Deputy Shoots and Kills Suspected PS3 Robber

[Elven6]

Robbery suspect and his dog are gunned down in Wilmington, NC

The PlayStation 3 frenzy took a deadly turn this past Friday when a sheriff's deputy for New Hanover County (NC) shot and killed a man suspected of robbing a UNCW student of two of the consoles. The shooting and the circumstances surrounding it have left many in the area puzzled.

The story began on November 17: the US launch date of the highly anticipated PS3 console. On that day, UNCW student Justin Raines purchased two PS3 consoles from Wal-mart along with a few games. When Raines arrived back at his on-campus apartment, he was attacked with a blunt object by two men and his prized merchandise was stolen.

Officers reviewed surveillance camera footage from the Wal-Mart and investigated several leads given to them. After the invesigation, the decision was made to serve Peyton Strickland and Ryan David Mills with arrest warrants on charges of breaking and entering, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

When sheriff's deputies arrived at 533 Long Leaf Acres Drive to serve Strickland with an arrest warrant, Strickland was playing a round of Tiger Woods PGA Tour on his recently acquired PS3. The officers knocked on the door; Strickland walked to the door with controller in hand and opened it. "There was a bunch of yelling," said Mike Rhoton, a roommate of Strickland. "Four or five shots went off and they killed him. They pinned me down to the ground and told me not to move anything."

There were three guns found in Strickland’s room, but none were used in the incident. Even more puzzling is the fact that police officers also shot and killed Blaze, Strickland's German shepherd.

The District Attorney's Office along with the UNCW police department and Hanover Country Sherriff’s department are investigating the incident. "I am making this my top priority. No one's above the law. If there's any criminal conduct that can be established, I'm not going to hesitate to treat them as any other defendant," said New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David.

According to the StarNewsOnline, Strickland was the youngest of three children and his father is a high-profile lawyer in the Raleigh-Durham (RDU) area.

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5186

[wowzors]

Those officers had no right to pull a gun on a civilian even if he wasnt innocent, he would have to have attacked first. The dog shooting is just all around horrible, i dont know how you could kill an innocent dog, no matter if his owner is a douche.

[dejkirkby]

If the dog was attacking, the police are within their rights to take the animal down. The guy is another matter. My view, although not strictly in line with the current legislation is you reap what you sow.

[geise69]

Holy crap! I saw this news and was like wtf! I live in New Hanover county and I missed this news. It's crazy that this is happening around the college campus, cause it's really not a bad area at all. I guess it doesn't matter where you are if you own a ps3. It is so sad this had to happen. Also it's a little sketchy how the police handled the matter. Was the dog attacking the police officers? Was the guy resisting arrest? I can bet SLED is going to be investicating this.

[F9zDark]

Perhaps they thought the PS3 controller was a gun? People do stupid things, and the cop may not have seen it was a controller until after the kid was shot dead. You approach a cop with ANYTHING in your hand, you can EXPECT to be shot...

[Uruz 6]

If the dog was attacking, the police are within their rights to take the animal down. The guy is another matter.

I think the same - anyway what if the guy made the dog attack and when he was shot dead tried to kill the cop himself using something else aside from the THREE guns (a good old chair in the back might do the job, no?)?

[Elven6]

I belive they shot the man because he probably fought back or something.