PS3 crime spree, part V: Suspected PS3 thief killed by deputy

We thought we'd seen it all when it came to PS3 absurdity: profiteering (to be expected), shooting (wha?), and general crime and assault (dudes, please chill out), but we're deeply saddened now that we've gotten word of the first PS3-related fatality. On Friday, a sheriff's deputy in New Hanover County, North Carolina (that's the deep southeastern corner of the state) shot and killed Peyton Strickland, an 18-year-old University of North Carolina Wilmington student who was suspected of armed robbery of two PS3s. To be fair, we don't have all the facts in, so it's not clear exactly why gunshots were even necessary. Here's what we do know, thanks to a report from the local newspaper, the Wilmington Star-News: on that fateful night, Strickland was to be served a search warrant; he and his roommate, Mike Rhoton (pictured at left) were "playing a PlayStation video game" (we're guessing that means a PS3, given that the article later mentions "Tiger Woods PGA Tour" specifically), when there was a knock at the door. Strickland went to answer it, but before he could, officers banged the door down, pinned Rhoton to the floor, fired "four or five shots," and Strickland was dead. Adding to the confusion and tragedy of this whole situation, Rhoton later added that Strickland "may have been holding a PlayStation controller in his hand" when he went to answer the door, and that his roommate apparently had three unloaded guns in his bedroom at the time, which may have led to the officers' aggressive tactics. The officers and deputies are currently under investigation by the county District Attorney and the State Bureau of Investigation.

[Photo by Paul Stephen, courtesy of Wilmington Star-News]

[k9handler @ Dec 4th 2006 6:01PM]

Are you an idiot? Obviously you're not a criminal investigator. Wait until he's in class? That's if he goes to class and having guns in the room means you could have one on him in class. Let's see flying bullets in a classroom and other innocent bystanders. Great idea, NOT!

[andy @ Dec 4th 2006 12:34PM]

"To be fair, we don't have all the facts in, so it's not clear exactly why gunshots were even necessary."

You do realize that you immediately proceeded that statement with:

"Peyton Strickland, an 18-year-old University of North Carolina Wilmington student who was suspected of armed robbery of two PS3s."


As long as he is indeed part of the armed robbery, I really couldn't care less what happened to him.

It's deeply troubling if he's not though.

[Parker @ Dec 4th 2006 3:49PM]

Our justice system is design to presume suspects are innocent until proven guilty. The officer's job is to make an arrest... and if found guilty in court, the *judge* will penalize the suspect. Not the cop. We have this system for a reason.

Punishment is never the job of the police. You can't just say "well if he was guilty, he deserved it." Such a statement is ignorance of American criminal justice.

I don't know if this guy actually stole the PS3s. The *point* is that as long as he is a suspect, he must be treated as though he did not.

[James @ Dec 4th 2006 12:35PM]

"...student who was suspected of armed robbery...To be fair, we don't have all the facts in, so it's not clear exactly why gunshots were even necessary."

UUUhhhh..... ARMED ROBBERY.....

[JC @ Dec 4th 2006 12:43PM]

Chalk it up to a badly written post, but the understanding should be that during the shooting, the perp wasn't armed.

Police are supposed to use their pistol as a last resort, they should use all other means necessary, even if someone has the gun tucked in their pants, and possibly even when they're waving it around in the air.

You don't just walk in on someone who's suspected of being armed, and shoot them because they might have a gun in the house. There's plenty of time to diffuse the situation before having to use ultimate force.

Still, I guess that's to be expected, now that America's on the verge of becoming a police state.

[kasei @ Dec 4th 2006 12:54PM]

Did you guys also see this: What further shocked Strickland's friends and family was that a deputy also shot and killed Strickland's German shepherd named Blaze.

I am sure the police officer will be exonerated for his actions.

[sublicon @ Dec 4th 2006 12:56PM]

Maybe he was eating a pear....THATS A DELICIOUS PAIR! *throws like a grenade*

[Dan Smith @ Dec 4th 2006 1:03PM]

UUUhhhh..... ARMED ROBBERY.....

