Man Dies Following An Incident Involving Stolen Pokémon Cards

I don't think that dude thought his life would end that day over some Pokemon cards and a Pizza.

@ATaco I think the real question is to look at how people will try justifying that this was a correct decision on the part of the police force. No man should die for thievery of trading cards and a pizza.

@6FtTurkey I'm sure they were good boys who went to church everyday and never got into trouble before.

Is there more information? Were the men armed? Did they attack the officer? Not saying theft is a good thing, but seems a little bit extreme to open fire for petty theft... 0.0

Tell you what i'm glad i live in the UK where the police aren't trigger happy morons who will shoot a kill shot over PM cards. The guy might have been in the wrong but he didn't deserve to lose his life over it. Its pretty disgusting really on the cops part, i bet he gives no sh*ts and is proud of his weapon designed for killing.

Is this really suitable for this gaming news site that has a lot of children coming to it? I know I am not going let my child read this site anymore just in case something else like this is on here.

@6FtTurkey The man who died was an innocent bystander, as well as two of the others who were shot by the police. The theives were unarmed.

@Deviant-Dork Pokémon started out as a Gameboy game, then came the TCG. So yes, it's relevant, just as people who were shot over game consoles, copies of video games, etc. Just goes to show, people will can/will be killed over the most trivial things.

This is a tragedy. Apparently staff had previously voiced concerns over store policy to call police and the likelihood that it could end badly.

@Deviant-Dork
I'd say it is a good thing for kids to know not to steal.

@link3710 that's another can of worms regarding law enforcement and their escalation of situations.

"Things escalate. This is the real world."

While that may be true that doesn't mean you have to contribute to said escalation or justify it with that half assed excused.
I would expect a bit more professionalism and competence.
Especially since the thieves were apparently unarmed.

@link3710
"Police in Florida shot and killed a shoplifter on Wednesday evening, after he allegedly stole a pizza and Pokemon cards from a Target."

@Wexter A car takedown was apparently executed. In my opinion, it sounds like there is more to the story than the news has reported, so it seems too early to fully judge who was in the right or wrong.

I don't remember this episode of the anime

@link3710 That's absolutely terrible, they were unarmed they dont deserve this. Truly tragic, so sad to hear.

It’s not for us to really say without seeing what all went down. The only thing I know for sure is people will go to crazy lengths over these things. No inanimate object is ever worth putting yourself in that kind of danger for.

'Murica. I'll get my popcorn ready because this thread is already turning nasty.

@Wexter No and no.

On Wednesday evening, more than a dozen units allegedly responded to a Target in Kissimmee in response to a suspicious vehicle with covered or unmarked license plates. Officers watched two men get out of the car wearing “masks and hoodies” and enter the store, according to the affidavit written by Deputy Cole Miller. Miller talked to the store’s Loss Prevention Supervisor on the phone, who told him that the men were leaving the store without paying for a pizza and multiple packs of Pokemon cards.

There is no indication in the affidavit that any of the suspects were armed, and the only information about the shooting in the affidavit—which explains, at length, the details about the alleged theft of the pizza and cards—is this: “Contact was attempted with the black Audi by multiple units after circling the parking lot and being occupied by others. A takedown was attempted which resulted in an officer involved shooting.”

You can be damn sure that if the victims were armed, the cops would have mentioned it. Anything to make them look less like ruthless killers.

@falkyn You are a horrifying person. You read that people stole a couple handfuls of trading cards and a frozen pizza, you read that someone was killed for it, and your first thought is "good". Sickening. Nobody deserves to take a bullet for this.

Bloody hell, unarmed and they’ve been shot dead. The States are mad. Yes, stealing is wrong but it’s a misdemeanour, this is crazy.

@Bret In that case excuse me French but that is ****ed. I'm generally pretty pro police because it is a thankless job and most officers try to do the right thing. But, when officers open fire like this and kill someone for petty theft it makes it hard to support them. :/ Hopefully we can get the full story, but odds are we won't. This is a pretty ****ed up incident.

I have 200% confidence this did not need to end in violence and death of one of the criminals...how about arrest them and hold them accountable, but the punishment must fit the crime and petty larceny is NOT a capital offence and cops are NOT the ones who should be passing judgement.

@SwitchVogel “looks like Florida PD is blasting again!”

Reading the original Orlando Sentinel article, it doesn't give much more info than NL's. Taken at face value with what we currently know, I'd call this excessive/unnecessary use of force. That said, we don't have all the details yet. Usually there's a lot of gray area to these situations. As such, I'll reserve my full judgment for when all information is accounted for.

