PUTNAM— A Webster man was shot early yesterday by two men trying to rob people waiting outside a store to buy PlayStation 3 game systems. Police are seeking the gunmen, who were dressed in black and wore masks.
Police said Michael Penkala, 21, was shot in the chest and shoulder. Police said he was in stable condition at UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus in Worcester. The hospital did not release any information about Mr. Penkala’s condition. Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance described the injuries as not life-threatening.
State police said they were working with local police departments and the Massachusetts State Police in the investigation.
The robbers confronted as many as 20 people in line outside the Putnam Wal-Mart on Route 44 shortly after 3 a.m., demanding money, Lt. Vance said.
Mr. Penkala reportedly resisted and was shot, he said.
The suspects were believed to be in their teens. One had a silver handgun, and the other carried what appeared to be a shotgun, Lt. Vance said.
Neighbors of Mr. Penkala said he had been an employee of the Wal-Mart store at which he was wounded, but had resigned in the last four months.
A graduate of Bartlett Junior-Senior High School in Webster, Mr. Penkala lives with his mother on Ash Street, said Shirley L. Ford, a neighbor. His father died of a heart attack two years ago, she said.
The family is known for their generosity. They had taken in a deaf, 40-pound cat, which they aptly named Fat Cat, Ms. Ford said.
Another neighbor, Summer Stewart, 16, said Mr. Penkala is quiet and hard-working, and liked to have his friends over. The group really likes PlayStation games, she said.
“I play it with him sometimes, but I wasn’t into it as much as he is,” she said. “I’m shocked” about the shooting.
Mr. Penkala often sells T-shirts at flea markets in Charlton and Grafton with his grandmother, who also lives in Webster and with whom he is very close, the neighbors said.
Wal-Mart delayed its 7 a.m. opening about two hours yesterday. Remnants of the overnight quest for PS3 gaming consoles were still evident just outside the entrance: a ripped-open 12-pack box of Mountain Dew soda sat in one of five folding chairs, and a coffee mug and stainless steel thermos were on the ground.
Television and print reporters camped out in the parking lot, just as the PlayStation fans had hours earlier.
Customers were shocked and angry about the shooting.
“That’s a heck of a price to pay for a PlayStation,” said Timothy Shenko of Dayville.
Wilford Normandin of Pascoag, R.I., found out from a friend who called as he and his wife were driving to the store. The friend had seen a television account, remembered the couple often shopped at the store Friday mornings, and called their cell phone.
“We waited a while before going over,” Mr. Normandin said.
The gaming consoles are selling for $500 to $600.
Short supplies of the PS3 and strong demand led to lines of buyers, some waiting for days, outside stores across the country, the Associated Press reported.
In Manchester, Conn., a shopper was beaten and robbed of his new PS3 just minutes after buying it. The shopper told police five men surrounded and beat him as he left the Shoppes at Buckland Hills.
Police Sgt. Chris Davis said the attackers pushed one of their cohorts out of the car as they drove away. That man, a 17-year-old from Windsor, was charged with robbery, larceny, assault and breach of peace.
In Sullivan, Ind., Andrew Templeton, 20, and David Wiggins, 28, were assaulted by two teens after waiting for 36 hours at a Super Wal-Mart, police said. They were unloading their new consoles from their car when two teens approached them carrying a chain and a tire iron and demanded the units, said Sullivan Police Chief David Story.
A fight broke out. Wiggins’ nose was broken, and he stabbed one of the attackers, Dylan Moss, 19, police said. Moss was in critical condition after surgery, officials said. Sullivan County Prosecutor Bob Springer said he plans to charge Moss and accomplice Dustin Fagg, 19, with felony robbery.
Two men wearing black ski masks and sunglasses made off with five consoles after holding two employees at gunpoint at an Englewood, Ohio, video game store Thursday night, police said.
In Palmdale, Calif., authorities shut down a Super Wal-Mart after some shoppers got rowdy late Wednesday. In West Bend, Wis., a 19-year-old man was injured when he ran into a pole, racing with 50 others for one of 10 spots outside a Wal-Mart.
In Lexington, Ky., police were investigating after a drive-by shooter hit four people with BB pellets outside a Best Buy store, causing minor injuries, according to WKYT. A reporter for WKYT was one of those hit as she interviewed buyers in line.
A Best Buy in Boston, aware it had only 140 of the consoles, got smart — its employees gave out tickets to the first 140 people in line so everyone could go home.
After the Putnam shooting, the Wal-Mart store management deferred comment to the corporate office in Arkansas.
Sharon Weber, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, issued the following statement in an e-mail to the Telegram & Gazette: “Our thoughts are with our customer and his family. We will cooperate with law enforcement as it continues its investigation.”
Mr. Shenko, one of the customers, said the thugs, not store management, should bear the blame.
“What could (the store) do?” he said. “I mean, it closes at 10. Have a good night.”
