An argument about the midseason finale of The Walking Dead led 26-year-old Jared Gurman of Long Island (pictured left) to shoot his girlfriend, 27-year-old Jessica Gelderman, after the two engaged in a heated squabble over the plausibility of a zombie apocalypse. According to a police spokesperson who actually had to relay this seriously to reporters, Gurman said he believed strongly that a "military mishap that would result in some sort of virus being released" could definitely occur, realistically leading to the reanimation of dead flesh, and eventually causing a worldwide zombie outbreak. Gelderman, meanwhile, deemed this theory "ridiculous." Having thus reached an impasse, the two parted ways but continued to fight via text message about zombies. Like adults.
Eventually things became so "angry and bitter," Gelderman decided she had better return to Gurman's apartment to calm him down, only to find him waiting outside for her with a .22-caliber rifle. As she attempted to walk up the stairs into his apartment, Gurman shot her in the back, piercing her lung, shattering her rib, and piercing her diaphragm. After realizing he'd just shot his girlfriend of three and a half years—who had not only endured a heated, hours-long argument about zombies, but had actually driven back to his apartment with the intent of calming him with continued physical intimacy—Gurman drove her to the hospital, where she remains in stable condition. He was subsequently arrested on charges of attempted murder, having learned the real lesson of The Walking Dead: Most of the time, it's better to just stand around arguing about stuff than go shooting things.
