Deputy charged with 2nd degree murder for slaying of suspected PS3 thief [update 2]

by James Ransom-Wiley { Dec 11th 2006 at 2:45PM }

Deputy Chris Long, involved in the shooting death of Peyton Strickland, a suspected PlayStation 3 thief, has been dismissed from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office. While investigators have not revealed which of the three deputies at the scene actually shot Strickland, Long's dismissal certainly shines the "guilty" spotlight on the 10-year Sheriff's Office veteran.

Long was cleared of wrongdoing in a previous incident in which two teens were shot. ~~According to Sheriff Causey, the State Bureau of Investigation could be in the process of filing criminal charges against Long for the Strickland shooting.~~ Update: In a press conference today, District Attorney Ben David announced that Long has been charged with second degree murder.

[Thanks, Mr. Objectional & Curtis]

Update: Murder charged dropped against deputy who shot suspected PS3 thief

Tags: PS3

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Greg B @ Dec 11th 2006 2:50PM

What the hell is wrong with police officers nowadays? And they say FPS leads to violence. I think its being a cop.

John @ Dec 11th 2006 2:54PM

i cant help not caring one little bit about the sheriff or the dude that got shot

i wanna care believe me i do

but i just dont

lmao

Killzig @ Dec 12th 2006 12:01PM

Dismal?

crono141 @ Dec 11th 2006 2:57PM

"Long's dismal certainly shines the "guilty" spotlight on the 10-year Sheriff's Office veteran."

Dismissal?

eight @ Dec 11th 2006 4:58PM

not that it matters, but they don't say if the guy actually stole PS3's... but i guess since a cop killed him we will never know.

I don't feel bad for the cop. He killed someone and all he's getting is a dismissal from the police force. Talk about getting off light. Last time i checked murder was a pretty big deal...

SonicClang @ Dec 11th 2006 3:18PM

I don't think death by shooting is just punishment for stealing a couple PS3 systems, but the kid would still be alive if he hadn't done it. don't act like he was innocent and it's all the cop's fault.

Hey, maybe they should put orange dots on the PS3 controllers so the cops know they're not guns :)

Schweppes @ Dec 11th 2006 3:24PM

@ 5

does the term "allegedly" mean anything to you? they hadn't proven anything about the kid stealing them. that's what they were supposed to be going there for, to bring him in for questioning. maybe he did, maybe he didn't... i still think shooting him (and his dog) was a bit excessive.

SonicClang @ Dec 11th 2006 3:45PM

Yes, yes, good point. I agree with you. I shouldn't jump to conclusions that the kid did anything wrong.

my moustache @ Dec 11th 2006 3:50PM

SonicClang has it - if he hadn't committed a violent crime he would still be alive.

As far as it being alleged, he was ID'd from a Wal Mart surveillance camera video as he followed to his dorm, on campus, where he was beaten and robbed.

Sadly, the asshat would have probably had his rich lawyer daddy to get him out of it. He can't get away with it now...

Oh, btw, this happened on the campus of my school. Everyone here is acting like strickland is the victim. victims don't stake you out, follow you home, and beat you with blunt objects.

Dux @ Dec 11th 2006 3:47PM

I live not to far from Durham, where Stricklands family lives, in Raleigh. And this incident is pretty much top news around here.

my moustache @ Dec 12th 2006 8:15PM

mixed up pronouns there, shoulda been:

As far as it being alleged, strickland was ID'd from a Wal Mart surveillance camera video as he followed the victim to his dorm, on campus, where he was beaten and robbed. For two playstation 3's, one of which he "allegedly" proceeded to sell on ebay.

I am not a fan of police or police violence, but this guy committed a violent crime. Yes, he was a student, that doesn't make him more pitiable. Did he deserve to get shot? Maybe not. But the kid that was beaten for no good reason at all definitely didn't deserve that.

DeadPlasmaCell @ Dec 11th 2006 3:55PM

Screw the thieving punk.. what about the innocent dog?? Now that was a waste.

Gimpyfuzznut @ Dec 11th 2006 4:43PM

I think its silly to say that he deserved to get shot. Weather he stole or not, its not up to the police officer, who looks like a total piece of shit who probably get kicks by pulling over black "suspects" driving nice cars, to deliver a freaking death sentence. Who knows why people commit stupid crimes but police are not prosecutors. It makes no sense that a freaking dog an unarmed student in a dorm was shot in the hunting down of a suspect. Unfortunately, shit like this happens all the time. I'm sure everybody has heard about all those stupid fucking NYC cops unloading clips into a car of unarmed people who didn't do anything. And I think you people there, saying that if the thief didn't do anything wrong, he would of never been put in that situation, are complete idiots. What if the cop got it wrong and went to the wrong house? What if they showed up at someone's house that wasn't a suspect? You don't think police make mistakes like that all the time? If someone completely innocent got shot, what the hell would you be saying?