Well, according to police, the robbery in question involved "beating" the victim and then smashing the windows of his vehicle in order to remove the 2 Playstation 3's inside. Had the beating involved a weapon, even a blunt instrument, the charges would have included aggravated assault, rather than simply armed robbery, which indicates only that a potential weapon was utilized in the course of the theft.

BTW, referring to a city of more than 100,000 people as "deep in the southeastern part of the state" makes it sound like they were living in the boonies.

[dov @ Dec 4th 2006 1:10PM]

such a sick country..

[Earnest @ Dec 4th 2006 1:13PM]

I'm pretty sure it's not okay for anyone to shoot anyone over a video game system.

Also, the article doesn't state that it was a PS3 that the guys were playing when the cops busted down the door. I guess it's easy enough to mistake a dual shock or a sixaxis for a gun in the heat of the moment, but that doesn't really excuse treating a tax-paying citizen that way.

The guns in the bedroom seem like circumstancial evidence, since it was a small blunt object used in the robbery, and how could the cops have known that they were there before the broke down the door and killed that kid?

All I know is that I'm definitely putting down my controller before I answer the door anymore.

[Juice @ Dec 4th 2006 1:14PM]

You Rob someone you get shot.

Moral of story. Don't rob people.

[Mike @ Dec 4th 2006 5:53PM]

If I follow this logic, I should start shooting people who write comments I don't like so they learn not to do it.

[grimace @ Dec 4th 2006 1:21PM]

"Maybe he was eating a pear....THATS A DELICIOUS PAIR! *throws like a grenade*" - awesome Dane Cook reference btw

[Metal4Evah @ Dec 4th 2006 1:23PM]

Redneck + Gun + Badge = Dead Civilians

[funkycoldm3dina @ Dec 4th 2006 1:25PM]

Typical american stereotype... shoot first, ask questions later. Additionally, should the officer not have been educated in emplying tactics of disarming a suspect other than shooting him down? I am saddened by this because of the context of why he has been shot dead. I hope that the officer in question has an case put against him and eventually disciplined and sacked because of his actions. There was absolutely no need to use fatality inducing tactics. My condolences go out to the victims family and his friend.

[Kai @ Dec 4th 2006 1:29PM]

Juice - are you retarded? Do you understand what the word "suspect" means? EVERY person has the right to a fair trial, its one of the principals this country was founded on. The police have the job to arrest and detain suspects they are not the judge and jury. Firing upon an unarmed citizen is NOT what the police are supposed to do.

[Matt B @ Dec 4th 2006 1:31PM]

Wouldn't surprise me if the police report read that NONE of the PS3's were recovered.

[jack @ Dec 4th 2006 1:33PM]

karma is a biatch.

[apeguero @ Dec 4th 2006 1:37PM]

In a related story, the officers involved in the shooting have since received offers of employment from the NYPD...

These cops are getting way out of hand with their use of deadly force. It sounds like these cops may have botched this thing. I hope the roomate sues the hell out of them.

Doesn't sound like Strickland had a criminal record or was involved in drug dealing or gang activity. The guy was going to college and was talented. It still doesn't mean he should've been forgiven for whacking someone over their head and take their PS3, that's a crime, but that's what jails are for. This kid shouldn't be pushing daisies right now.

[Juice @ Dec 4th 2006 1:37PM]

I get it, fair trial. But I'm just sick of thugs and robbers. Really sick and tired of them. Not that I have been victimized a lot or anything but STOP IT already with the robbing and criminal activities. I do however live in Detroit... And I dare you to walk down a neighborhood late at night, hell, in the middle of the day, without getting mugged. And not downtown I'm talking about the real neighborhoods where most of the people live. It's just expected and people accept it. WTF. Just because your poor deosn't mean your only option is to be a criminal.

[DanixDefcon5 @ Dec 27th 2006 10:37AM]

Hm... Juice commented something about shooting criminals, and mentioning he's from Detroit. Well, I'm from Mexico City and crime rates here are such that yes, I do wish we had cops actually shooting out robbers (who sometimes even out-gun cops!).

