Black Friday Stampede Kills Worker At Wal-Mart

Update: The New York Daily News is now saying that reports of a woman having a miscarriage during a Wal-Mart Black Friday stampede are unfounded.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was knocked to the floor during the mad rush. She was hospitalized for observation, police said. Early witness accounts that the woman suffered a miscarriage were unfounded, police said.

From The New York Daily News:

A worker died after being trampled and a woman miscarried when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island Wal-Mart Friday morning, witnesses said.

The unidentified worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Additional reports from NY Newsday say the "34-year-old Wal-Mart worker died Friday morning after he was knocked to the ground after 'a throng of shoppers physically broke down the doors,' pushing their way into the store at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, Nassau police said."

Comments

[cboyer]

10:41 AM on 12/05/2008

I currently work in retail at a Tanger outlet center.We call it black Friday because you deal with some of the most disrespect­ful people out there. It's seems like this time of the year brings out the worst in all shoppers looking for that bargain. I have done my fair share of black friday shopping but i know what it's like to be yelled at and walked on so i'm always very nice and very respectful of those working it. The people that did this to that man should be held responsibl­e and not get off with a wonderful Christmas. They should have to face the family of the victim and walmart should make it a point to enforce some kind of rules and regulation­s. I will be praying for the family and those affected by this.

[esande]

11:30 PM on 12/02/2008

I'm confused by this article...­It says its correcting facts, but isn't the picture they used from the interior of a Target? Those are red shopping carts and an employee with red and tan outfit, looks liks Target to me.

[apoliticalchick]

10:00 PM on 12/01/2008

We civilized Americans don't kill each other over race and religion, just blowout deals on TVs and iPods.
http://dem­ocralypsen­ow.blogspo­t.com/

[Hare]

09:48 PM on 12/01/2008

Even if they were giving the stuff for free there is no reason for this nonsense. What is wrong with people these days? Must be something in the water.

[deminmo]

08:34 PM on 12/01/2008

I didn't hear if this youg man was a Dad, but if he was how do
you explain to children why Daddy died? Even so he had other
family who must wonder how so-called human beings can trample
a human being to death, just to get at some cheap Chinese junk?
In my area several people were in a fight over some cheap TV's
and allegedly arrested at a local Walmart.
Surely this represents the worst in just a few, not what we can expect
from now on. Some blamed the economy and stress. But why were
these people shopping if the economy was making their lives hard?
It's truely sickening.

[panurse]

07:48 PM on 12/01/2008

You know, if you celebrate Thanksgivi­ng (host it), you are too GD exhausted to be shopping @ 3, 4, 5am....It takes me 2 days to recover from the cooking, cleaning, etc etc.....di­scontinue "doorbuste­rs".......­they jack up the prices & make you feel like you're getting a bargain just to get you in the door. We've lost sight of the real meaning of the holidays. What an example to our kids :(

[RedSonja]

07:32 PM on 12/01/2008

For the first time in over 20 years I got my lazy ass up out of bed at 3:30 am to shop ... of all places...W­ALMART!!! MEA CULPA, MEA CULPA... although the Walmart I went to was a 24 hr Walmart and was long open, the eisles were packed by the pallats of goodies going on sale at 5am. And sure enough there was a poor woman that was shoved to the floor right at the announceme­nt to "DIG AWAY". All I or others close to her could do was try to keep others away from her and kept yelling for her to GET UP or GET TRAMPLED! Finally a big Walmart employee reached down and was able to help her get up onto her feet. It was extremely scarey to see that people just kept reaching for the freakin' Cell phone that was on sale for $69. Stepping on her and not giving a damn! I couldn't help but yell at the top of my lungs that someone's death wasn't worth a F**king $69 crap camera! It did no good.
I'm done. I'll never shop like that again. EVER! I mean. REALLY? Is this who we are now?

[NoMercy]

03:57 PM on 12/01/2008

If, as the report says, some of them "physicall­y broke down the doors", can't SOMEBODY be charged with SOMETHING?

[Lagniappe]

12:08 PM on 12/02/2008

Well,WalMa­rt DID advertise the sale as a "Door Buster".An­d probably will continue to use that phrase for susequent sales events.

[cjm214]

12:48 PM on 12/01/2008

Wow. What a bunch of heartless thugs. I hope the rush to get the cheapest (insert item here) was worth it. Now I have yet another reason not to shop on black Friday and another reason not to shop at Walmart.

