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The reported connection is through two cultural references described on ammunition casings: an arrow sequence that WIRED interpreted as an apparent Helldivers 2 input, and lyrics from “Bella Ciao,” a song that has a version in Far Cry 6. Those references do not show that either game caused or endorsed the shooting, or establish a motive.
What were the reported references?
In September 2025 coverage, WIRED described four messages on casings. One was reported as “Hey Fascist! Catch!” followed by an up arrow, a right arrow and three down arrows. WIRED said the sequence appeared to reference the input for the Eagle 500kg bomb in Helldivers 2. The match is an interpretation of the arrows, not proof of what the person who engraved them intended. WIRED’s report also quoted Know Your Meme editor in chief Don Caldwell describing the phrasing as “a cheeky way of expressing it on the casing.”
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A separate casing reportedly carried lyrics from “Bella Ciao.” CNN-syndicated reporting and NPR/KBIA connected the song to Far Cry 6, which features a version of it. That is a song-inclusion link, rather than a claim that the casing reproduced a game-specific phrase. CNN’s syndicated account and NPR/KBIA’s account of the song describe this connection.
How the two game connections differ
| Reference | Reported link to a game | What the link establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Arrow sequence | WIRED interpreted the up, right and three down arrows as an apparent input sequence for the Eagle 500kg bomb in Helldivers 2. | An apparent gameplay reference; it does not establish intent, motive or causation. |
| “Bella Ciao” lyrics | The song has a version featured in Far Cry 6, as described by NPR/KBIA. | A connection through a song appearing in the game; it does not establish that the inscription referred specifically to the game. |
What the inscriptions do—and do not—say about motive
News coverage reported that authorities treated the inscriptions as potential evidence of political motive, while describing a mix of memes and game allusions. WIRED cautioned that the messages did not express a clearly legible political ideology. Its researcher Alex Newhouse put the distinction this way: “It’s not a specific game, but it’s rather the use of gaming references.”
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The Guardian reported that prosecutors said the suspect described the messages as mostly a meme, quoting a reported text: “Remember how I was engraving bullets? The fuckin messages are mostly a big meme,” The Guardian’s September 17, 2025 report said the engravings did not provide a cohesive explanation for the killing. That reported text is not an independently authenticated interview, and the inscriptions alone do not settle their meaning.
- The references do not establish that either game caused the shooting or encouraged violence.
- They do not establish any involvement by the games’ developers or publishers.
- They do not, by themselves, explain the killing or prove one definitive political interpretation.
Why “Bella Ciao” has more than one meaning
NPR/KBIA, quoting University of Oregon Italian professor Diana Garvin, traces “Bella Ciao” to Italian folk and labor contexts before its later association with partisan resistance. The song has since appeared in entertainment and political settings, including a version in Far Cry 6. Its presence in a game does not erase that history, and its history does not fix the meaning of every later use. The song reference is cultural context, not a self-contained explanation of the casing or the crime.
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What remains unresolved
The cited reports were published in September 2025. They establish what contemporaneous news coverage said about the inscriptions and how reporters interpreted the game connections; they do not establish the case’s current procedural status or any later official or judicial interpretation of the references.
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