But shooting an UNARMED teen, over a gaming console as a first resort ... well ... that's just stoopid. Get that cop in JAIL.

[Dave @ Dec 4th 2006 1:38PM]

For 2 PS3s i would kill also :)

[Juice @ Dec 4th 2006 1:39PM]

And some of them aren't even "poor" they just do it because they know they can get away with it.

[chenry @ Dec 4th 2006 1:39PM]

As a police officer, your weapon is your last resort. I was always under the impression that you can't fire unless you feel your life is in danger. If someone waving a video game controller around and has guns in a completely separate room constitutes an "imminent threat to your life" I think you should have your badge and gun taken away and maybe you can have a job working as an usher at the cineplex downtown.

[Matt @ Dec 4th 2006 1:39PM]

i wonder if the kid used jazz hands to deflect the bullets?
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE HIGHLANDER!!!!!!!

[Hel @ Dec 4th 2006 1:42PM]

God bless america >.>

[James @ Dec 4th 2006 1:44PM]

After all the accidents that have been happening with the Wii controllers flying out of peoples hand, the cop probably felt in fear of his life because the robber had a controller in his hand...

[bsm0f0 @ Dec 4th 2006 1:47PM]

just ... wow ...

[Rob @ Dec 4th 2006 1:48PM]

Here's what someone posted on my surfing site (local to Wrightsville Beach/Wilmington, NC)

"from what i hear around here from people that i know, he was knee deep in drugs, always in fights, had guns. i mean, you know for a fact he had a weapon of some sort, as he was involved in armed robbery. again, this is all just stuff i heard, but is from people that used to date him and such. door got kicked in, dog attacked, dog shot, he then freaked and attacked police, they shot him. i mean, if the kid grabbed a gun, something which he was known for having around, and went towards the cops, of course he got shot, like wojo said, there isnt a warning shot, if somebody could possibly harm you, you stop them. also hear the boy's "posse" is supposed to come down from durham and kill the cop that did it. and if stuff like that is being suggested, i could make an educated decision and say the kid was a bit into skiing, and not in the mountains. i mean, if i was killed when the police were serving a warrant on me for armed robbery and i was shot, i dont think my gun toting friends would be driving here to try and kill the cop. long post, i just had like a 30 minutes discussion with a bunch of people making shit up like he was asleep and they busted in and killed him. again, just some of my heresay and assumptions, but thats my 2 cents."
Thread is here:
http://www.eastcoastsurf.com/surftalk/viewtopic.php?p=130800

[James @ Dec 4th 2006 3:00PM]

That's some excellent insight into this guy's lifestyle, if it's true. These details definitely help illustrate how the situation could have resulted in shooting deaths.

[Wick3d GooSe @ Dec 4th 2006 1:53PM]

Thou shall not steal. Number 8 on the 10 commandments. Good job officer. Kill the people that steal. I had someone break my window into my truck and steal my radar detector, ipod, and ipod dock. I wish I could have caught them in the act, so I would have opened up some shots.

[Rivet @ Dec 4th 2006 3:19PM]

"Thou shall not steal. Number 8 on the 10 commandments. "

It's number 9, douchebag. And "thou shalt not kill" comes in at number 7.

I'm not even religious and I know this shit.

[Raider @ Dec 4th 2006 4:58PM]

It is only your fault for leaving those in your truck. Especially if you left them out in the open, you were basically asking for it.

[Seamus Bartlett @ Dec 4th 2006 4:55PM]

So, the next person who pirates a song should get shot, right? Or at least if they pirate a movie, because that's like a $100,000 fine, so that's like stealing several hundred PS3's.

I am sick of people who think if something's bad, that means it should be punished by death. Police are now using tasers on unarmed civilians, and guns on 18 year olds. Why couldn't the police just break the door down, and taser the kid? Because there is no law where a $1,200 robbery=death. And don't even give me this bullshit of "he deserved it." If you want to live in a terrorist state, you can't pick and choose: but before you know, we'll be in a country where if a man covets another man's wife, we'll cut off his hand, "because obviously what he was doing was wrong."