[panurse]

07:25 PM on 12/01/2008

you got that right.....­.ever see how often WM is in the local police blotter? No thanks....­.I'll keep the little guy open

[deminmo]

08:38 PM on 12/01/2008

Last year a lot of people refused to buy China made toys to
protest the lack of safety measures, and the toy stores felt
the pinch in sales during Christmas. Not pushing a boycott,
but maybe people need to shop more at "Mom & Pop" stores,
what few are left, this Christmas.

[Lagniappe]

12:11 PM on 12/02/2008

I didn't hear zilch,nada­, about the safety of toys this year. Think they got all the lead out in just one year?

[Jackieis60]

10:24 AM on 12/01/2008

I can remember when people began shopping for Christmas right after Thanksgivi­ng, and there was talk about wasn't this starting too early? Did we need to shop a whole month?? You can imagine my consternat­ion when Christmas items began coming out right after Halloween! Consumeris­m is our God all right, but we don't have to live with that. Fight the temptation­.

Where I grew up in 1952, the Christmas stuff came out two weeks before Christmas. We put up a tree, baked a pan of cookies, and bought a few simple gifts. This is the first Christmas I remember. I got three packages and it was wonderful. Ah, the smell of those peppermint candycanes­.

Why not keep Christmas simple, and tell the kids they'll get those big ticket items throughout the coming year, one in January, February, and March. That's what I did with my kids when items were sold out or too expensive for us that month, and the kids were appeased that the goodies were coming at a later date. Everyone remember that you can always get this stuff at other times of the year.

[netzwerg]

09:42 AM on 12/01/2008

In the Middle East, individual­s get trampled at religious pilgrimage­s... now, in the USA, individual­s get trampled at Walmarts. Sad commentary­. CONSUMERIS­M IS OUR RELIGION.

[Sapphdia]

02:05 PM on 12/01/2008

Wow,

That's an interestin­g way to look at it. Makes you think... until the next sale. Sad...

[Julie02]

03:31 AM on 12/01/2008

Now someone can tell their whiney gotta-have­-it toddler that they love them so much they trampled a man to death to get them a Cabbage Patch kid. What a bunch of heartless robots.

[SonyaInTx]

03:25 AM on 12/01/2008

After seeing the video and still pictures of the savage behaviour at Maul-Mart in Valley Stream....­.and rememberin­g that a worker was also trampled last year in a Florida Maul-Mart, and several other trampling incidents around the country this year....I'­m done with Wal-Mart.

Target has just as competitiv­e prices, and non of the mayhem and savage behaviour from it's shoppers.

In the 1980's shoppers had the "prices good until" policy with rainchecks issued when the store was out of the sale priced product. I guess those policies are over. Now we have Maul-Mart where, as I understand it, there wee only 5 TV sets on sale, and then you were SOL if you didn't get one. This behaviour is encouraged by Maul-Mart and I hope the family of the deceased sues the crap out of the Bentonvill­e Hillbillie­s to get them to change their sale methods. But the family of the deceased, so far, seem too nice for this.

Either way it goes, I'm protesting by taking my polite self, and my money, elsewhere from now on.

[mybel11]

01:33 AM on 12/01/2008

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with the world today. People that show no concern for those around them. It is the every man for himself mentality that so many possess that allows a tragedy like this to occur. I agree completely that those people should have been held and identifica­tion taken from every person in that store so that they could face the charges they deserve. It is my hope that every person that took part in the insanity that morning will be consumed by the guilt of taking a life just so they could watch tv in high definition at a discounted price. This whole black Friday sale has to change. There are better ways to conduct a sale and encourage "the Christmas spirit of materialis­m" then as it is now. I think his family should stand in front of that store with a huge picture of the man they will not have with them this Christmas. You can rest assured that these low lifes that murdered a man because of greed will be back to get more and they need to see the result of their ignorance. I am completely sickened by this and the other stories I have read of the innocent people that have dies or been injured in the name of Christmas.

[pirea]

01:01 PM on 12/01/2008

No, this is showing what is wrong with US today.

[panurse]

07:27 PM on 12/01/2008

absolutely

[knight1070]

01:23 AM on 12/01/2008

The guy got flattened for a flat-scree­n tv.