As first reported by The Columbian last week, 36-year-old Joshua Spellman has been arrested on second-degree murder charges for allegedly fatally shooting his friend, 34-year-old Andrew Dickson, in Washington State following an argument over loot in Diablo 2.  According to court documents, the gunshot victim was rushed to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver where he later died from his injury following surgery.

According to the Columbian, the detectives in the case claimed the incident took place when Dickson, Spellman, and a third friend were playing Diablo 2 from the same property in Washington. Reportedly Spellman and Dickson got into a heated argument after a player not in their party entered the server and took a rare piece of loot since the server was not properly password protected. Dickson then reportedly went on an extended rant, after which Spellman says he told him he needs to calm down and reportedly threatened to shoot him if he didn't.

As the disagreement escalated, Spellman eventually pulled out his gun and walked outside toward Dickson's lodging on the property, firing a shot into the air as he did so. Spellman then entered the house where Dickson was staying, where Dickson confronted Spellman about the gunshot and approached him, after which Spellman fired the fatal shot. When asked by detectives why he had his gun readily at hand while playing video games, Spellman reportedly responded, "Why not? This is America." 

Spellman made his first appearance in the Clark County Superior Courthouse on Friday last week, facing charges of second-degree murder over the incident. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Dec. 29th, and his bail was set by judge Jennifer Snider at $750,000.