[frank @ Dec 4th 2006 2:08PM]

A thief is shot in the night, whos hand is on the trigger ?

[What the... @ Dec 4th 2006 2:08PM]

Oh wow... the roommate in the picture... the one in the blue shirt, with his hand on his forehead, and the half smile, looks absolutely devastated. LOL

Punks. Well, I hope robbing some kid of his/her PS3 was worth it! (Assuming he did it, of course... if he didn't... oops!)

[H.L @ Dec 4th 2006 2:11PM]

I really don't understand why american cops are so trigger happy these days. This is must be the 3rd och 5th death shooting I have read about the lastest 6 months.
Although the dude has robbed other people he couldn't be death sentenced before even getting arested. More over why don't cops use rubber bullets whe possible, and do they really have to shoot until the person is dead? Why don't they just shoot people in the legs or something for wait until the bad guy shoots?

[andy @ Dec 4th 2006 2:45PM]

"I really don't understand why american cops are so trigger happy these days. This is must be the 3rd och 5th death shooting I have read about the lastest 6 months. "

It's because our media only reports the shooting or shows the shooting instead of including what happened leading up to the shooting. They also only interview friends of the dead guy, not his enemies or people who didn't like him.

In the NY case, the guy ran over a cop with his car.... twice. He then got shot. OOOPS, they left that part out didn't they?

In this case, (from the add'l information above) a drug dealer who is known to carry weapons illegally committed armed robbery. Cops went to his house to serve a warrant, the dog (who had been taught from birth to fight) attacked and was shot. The owner/theif came running at the cops waiving something black in his had the size and shape of a gun. He got shot.


All this Monday morning ignoring of the details sounds great, but I have family on the police force. If they were in this type of situation and didn't kill the other person, I would demand that they quit their jobs because job 1 is come home alive and they're obviously being derilect in their duties.


And on a side note HL, you've never handled a pistol have you? "shoot in the legs HA" That'll just get you sued by the way, because it's deadly force, and if you're not scared enough to kill, then you shouldn't be shooting in the first place.

"wait until the bad guy shoots" I hope you do, because the gene pool would be a better place without you.

[SubGenius @ Dec 4th 2006 2:12PM]

I could easily see how a playstation controller could be mistaken for a gun.

If you just broke down the door of a suspected armed robber and he's hold a metallic object in his hand that is shapped like a gun in a poorly lit room, what would you do?

A) Wait till he shoots
B) Shoot him first
C) Ask questions later
D) Shoot his german shepard for good measure
E) B, C & D

[Danny @ Dec 4th 2006 2:31PM]

Mis-information in the post - "University of North Carolina Wilmington student" is false - he's a Cape Fear CC student.

[Thoth @ Dec 4th 2006 2:32PM]

I find it sad that most of these posts completely ignored "we don't have all the facts". We have no idea what the officer who fired was faced with when the door went down. You are all spouting off a bunch of crap about how the officer shouldn't have jumped to the conclusion that they guy was armed all the while jumping to your own conclusion that he wasn't. It is a shame that the kid had to die, yes. But that doesn't mean it was avoidable.

Wait until all of the information is in, ok?

And please. Enough with the juvenile little "typical American" BS. It got old a very long time ago.

[Dave @ Dec 4th 2006 3:10PM]

Andy... "job 1 is come home alive"

Bravo man... bravo. Great post all around. Its a shame more people don't GET IT.

[Killian @ Dec 4th 2006 5:02PM]

where did it say the dog was trained to fight? Also, the hadn't proven he had committed the crimes. They overreacted, get over it

[Dave @ Dec 4th 2006 3:09PM]

To all you people from outside the US who said "typical American" whatever... Fuck you! And to the rest of you assholes here in US, shut your little pussy mouths. I cant believe how everyone is a friggin victim and nobody gives the police the benefit of the doubt. All I know is that if I was a cop, MY LIFE COMES FIRST! So to all you officers out there, if you think for a split second that your life is in danger... SHOOT!


