'Walking Dead' Shooting: Man Fires on Girlfriend Over Zombie Apocalypse Argument
Jared Gurman, 26, takes the possibility of a zombie apocalypse seriously, and when his girlfriend, Jessica Gelderman, did not, he shot her. The two were arguing over the likelihood that "The Walking Dead" television show could translate to real life when things went from bad to worse.
"He felt very adamant [that] there could be a military mishap that would result in some sort of virus being released that could cause a terrible thing to happen," Detective Lt. Raymond Cote said at a news conference.
Unfortunately, Gurman's girlfriend did not feel the same and told him she wanted to spend the night apart. Gelderman dropped Gurman off at his residence, but he continued to harass her with text messages that became "angry and bitter," police said. Gelderman felt compelled to check on Gurman to see if she could help him at al.
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"She felt it was ridiculous. He's passionate about it ['The Walking Dead'] and it escalated to the point it did. She tried to diffuse the situation, to calm him down," Cote explained. "She was walking up the stairs when Mr. Gurman raised the rifle, pointed it at her and fired one round into her back, causing serious injury."
Gurman took Gelderman to the hospital for treatment and initially told police that the shooting was accidental but later admitted the truth. Gelderman is still hospitalized in serious but stable condition. She suffered a shattered rib, pierced lung, and pierced diaphragm.
Police arrested Gurman at the hospital and charged him with attempted second-degree murder.
"The Walking Dead" is a popular show on AMC that deals with a group of survivors who are trying to avoid being eaten after a mysterious illness turns much of the world population into zombies. It was an immediate success with viewers, and its season three opener had an audience of 10.9 million people, making it the most-watched basic cable drama telecast in history, according to Entertainment Weekly.