Does anyone get the feeling that police don't protect or serve worth a damn? All they do is hand out tickets and do a shitty job at handling anything else. I used to go to a college where the police candidates go through pre-academy school (this is in Canada) and I always go the feeling that the police tech. students were the freaking losers who just wanted to have the power of bossing people around and getting a gun. They were the few genuine students who wanted to uphold the law, but the majority looked like really pieces of work trying to make up for small penis syndrome (females included).

FUCK THE POLICE!

Cthulhugus @ Dec 11th 2006 4:51PM

As a cannabis user we in the pro-cannabis community have seen what happens when a unpopular element of society that doesn't play by the rules. The militarization of civilian police forces coupled with increasing use of deadly force by police officer has created a de-facto street justice for our community and increasingly yours. In a few years stories of police shooting "out-of-control" and violent video gamers who have committed a crime, or the police think committed a crime, whichever is most convenient for the cops, will be more and more common. It's that now with cannabis users who are routinely murdered by police often with little or no provocation.
While this student was probably guilty of a crime there are three points to bear in mind:
1. This person was not convicted of crime, "innocent until proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
2. There were multiple police officers present at this bust surely one of them could have used less lethal force i.e. mace, taser, baton/night stick.
3. When I was 18 years old I did all kinds of stupid criminal stuff. Nothing voilent mind you, but I did fence goods and help some buddies break into a few homes. Now while that was bad I don't deserve to be killed for that, I don't a damn what anyone says. And I think my pastor and college degree would back me up.
Good thing this kid was white or else I doubt there would be this much media attention. As least his lawyer father will get to the bottom of why his son was killed because he made bad decision.

Curtis @ Dec 11th 2006 4:58PM

The deputy was charged with 2nd Degree Murder today.

http://wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=5799046

n a press conference Monday, District Attorney Ben David announced Corporal Chris Long has been charged with second degree murder.

Long was involved in the shooting of 18-year-old Peyton Strickland. He and two other deputies were serving a warrant on Strickland. He was accused of stealing Playstation 3's from a UNCW student.

Long was dismissed from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office last week.

There will be no charges against the other two deputies.

Evan @ Dec 11th 2006 5:14PM

@ 13

If it was a black man that stole it there would be riots screaming that the cop is a racist and he'd be in jail for murder in no time. I, A person that moved to North Carolina a year ago, sees nothing but a giant rift between the races in the southern areas.

Mr, Objectional @ Dec 11th 2006 5:16PM

That was right here in NC. I had my brother convince my clan that I was this guy for a while (I also have 2 PS3s). After an hour or two of my brother cracking up listening to them buy it, I decided to pop in and say hi from beyond the grave.

dark_inchworm @ Dec 11th 2006 5:44PM

Looks like that cops gonna meet some giant enemy inmates and get pounded in the ass for massive damage.

tracked @ Dec 11th 2006 6:22PM

Oh come on. Leave the guy alone. Just charge him for killing the dog. The kid deserved to be shot. PS3s are dangerous.

Qtrain2Bklyn @ Dec 11th 2006 7:09PM

" The kid deserved to be shot. PS3s are dangerous. "

the words of someone who didn't get enough hugs from mom. You'd feel entirely different about 'the kid' if he was someone close to you.

Chase Clark @ Dec 11th 2006 10:09PM

You can read the victim's parents' statement here:
http://wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=5799340

Bamboo @ Dec 12th 2006 6:42AM

Have you guys not seen the pics that were on the net of the kid they shot standing with his buddies and they were all holding guns? The cops went in expecting armed resistance from a violent person, so I'm thinking most of you in that situation seeing something black and shinny in the kids hand would have made you shoot 1st, ask questions later. AND, you would have shot the dog too if it would have been coming for you.

I also live in Wilmington, and just finished at UNCW, and while not a big fan of cops, I am an even less fan of people that beat people and take their stuff.

It is finally getting around here that the kid was not a nice person, regardless of the fact that his daddy is a rich lawyer and he was going to a local community college. Some of you posting here have no clue what you are talking about, like the guy above that actually thinks the shooting took place in a dorm. Nothing at all happened in a dorm. The robbery happened in a tiny apt. complex that borders the UNCW campus, but is not owned by the school, and the shooting took place at the perps house, way off campus.

Eric B @ Dec 12th 2006 10:31PM

@ 22

First post I see with reason. The police officer had a lot to deal with. He was likely given a warning that he was going to apprehend an armed suspect.

The details of what happened have clearly not been made public and we cannot clearly make assumptions of what truly happened.

There can be two general scenarios of what occurred.

1) The officer is a gun blazing lunatic;
2) The officer went in on information of apprehending an armed suspect. He goes in and has a dog attack him and sees the suspect with something in his hand that could have looked like a weapon.

The fact of the matter is, that we do not know exact details of everything inside. But those are the two likely scenarios. I'm sure there are a lot of police officers that are number 1, but the odds are he wasn't. However the fact that he was charged, could show he was number 1, but then again, the charges could have come by public pressure.