Any way you stack it, I lament that a life was senselessly lost.

Edit: ...Aaaaand this comment section is already degrading.

@nessisonett

"The States are mad."

Tell me, what put it over the edge for you? The insurrectionist reality show president? The epidemic of gun violence and mass murder across the nation? Police probably being, on average, more dangerous to be around than most of the people they're supposedly protecting you from? The burgeoning white nationalist fascist movement that has taken over one of the major political parties? The government being so corrupted by corporate money and ideological extremism that absolutely nothing gets done to benefit the average person? Entire states where it's potentially dangerous to drink the tap water? The crumbling nationwide infrastructure?

@Ralizah I wish I had fifteen alt accounts to like this comment with

Was anyone there when this happened? Does anyone have a full picture of what actually happened. Of course not, just from articles online from eye witnesses and police statements. Hope NL doesn't become Kotaku with click bait articles.

@Ralizah Pineapple on pizza.

@nessisonett Originated in Canada!

@nessisonett you haven't lived until you have pineapple on pizza, though I usually go with Italian sausage/green peppers myself.

@Lony85 That's-a Luigi's favorite.

Dear Nintendo Life and Ollie Reynolds please do consider not posting articles like this anymore. Tarnishes an amazing website.

@Lony85 I do enjoy the occasional Hawaiian pizza pie, though my heart belongs to a ham/mushroom combo.

@falkyn it reads as though you’re harbouring some deep resentment over a specific situation that you are projecting very heavily on to a dead person who had nothing to do with it.
I hope you get some relief from your pain soon, friend.

@nessisonett Heretic!

@WallyWest What if he pulled a gun or a knife and tried to kill the cops or someone else? It goes without saying that if the cops shot someone literally for no reason other than petty theft then yes, that's very bad. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised that people are jumping to the conclusion that the cops shot the guy just for fun.

@falkyn okay, so we've reached what you're actually upset about. of course that is an awful thing, torturing animals is subhuman, and your cousin deserves to pay for it, though bodily harm is probably not going to fix anything. but can you stop projecting that situation onto this one that has absolutely nothing to do with it?!

@link3710 Where are you getting that from?

@BAN "okay, this looks bad from the perspective of what actually happened, but what if the circumstances were entirely different?!"

@Deviant-Dork This site does reviews of video games where the entire objective is to shoot/kill people, so your kids aren't going to be spared from this concept just because it's a video game website.

@Bret let me rephrase that. In Canada it is a thankless job based on conversations with officers I've spoken with. Departments that need it like Sex Crimes are extremely under funded and the system is slow on historical cases. So, the officers receive the brunt of the frustrations with the legal system. That and they've seen stuff that have scared them like child pornography and let's just say animal stuff. They get a lot of the crap that is wrong with the system that they can't change or they cannot go after because of resources.

In the US I can see how my comment came off as defending this stuff. But in Canada it is a different game and it depends on the department. It can be a very thankless job.

That seem more fair?

@6FtTurkey
Because they may very well have had guns in them. Especially with them running out to a getaway vehicle they may have had some in the car. The point is the possibility was there and the officers took appropriate action.

@Bret Are you really not capable of making an argument that doesn't rely entirely on assumptions about the topic and the people discussing it? There's no information on what led to the shooting. Read the articles that are out there, not just the user comments on sites like this one. How is "we need to know more about this story" such a controversial concept to some people?

Also, as someone who literally has two cousins who have been shot and killed by police, I refuse to be told by pretty much anyone here how to think or feel about stories like this. Literally all I give a crap about is objectivity.

@Wexter Sure, coming from a non-American it makes way more sense. This place is totally nuts.

I spent a whole year of my life stealing food in the past because yeah, sometimes things get rough. Sure, I would probably not have grabbed something as useless as Pokemon cards back then but stealing was still stealing, it was almost like daily routine. See, for some reason a lot of people on this website see things like this in very black and white tones. If I steal that means I'm a criminal and I should go to prison, right? But I think a lot of things in life just aren't as simple as two tones. There can be many reasons for someone's actions no matter if they don't align with your socio-political stance. Killing a person on the other hand, is a lot more black and white than stealing. That is definitely something I think you simply cannot justify. Taking a life, even with good reason, is an awful thing.

Thank god I don't live in a country where a simple call to the police would have had me gunned down on the spot walking out of the store. That is insanity.

I really hope nobody is capable of defending this, however I know that's wishful thinking. I already spotted a couple in this comment section and it saddens me.