I know we dont have "all the facts" but Im willing to bet this kid was not Mr. Innocent and the police new that ahead of time. I just want you all to imagine that you lost your Father/Son/significant other because they, being a cop, hesitated when they thought their life was in danger because of all the negative media and didn't follow there instincts. I'd also LOVE to see how you'd react if you were in their shoes day after day. Oh, and to the guy who asked about rubber bullets, let me just educate you. If you are confronted with someone who is rocked out of his head on drugs, rubber bullets dont work. Personally, I'd want the real thing because, I'll bet you a million dollars the crackheads don't have rubber bullets in their guns!

Just be thankful you dont live in a country where they'll cut your hands off if they THINK you stole something. No proof required. Kudos to the few people on here that support and trust the police. The rest of you...well.. I sincerely hope that you never are in a situation where you need the police and dont want them to hesitate while they're protecting your sorry ass.

[frank @ Dec 4th 2006 5:03PM]

Rivet,

You "douchebag" no you dont know your shit.

Go read wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

There are 3 versions of the 10 commandments, hebrew, catholic and protestant.

Thou shall not murder ( not kill ) comes in at # 6 and 5. Thou shall not steal comes in at # 8 and 7.

You however are guilty of #9 and 8, You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

You don't have to be religious to look it up yourself, just asinine not to.

[Rohit Kapur @ Dec 4th 2006 3:59PM]

Dumbass, it IS EIGHTH. Don't talk about stuff you don't know.

[Scott @ Dec 4th 2006 3:33PM]

Now if this were a black student killed by white cops, Jessie and Al would have been down there before the german shepard hit the floor. Makes you wonder who's going to come to the "aid" of a dead white kid and dog.

[PeteC @ Dec 4th 2006 3:49PM]

Great, I can imagine if you're holding a six axis in one hand it does look mighty like a gun seeing as there isn't a cord leading off it. Note to all, put down your controller when you go to answer the door.

Additionally I feel real sorry for him unless he actually did hold up the store and comit armed robbery. If you're willing to threaten people with weapons, I have no sorrow for you when you get whats rightfully coming to you.

[Kanfelaketi @ Dec 4th 2006 3:59PM]

What kind of police do you have there in US, guys? They always shoot when there's an opportunity. Death penalty without judging for supposedly stealing 2 PS3s... This is more than insane; this is sick, idiotic and primitive.

What those guys are doing with THREE guns in their room is another question. "Bowling For Columbine", I say...

[andy @ Dec 4th 2006 4:16PM]

Kanfelaketi @ Dec 4th 2006 3:52PM
"What kind of police do you have there in US, guys? They always shoot when there's an opportunity. Death penalty without judging for supposedly stealing 2 PS3s... This is more than insane; this is sick, idiotic and primitive.

What those guys are doing with THREE guns in their room is another question. "Bowling For Columbine", I say..."

Is it your lack of reading comprehension or your general ignorance that is hindering your free thinking?

There was no death penalty and there was no judging. If you read the actual facts of the case, the police defended themselves when they thought their lives were in danger. The articles don't say anything about killing him for supposedly stealing 2 PS3's because that's a blatant lie.

If the police shot every time there was an opportunity, we'd have better police and a better society. We would be rid of a lot of worthless space occupiers.

I have 4 guns in my room right now, and am looking to buy a couple more. I have two different shotguns for different hunting, a hunting rifle, and a handgun in my nightstand. I'm looking for a nicer handgun and a smaller target rifle. I enjoy shooting sports. Don't let your lack of knowledge of firearms stop you from passing judgment though. I must be planning something, why else would I own guns right? I mean, it's not like I could be using them to hunt and target shoot at my range right? Nobody uses guns for those purposes, they're only used to commit crimes, right?

Please enlighten us further with more of your insightful revelations.