The Register is today reporting the disturbing news that an eighteen year-old boy was shot dead by police in North Carolina, yesterday, as the authorities executed a search warrant of his home. The Wilmington Star News reports that Peyton Strickland was unarmed when he was shot, and was in fact opening the door to the police. Strickland's dog was also shot when the teenager opened the door. A sheriff's deputy is being blamed for the death.

Strickland was suspected of stealing two consoles from a university campus in North Carolina, where two students were beaten and robbed on November 17th, the day of the PS3's North American debut. University police had, according to reports, intended to deal with the robbery themselves, inviting the County Sheriff's department to attend for 'safety reasons'. In the end, it was a trigger-happy deputy that shot the teenager.

This news is the latest in a long list of crimes related to the PS3 in North America, where the value of the console on eBay remains high with chronic unit shortages abound. Indeed, the incredibly low launch numbers for a high demand product could see criminal activity continuing, despite the queue-brawls now a fading memory. More as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge