Kotaku
A queue of gamers waiting in line at a Gamestation store in South London were treated to a gruesome preview of the game they would soon be playing when a hooded man who had seemingly been waiting in line for the game repeatedly stabbed a 23-year-old male who had been passing by. Around 50-100 people were present at the Gamestation in Croyden when the attack occurred, with members of the queuing public contact the police. The victim was discovered a short distance from the store and was taken to a hospital and treated for multiple stab wounds.
Authorities are currently looking for "a light skinned black man aged about 21, 6ft 5ins tall, of medium build wearing a light grey hooded top," while the mainstream media is currently seeking the best possible way to shock the living hell out of the non-gaming public with the headline for this story. I think we're going to have to give them this one. The assailant just picked a really inconvenient time to go apeshit.
Stab attack at Grand Theft queue [BBC News - Thanks g2dat]
Comments
I had a low speed chase with the cops on the expressway in a stolen airport baggage cart this morning. Why can't life imitate THAT from GTA4?
Ouch.
i wouldn't be at all surprised if J.Thompson was bankrolling said assailant.
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time...
Christ I hope the guy is okay.
Sounds more like Assassin's Creed than GTA.
Did the police say "Where is the one responsible for this?"
The Apocalypse begins...
This is like a call to read Jennifer Government...
Then we can all start arguing over whether or not this is the most f'd up marketing ploy of all time.
@exkon: It's unfortunate.
I wished those in line beat the living crap out of the jackass who stabbed that guy.
Yeah, I know, he's got a knife. But it pisses me off when douchebags like him get away with doing stupid shit like that.
Is there such a thing as a convenient time to go apeshit and stab a guy? Seriously. We know the likelihood that the game caused it is next to nothing, covering this story as if it's inconvenient to us as gamers as opposed to tragic that the guy got stabbed is somewhat ghastly.
It's Croydon.
This cant be, only violence happens in America, and their gun mongering ways.
Knives don't kill people, people kill people!
I'm a bit curious as to how he got away, didn't anyone at all try to stop him?
@Zero_Beat:
They also said "I WILL CATCH YOU!"
@EnigmaNemesis: If it *had* been America, he'd have had an Uzi, not a knife.
I bet he was hired by Jack Thompson
Should be easy to catch him. He is probably the only pre-order who didn't pick up his copy of the game.
GTA IV: The game so violent, even standing in line waiting to buy it causes people to commit attempted murder.
I see TRH beat me to the conclusion :P
Chavs. nuff said.
@Ess:
Huh, that actually does make a ton of sense. Even assuming that he's not the only one who didn't pick it up, they could get a list of names then do a few house calls.
I wonder how many weapons he had to scroll through to get at the knife...
*ponders*
Sorry, guys. I didn't know this would cause THIS much controversy. Forgive me?
I live in croydon, this happens all the time.
@grizzlywilliam:
Wow, my "American Dream" literature class in college actually taught me something. I remember that book. Good read too.
I bet you the assailants name was Jamal Rockstar.
This is croydon, happens all the time, especially on the high street, god knows how many confrontations ive had in the early hours of the morning when ive been walking home drunk.
@TonyRockyHorror:
href="#c5431518">FlashIV: please tell me you two aren't serious
@pylon_trooper: tasteless
I don't think he went apeshit. I think he knew that guy would be there and was lying in wait.
Crap.
I would love to see this incident played out much like the 48 hours show. Where they go in depth about motive and such. Generally someone would not just start stabbing an unknown person. This person must have hated this guy for some reason.
I'm sure FOX News will air this story in detail, including some anti-gaming slurs soon.
Yep the press will have a field day. I've got to admit there was a guy who jokinly said that if he didn't get hold of a copy he go after one of the people ahead of him and get one anyway.
Sweet, my first sucessful Kotaku tip!
The sad thing is that if this had happened another night it probably wouldn't have even got a mention. Just another night in Croydon!
more crimes surrounding the GTA release:
[news.bbc.co.uk]
"A teenager was kicked, punched and robbed of a computer game which he had bought only moments after its release.
The 18-year-old and his friend had bought Grand Theft Auto IV from a Lancashire video shop after its release at midnight."
The worst thing about this is the victim obviously but it also had to happen during the launch of GTA IV, dang that will give many lawyers (Jack Thompson) more reasons to try to ban games like this one. Even if this is not connected to GTA IV.
I stopped reading at South London. Makes a change actually simce it's typical of that place for people to get stabbed for no reason at all.
@Ghede: Indeed. If the guy was just passing by and had nothing to do with the queue, there must have been a pre-existing motive, it he already knew him and had issues with him. The fact the guy was queing for GTA is nothing more than a coincidence.
with 50-100 ppl around & no one jumped & restrained the attacker?
Sometimes you just feel like a good ol' fashioned stabbin.
It's very unfortunate, but I'm sure the media will overlook the fact that gang related knife crimes in London have been rising steeply for several years now, none of which are game related. But since this one occurred near a queue for a game, it will no doubt be portrayed as being part of how GTA is a murder simulator.
Hoo boy! That was quick.
@cantbeatmegaman:
Ridiculous isn't it?
@cantbeatmegaman: They're gamers. Most of us couldn't subdue an old woman.
Its South London. What do you expect?
Jack... we're waiting for you.
Well I don't think I really have to point out the irony in this... I am afraid of the wrath of Jack Thompson. :S
@googleguru: I am sure that Fox News will air ALL the details as soon as they finnish making them up.
@Automageddon!: Yeah, quite. Every stone on the pavement in Croyden has had someone stabbed on at some point.
I was out looking for this all day. Didn't find it. Serves me right for not preordering!
Why do people like him exist?
@cantbeatmegaman:
We're an apathetic lot.
@cantbeatmegaman:
Nah people get freaked and then sometimes no one even calls teh cops to help the bleeding victim cause surely "someone else will"....
This is nuts, but does it really have anythign to do with GTA? Or was it just a rabdom stabbing which GTA is going to get blamed for? How many people got stabbed in movies or TV this week again? Why isn't that responsible instead?
...and so it starts...
@cantbeatmegaman:
@dead_red_eyes: Actually, it's a documented fact that if someone is by him or herself and hears a cry for help, 90% of the time that person will react. However, if that person is in a group with other people and hears a cry for help, the reaction rate falls to about 10% or so. Strange, I know, but that's human nature. Still, I think it's cowardly not to do something. I can't imagine just standing idly by watching a man get knifed....*shivers*
Like all incidents of this nature, this occurence is tragic...not inconvenient. Maldron hit the nail on the head.
Sometimes I really wish videogames hadn't gone so mainstream. You would have never heard of something like this ten years ago. Im pretty sure noone was stabbed waiting in line to pick up Super Mario 3. Before it starts, I am ABSOLUTELY NOT saying anything against GTAIV. What I'm saying is if you took 20 "gamers" the real "gamers" and put them in a room for an hour, you wouldn't end up with any stab victims. Granted you might end up with some really heated arguments about whose system is best and maybe some hurt egos(maybe even a vicious slap fight!). EVERYBODY plays videogames now. From the normal people to unstable maniacs. Not just the lovable geeks,nerds and dorks from yesteryear. Unfortunately they will blame this all on videogame violence because it happened in a line waiting for a videogame. They definitely wont blame it on the unstable individual who perpetrated the act. What a wonderful world we live in where no matter what you do they blame it on something or someone else.
@VampHuntD:
Fear Mongering on things ones don't understand, nor educate themselves with.
At least the headline isn't "Life Imitates Art" (which is what everyone will try to construe this as).
This is why I carried a knife with me in line, people can be f'n crazy. I did the same thing for Halo 3. Now I don't feel so bad about doing so. In this day and age you have to pretect yourself. My only hope is that people waiting in line jumped in to kick this gu.....subdue the attacker.
@Deano85: At least you let us know it wasn't something really out of the ordinary. It's possible they may not push this near as much since it was in such a bad area. I know there are things here that only get on local news and never go further because of the area it happened in. I can only hope though I am sure JT is going to find a way to get it more noticed.
I hope the guy is ok, but seriously, why jump out of queue to stab someone? If I had been able to stand in queue for the game, I certainly wouldn't have given up my spot to stab someone.
Doesn't surprise me.
Croydon is one of the scummier places in the UK. Rife with stupid gangs and drugs.
Should just nuke the place with everyone in it.
Only good thing... If you can call it that is it's the birthplace of the Dubstep genre.
Surely this is a daily occurrence in south London? - its well documented that london (let alone south london) is far more dangerous than other big cities like New York...
GTA London (modern day) ...?
50-100 people around and this idiot gets away?
wow, nobody even tried to help the guy. yeah i know about mob mentality and all that, but 100 people vurses a knife? they couldnt muster that?
Was this queueing for the midnight opening? Because seriously, who on earth walks around at midnight in Croydon?
Unfortunate. I hope the guy lives.
@