A man in South Carolina, United States reportedly robbed a store using a Nintendo toy gun from the 1980s. The robber stole $300 in cash from the shop.
York County Police reported that the perpetrator named David Joseph Dalesandro was seen entering the Sharon Kwik Stop department store at 17.45 local time. Dalesandro is seen wearing a mask, wig, and hooded jacket.
Inside the store, Dalesandro pointed the toy gun at the cashier. He then asked the store employees to give money from the cash register before leaving the store.
The police managed to find Dalesandro in a parking area not far from the Sharon Kwik Stop shop he robbed. Dalesandro was found keeping the toy gun in his trouser pocket.
Police identified the gun as an NES Zapper that was used to play Duck Hunt, a Nintendo game from the 1980s. The plastic gun was originally gray and orange, but Dalesandro painted it black.
This robbery case caught the attention of netizens. The York County Sheriff's Office shared a photo of Dalesandro and his toy gun painted black on Twitter.
“You asked, and here it is... a Duck Hunt game controller pistol spray-painted black,” the York County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet, as quoted by Gizmodo, Saturday (3/6/2023).
You asked and here it is... the black spray painted Duck Hunt game controller gun. #YCSONews pic.twitter.com/KMaCdXQIAY
— York County Sheriff (@YCSO_SC) May 31, 2023
The game Duck Hunt was first released in Japan in 1984 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console and the Nintendo Vs. System. The game makes use of an optical sensor which allows the user to shoot ducks on the screen using the NES Zapper gun.
Cases of robbery using counterfeit weapons have apparently become a classic problem in the United States. A study conducted by the US Congress in 1990 found that 15% of all robberies between January 1985 and September 1989 involved fake pistols.