that she passes along faith messages to youth for whom she is a catechist at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. "I talk to them more about how important it is to have God in your life."

These are some of the memories co-workers and friends shared about Shawn in a book compiled by his mother:

* "Shawn was a very good and hard worker. He could bust out dishes with the best of 'em! It was nice to have him there to let me know what to do and what not to do. Shawn was a great person and he will be missed. God bless."

* "Every morning when I came to work, Shawn would always welcome me with the warmest smile and always a great joke ... He will always have a special place in my hear that can never be covered or replaced."

* "He was always making jokes and teasing. I worked with Shawn almost every day this summer and as I got to know him better I began to notice a politeness in him. He was becoming a friend to me, and I was extremely disappointed when he stopped working at Papa Murphy's. I would love a copy of the book you make."

* "Right off the bat I knew that he was one of those guys who who was just a nice guy who doesn't judge people before he knows them. It turned out I was right ... and so much more."

The Hudson girls basketball team cruised into the second round of the WIAA tournament with a 57-28 romp over River Falls Tuesday night.

The Raiders will now face Rice Lake in the regional final at 7 p.m. Saturday in Hudson. Rice Lake defeated Menomonie 44-28 Tuesday night in Rice Lake.

A dozen Raiders put points on the scoreboard as Hudson coach Dave Johnson went to his bench early and often against the overmatched River Falls girls.

No one reached double figures in scoring for Hudson. Liz Preller led the way with 9 points. Annie Nelson, playing with knee pads to protect the knee she injured earlier in the season, appeared to be her old self. She contributed 8 points. Ashley Ferkovich added 7 points, and Megan Hanson, 6.

Five Raiders -- Preller, Ferkovich, Carly Syfko, Nicole Rose and Amanda Wolske -- connected for a three-point goal.

Johnson experimented from time-to-time with full-court presses and half-court defenses future opponents can expect to see. When Hudson pressed full court the River Falls girls rarely advanced the ball beyond the half-court line.

Hudson led 20-6 after the first quarter, 32-8 at halftime and 46-15 at the end of the third quarter.

The Hudson boys hockey team will play Menomonie Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hobbs Ice Arena in Eau Claire for the right to go the state tournament in Madison Feb. 28-March 2.

The Raiders defeated New Richmond 7-2 Tuesday night at Hudson in what for two periods was a close game. Hudson scored the last four goals of the sectional semifinal. The score was 2-1 at the end of two periods.

Ben Bosworth led the way in scoring with a hat trick.

Menomonie beat Eau Claire Memorial 3-2 in two overtimes Tuesday night at Hobbs Ice Arena.

Superior and Rice Lake will face off in the Spooner sectional final.

Lori Bernard and Theodore Rude will vie for the right to represent District 20 on the St. Croix County Board.

Bernard received 96 votes, and Rude, 22 votes, in Tuesday's primary election, held to eliminate one candidate from the field. That candidate turned out to be Rich Kathan, who got 17 votes.

County Supervisory District 20 is comprised of Wards 1, 6, 7 and 9 of the city of Hudson, and includes the Stonepine neighborhood.

Bernard, who lives at 1509 Laurel Ave., is a mother and part-time chemistry instructor at UW-River Falls. She is active in the St. Croix County Republican Party.

Rude is a semiretired veterinary pathologist who has previously served on the Stoughton School Board, the Charles City, Iowa, City Council and the Cedarburg City Council. He resides at 1716 Laurel Ave.