Unfortunately it looks like there was no bystander video of the scene so It seems like we'll never know what really happened. I mean the officers have body cameras and dash cams but they're always forget to turn them on at times like this! 😮

This happened 4 days ago and still barely information. The thieves were in their late teens btw. Police refuse to say which officers fired as well. I'm not anti police or anything but transparency is paramount when it comes to the police. They aren't some covert military force that should cover up their actions, everything needs to be presented when it happens.

@BAN I've read three articles about this, including the one linked in this article. Nowhere in any of them is it mentioned that the victims were armed. And like I said in an above comment, you can be damn sure that if they were, it'd be part of this story, because the cops would be using that fact to protect themselves from consequence, which is their MO.

@Bret @nessisonett We might be an unstable, crumbling empire that's tearing itself apart from the inside, but at least I don't have to feel ashamed by that particular culinary abomination.

@Ralizah Hey, at least we have persistent waves of leftist riots to balance it out somewhat! Not all violence and insanity and destruction is bad.

@BAN Yup, every notable riot is totally linked to leftists. Let's take a peek at the news tab on Google and see what the first dozen results for "riot" are... Ah, see, right here! Ex-NYPD officer guilty of assaulting police officer at US Capitol riot

Oh. Wait.

@Bret i'd hate to pick and choose when its convenient or not to acknowledge streams of collective consciousness but certainly even the smallest shots can be heard around the entire world. this world's already over populated so you can bet there's always going to be someone finding any reason to express collective catharsis.

@Bret No, that's not how it works. The absence of information in the days following something like this is not a free pass for you to write in your own story elements just so you can make a point. A sane person waits until the full story comes out and THEN makes conclusions on it.

If the information isn't forthcoming within a reasonable amount of time, then you can freak out all you want. But for now, you're literally just guessing what happened so you have a side to take.

Welcome to America where shots fired is your due process..

@falkyn I can't even parse your stream of buzzwords.

@Bret those meant to find it, will.

@MegaMari0 actually no it's not relevant it is about a man that stole stuff pokemon cards just happen to be one of the items but it's not about pokemon so this is not the right place to post about this kind of stuff

As with any of these sorts of deals I'll go ahead and hold judgement until more info becomes available. I will just say it's sad to see folks generalizing all cops as either bloodthirsty maniacs or perfect angels as well as all criminals as either the truest scum of the earth or always just misunderstood victims. Life is never so simple folks.

This is one of those reasons I should avoid a mall I go to with a Target and a Build-A-Bear in my state, to begin with. My mom said that there'd be days that shootings happen, and she is right! Online Shopping is better and more secure, anyway! I'm glad I bought a Pokemon Card Gift Pack for my nephew for his birthday on Amazon.

A pack of pokemon cards? AND THEY THOUGHT USING GUNS WAS OKAY FOR THIS? The one that died was an innocent bystander! Absolutely despicable what pigs do with power

@ATaco It happened in a shopping center, so there's no chance there's not multiple video captures of it. Security cameras, traffic cams, shoppers using their cellphones, something.

I'm usually anti-cop but I really hate when people jump to conclusions on pretty much anything just because they picked a side a long time ago. With many parties involved, including the police, it's going to take a while for the investigation to conclude. If it turns out they really did just shoot a bunch of people in cold blood like people apparently really want to be the case, then the cops should face punishment.

@SwitchVogel
Very, very poor taste in joke there. I hope you don't regard tragedies like this as a joke

@PBandSmelly The person killed was not an innocent bystander. Why are people saying that?? Seriously, read the actual news articles. Don't just rely on the comments here for your source of information, because that's not a credible source.

200? That's an odd number to throw out.

This whole thing is sad.

@Bret "Yup, every notable riot is totally linked to leftists."

Right, because that's totally what I said.

merica & their obsession with guns

@BAN Imagine killing someone because they might be a threat. If the guy was waving a gun about or knife then sure but as far as we know a cop got trigger happy as always and killed someone for theft.

These, unfortunately, are the things that happen when your police force originates from vigilantes...

Not to mention the rampant systematic issues with the legal system in general, but I digress.

@6FtTurkey Stop stealing. Cops are full of bad apples but stealing wrecks society. Why should anyone work if we can all just steal? Would be a great place for like 5mins.

@Would_you_kindly what about their obsession with pokemon?

I personally don’t have “200% trust” in the competence of anyone.

Guy was probably hungry 1st and took Pokemon cards 2nd. Do NOT steal.

From what I'm reading, cops are in the wrong for this one. You steal unarmed and get killed? Wth?

Where I work, we barely give a damn about the theft of these cards, the place still runs fine, and nobody dies. Almost a paradise in comparison.