Suspect in PS3 robbery gets killed by police

Wilmington (NC) - One of the many cases of Playstation 3 robberies ended fatally as police gunned down a suspect in North Carolina accused of stalking a customer on the PS3 launch day back to his apartment, beating him up, and stealing his console.

The robbery victim, a student at UNC, was one of the first to get a PS3 in the state, having waited over three days to purchase the console at Wal-Mart at midnight on the November 17 launch day.

Police had a warrant for Peyton Strickland, a student at Cape Fear Community College, and went to his house on Friday to arrest him. When Strickland didn’t answer the door, the police entered forcibly and then shot him. It’s unknown at this point why the police felt the need to use force. According to his roommate, Strickland was unarmed and was just holding a PS3 controller.

"If this boy would’ve come to the door, opened the door, we probably wouldn’t be talking," was the response from the sheriff. The District Attorney is following the official investigation. "No one is above the law and no one is beneath its protection," he said.

The PS3 launch saw a lot of violence, because of its elusive status both in terms of number of units available and the high cost. Known examples of violence included a drive-by shooting, predictable store opening fights, and several other cases of robberies and muggings.