Seen @ Huntington GTA IV launch: A history of Nerf-related violence

by Griffin McElroy { Apr 29th 2008 at 2:00AM }

The brave souls who soldiered through the vast queue at the Gamestop in downtown Huntington, W. Va. were put through a rigorous gauntlet of trials and tribulations before being rewarded with Rockstar's blockbuster shoot em' up -- including, but not limited to a freak, unseasonal cold front; a somewhat humorous (but unfortunately brief and unphotographed) drive-by water balloon strike; and alarming in-line discussions of bomb recipes and Sedan-mounted automatic weaponry.

However, the most disturbing sight seen at the launch is pictured above -- a tragic crime scene, just a few feet away from the store's registers. These two poor fellows were just mere moments from claiming their respective copies of the much anticipated title, leaving behind a puzzling forensic tableau. Hastily driving from the event with copies of Grand Theft Auto IV in hand, we were left with these pertinent questions:

What kind of altercation could have lead to this unfortunate double homicide?
What modifications were made to the pictured Nerf guns that imbued them with lethal force?
What sort of Crime Scene Investigation squad leaves behind the murder weapons in such a public place?
Most importantly, why did Gamestop remain open following this horrible act of violence?

Tags: crimescene, gamestop, grand-theft-auto-iv, gta-iv, huntington, launch, midnightlaunch, rockstar, rockstar-games, rockstar-north, wv