1 Shot In Conn. Playstation Waiting Line

Wow what has the world come to..

HARTFORD, Conn. - Two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting for the new Playstation 3 game system to go on sale in Putnam early Friday and shot one man who refused to give up his money, authorities said.


About 30 miles away, another shopper was beaten and robbed of his new Playstation 3 just minutes after he bought it at a store in Manchester, police said.

Nationwide, short supplies of the PS3 and strong demand led to long lines of buyers, some waiting for days outside stores. Once the doors opened Friday, customers pushed and shoved their way to the shelves in several cities to get at the limited supply.

The attacks and robberies in Connecticut appeared to be the most violent.

It was about 3 a.m. when the two gunmen in Putnam, a town of about 9,000 residents in northeast Connecticut, confronted 15 to 20 people standing outside a Wal-Mart store and demanded money, said State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance.

"One of the patrons resisted. That patron was shot," Vance said.

Vance said the two gunmen fled after shooting Michael Penkala, 21, of Webster, Mass., in the chest and shoulder. Penkala was in stable condition at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Mass., with injuries not believed to be life threatening, Vance said.

Police were searching for the suspects, both believed to be in their teens, Vance said. He said one was wearing a ski mask and brandishing a handgun, and the other had what appeared to be a shotgun.

In the Manchester attack, the shopper told police five men surrounded and beat him as he left the Shoppes at Buckland Hills with the new Playstation.

Police Sgt. Chris Davis said the alleged attackers pushed one of colleagues out of the car as they drove away. That man, a 17-year-old from Windsor, was charged with robbery, larceny, assault and breach of peace. His name was not released.

In Palmdale, Calif., authorities shut down a Super Wal-Mart after some shoppers got rowdy late Wednesday. In West Bend, Wis., a 19-year-old man was injured when he ran into a pole racing with 50 others for one of 10 spots outside a Wal-Mart.

In Lexington, Ky., someone fired BB pellets from a passing vehicle at people waiting outside a Best Buy store, according to WKYT, whose own reporter said she was among four people grazed while she interviewed buyers in line.

A Best Buy in Boston, aware it had only 140 of the consoles, got smart about the big sale — its employees gave out tickets to the first 140 people in line so everyone could go home until the store opened.

 

Wow... just wow...

I hope those gunmen get the damn death penalty.

 

all those ppl have no lifes if their that desperat for a freakin game console

 

Just think of all the money in their pockets. No wonder they got robbed.

Nobody should resort to that.

 

true and even so they proly would have gotten alot more money if they just bought one and sold it on ebay for like 7k[+]

 

i dont like ps3 lmao thats rediculous though..

 

I swear...I hate people who take advantage of events. Everyone who did that crap should go straight to prison and never be let out.

 

People are sad....

 

It's down to low-lifes, addicts, etc.

They have no life, therefore cannot afford it, so results to theft and viollence.

Basically, arseholes.

 

Ugh, that's sad.

 

^^ agreed... -_-

 

lol yeah my freind told me about this...he also said that he passed by best buy before he got to school and that ther wher amblunces and cop cars out side the store for when they opend

 

Oh, my god.. ;___;

 

not to bright since most of the ppl probably werent carrying money to pay for a PS3 most likely would have been paid for with a debt/credit card

 

That is sad. But I have to admit the robbers were smart to rob ppl in line cuz they would have a lot of money on them.