Video war game sparks real-life murder

MANILA, Philippines—Game over.

A man was stabbed to death in Las Piñas following a row between two groups of men playing the popular shooting video game “Counter-Strike,” police said on Wednesday.

The quarrel between the men playing the game—in which gamers playing either terrorists or antiterror officers try to kill their opponents—erupted in an Internet cafe in Barangay Fajardo, PO1 Noel Ibañez said.

The teams had P300 on the outcome of their competition on Monday, but when one side won an argument  broke out over payment, said Ibañez.

A member of the winning team, still angry over the dispute, later followed losing player Eric Cristobal, 25, to his house at Casimiro Townhomes and stabbed him to death, he added.

“He (Cristobal) did not start the quarrel. He just got caught up in it. But they all had long been betting on ‘Counter-Strike,’” said Ibanez.

Police arrested three suspects: Veejay Madrid, 19, and Jyun Sahashi, 19, also residents of Casimiro Homes; and a certain “Puti” of Don Bosco, Tondo, Manila. Nathaniel Melican and AFP