You may have heard about it by now. A violent animal was shot and killed last Friday while police attempted to serve a warrant for his arrest. His dog was shot too, which is probably the saddest part of this story.
The details of the shooting are not out, but from the pieces that are being broadcast, my fertile imagination has developed a possible scenario:
The violent animal (Strickland) was caught on video perpetrating his crime. He has a history of such actions. He is known to own firearms. He owns a dog of a variety that is very good at performing guard/attack duties (I was raised with German Shepherds; phenomenal animals, and far more intelligent and effective than the stupid Rottweilers that everyone seems to want now).
Police confront said animal (Strickland) at his door. Strickland knows full well what his crimes are, and either sics his dog on the officers, or the dog simply obeys his training to protect his master and attacks on his own. Confronted by a deadly weapon (yes, the Shepherd can easily be considered a weapon, don’t get mad, I don’t write the rules), officers shoot the dog. Strickland tries to retreat into his house (where officers are fully aware he has firearms), and the police are faced with a situation where a three-time violent offender (the August attack, the Playstation theft, and the dog) is about to be armed. Bang, bang, bang.
I bolded portions of the articles below that support my suppositions.
Is that what happened? I don’t know, but it seems reasonable.
Was the shooting justified? If I’m even close, then yes.
Given the known facts, I find it amazingly repulsive to hear “family friends” describe this violent animal as “generous”, “sweet”, and “caring”. They are either in full denial mode, liars, or sorely misinformed on what this “loving child” had reverted to, a bully and a thug.
Let’s hope someone, somewhere, uses this as a lesson: Teach the kids right from wrong – don’t deny your own eyes when your offspring start to go bad – discipline them when they need it – teach them to respect the rule of law.
Durham suspect, 18, killed during search
A teenager from Durham was killed at the house where he lived in Wilmington on Friday night as officers investigating the theft of two PlayStations arrived to search the house, authorities said.
Peyton Strickland, 18, was shot about 9:30 p.m. during a search of the Wilmington house he shared with three others.
UNC-Wilmington Police and New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the house, 533 Long Leaf Acres Drive, with arrest warrants for Strickland and UNCW student Ryan David Mills, 20, on charges of the armed robbery of two PlayStation 3 consoles from a UNCW student on Nov. 17. Before Strickland could be taken into custody, he was shot and killed. His German shepherd, Blaze, was killed, too.
Don Beskind, a lawyer who works with Don Strickland and is a longtime family friend, said they were “devastated” by Peyton Strickland’s death.
“I don’t think they’re thinking about how this happened,” Beskind said Saturday. “I think they’re dealing with the loss. The blame and responsibility, those are all things for another day.”
He said Peyton was “a great kid” and “a really sweet boy.”
Strickland had been scheduled to appear in court last Thursday on a felony charge from August of assault causing serious injury.
Last week, police charged Strickland and Mills with armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and breaking and entering in the parking lot of a UNCW dorm last month.
Student Justin Raines had returned from a nearby Wal-Mart about 12:30 a.m. Nov. 17. He and his twin, Matt, had waited in line for more than 24 hours to buy two Sony PlayStation 3 consoles.
The game consoles, which retail for about $650, are scarce and sell in online auctions for as much as $1,300. Investigators think the twins bought the machines to resell them on eBay for a profit.
Police think Justin Raines was followed by car back to his dorm. One robber attacked him and beat him severely, while the other stole the PlayStations from his truck.
Deputy kills teen while serving warrant
What further shocked Strickland’s friends and family was that a deputy also shot and killed Strickland’s German shepherd named Blaze.
The dog’s blood stained the front porch, and shards of glass from the front-door windows littered the area.
When Raines came home to the on-campus Seahawk Village apartments after midnight with the games he bought for $641 apiece, two white men in a gold Pontiac pulled up to Raines’ car, struck him with a six-inch blunt object and stole his purchases, leaving him with bumps and bruises, UNCW police said.
Three unloaded guns were in the house – a hunting rifle and two shotguns – which were in Strickland’s room, Rhoton said. And when Strickland answered the door, he may have been holding a PlayStation controller in his hand, he said.
Gotta love the anonymous, misinformed, shy types… got this in email via the contact form from some calling himself ‘J Black’:
“You are a complete and utter tool. I guess you should do just a little more research before you suppose. It was his friend who was known to carry guns…a friend who didn’t live there and wasn’t there at the time. They fired seven
shots at this unarmed human being..not an animal. I can assure you of one thing…this is far from over…I suppose the law officers will be facing charges before this is over,”
Obviously Mr. Black failed to read the bolded text above regarding who had possession of the weapons. If the quoted reporter got it wrong, then so be it. I have yet to see any conflicting reports on this.
My comments regarding Strickland stand – he was a violent, aggressive animal; a bully who attacked a human being to steal a VIDEO GAME. Last August he attacked another human being causing serious injury. I believe there is a good chance he reacted aggressively to the policemen who came to serve the warrant by siccing his dog on them and perhaps trying to retreat into the house where his firearms were stored. Two violent acts on record, one I am admittedly making a guess.
The police may not have been justified in their actions, however my supposition is that if my guesses as to what happened are anywhere close to fact, then I believe they were completely justified.
Mr. Black – comments are not restricted here, unless you’re pushing drugs or providing some other sort of spam. Don’t email me unless you’re ashamed of your opinion. As a matter of fact, don’t email if you are ashamed of your opinion, since I’ll simply post it here, anyway.
Thanks for the comment,
– Jonathan
Are you really so stupid at to believe your own garbage! How inbreeded are you! To call Peyton Strickland an animal without knowing any facts (which your statements have turned out to be completely wrong) just shows how ignorant you really are. Leave NC and go back to iowa and join a cult moron!
“How inbreeded are you!”
Apparently not enough to mistake that for a word.
If you’d bothered to read before ranting, you’d have seen the facts on which I based my opinion. Too much work, I suppose?
Do society a favor, Matt; buy a dictionary and a thesaurus, figure out how to use them, then take some debate classes. When you’re mentally prepared to respond intelligently, feel free to return and confront me with your opinions. Until then, and I believe that will be quite some time, good-bye.
Thanks for dropping in, try not to stay so long next time.
Nevermind L’ano, I found this site on google thinking it was something substantial but I just read the About section and its apparant that you are just some weirdo, I think well suited for the navvvvvvyyy, who has no one real to talk to about all the stupid stuff your in to. I will never come to this site again, I’m in Raleigh if you have something to say. I know your not that type though, through all the tough talk and military name dropping (civilian assistant? do you wipe their asses for them?) I couldn’t really look past the picture of you at your grandmothers house. I think you should get old granny to snap one of you with your sword, cats, and whatever Dungeon and Dragons game your enthralled with these days. It’s been real, it’s been fun, but it hasn’t been real fun. Tell granny I said hey
Thanks for dropping by, Chris… sorry you bothered to post this message, since your other response was much more civil.
It’s a shame that your reading comprehension has suffered so… I am a retired Marine, still working with Marines (who are in fact part of the Department of the Navy).
You’re right that I’m not the type to come “pay a visit” to a rude, random, anonymous commenter on a message board, though – I’ve never been a thug, nor would I thuggishly threaten someone with whom I have a disagreement. Perhaps that attitude explains your defensiveness.
By the way, in case you missed it in the footer…
This site is for opinion; mine primarily, but you’re welcome to add yours. Slander is not appreciated, and only lightly tolerated. Threats, direct or implied, will not be tolerated and will be reported to the appropriate authorities along with all pertinent server logs.
Jonathan,
A lot of the people who have posted comments here are probably very young as was Peyton. They are in college and are still learning to be better writers and communicators. You, on the other hand, are an ex-marine and should have learned something by now. For example, you should know better than to condemn Peyton Strickland of crimes when he has never been tried in a court of law (due to a bullet in his head). As a marine your job was to protect Americans, now you want to see them deprived of their basic rights.