Joshua Yarn, the gunman involved in a shooting incident, logged nearly 17,500 hours on his online Steam account, mostly engaging in “first-person shooter” games that revolve around combat. Since he set up the account in September 2011, his gameplay totals over 729 days, which is about two years stacked together.
This extensive gaming accounts for approximately 15% of his life when including sleep, spanning a decade and a half.
The 29-year-old, who was known to his online friends by names like “Sam I Am” and “Frank Hornicker,” dedicated nearly 7,000 hours to the open-world survival game “Rust,” according to his profile.
On September 24, 2025, Yarn opened fire at the Dallas Ice Facility, resulting in the death of one individual and injuring two others.
During a violent outburst, he targeted a facility where several detainees and agents were present. Fortunately, no law enforcement personnel were harmed.
Yarn had also spent a significant amount of time on “Team Fortress 2,” which was released in 2007, amassing around 3,400 hours of gameplay. Interestingly, he played just hours before the shooting incident.
Another of his favorite games was “ARK: Survival Edition,” where he logged around 3,500 hours, not to mention he devoted 50 days to “Left 4 Dead 2,” and around 914 hours on “Garry’s Mod.”
By the time he ended his life, Yarn had a total of 34 games on his account, having tried popular titles like “Grand Theft Auto V,” “Rocket League,” “Counter Strike,” and “Pubg.”
His online persona as Frank Hornicker referenced a character from Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical novel “Cat’s Cradle.” He even had a brief stint under the name “#Impeachment” during the time of Trump’s first impeachment trial.
Yarn was active in four gaming groups on Steam; one notably had only seven members. Comments circulated in the gaming community after the shooting reference his skills, with one user remarking, “He missed it,” in the group chat shortly after the news broke.
Interestingly, he also received the “Mind Blown” award on Steam. According to the FBI, after the shooting, he took his own life due to self-inflicted harm.
