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

[ChaiKat]

Retailers have turned Christmas into a holiday of greed and excess. Buy buy buy, It's disgusting. I don't have much to give this year, just some gift cards for the kids. But, I've not set foot in a store for this kind of holiday shopping mania in years. I do my shopping either online or take a day and get everything. Small ticket items, I can't afford more. And that's that. Whoever doesn't like it too bad. It's the thought that counts, at least that's how it's supposed to be.

[MatthewKeene]

They began turning it into an orgy of greed well over 100 years ago. Go to the Brooklyn Public Library and pull up some pages of the Brooklyn Eagle they have online from the 1890s. The ads are exhorting mass purchases in the name of some kid from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

[dmc0724]

Did WaMart close the store when this happened or did they let continue to let people shop while the poor guys dead body was laying there??

[indothinker]

they closed the store and people who were inside shopping refused to leave without their bargains. i suppose that death does not keep one away from a plasma screen tv if it is really cheap.

[Chaucea]

Absolute f**king insanity!

[concernvoter]

Greedy people can make themselves look like fools. My heart goes out to the family of this young man.

[blastocyst]

Amen to that. A deep sadness fills me for this young fellow's memory and for his grieving Loved Ones.

Jdimytai Damour. Gone.

[rextrek]

I hope Walmart gets suid up the ying-yang for this by the guys family.....it was poor planning on Walmarts part....tho having people act like Cattle didint help either..but ultimately Walmart is to blame! Glad I do NOT shop there - and haven't for years.

[MetalCanuck]

How pathetic many people are, its lik a bunch of rats looking for Cheese. No wonder the elites have such a poor opinion of us because we deserve it.

[blastocyst]

Untouchables. We dwell in their midst. A repugnant reminder of the primordial ooze.

[DontselltheUS]

A man was trampled to death for a bargain!? The first thing I thought of was the hoops some parents jump through to get their kids the newest electronic gizmo. Status has become such a necessity for kids. They must have an ipod, a fancy cell phone or Blackberry and $80 computer games. The parents support this. Maybe loss of income met the need for status at Walmart?
Also, two men shot each other to death at Toys R Us on Friday after an argument. They both had concealed handguns. If our gun laws were stronger, maybe unstable people wouldn't be carrying guns into a toy store.

[garyhere]

Do we need any more proof what a dysfunctional society we are? This continually increasing consumer consumption is an addictive disease. We shop for entertainment! It’s sick, unsustainable, and destructive.

[blastocyst]

As we are dysfunctional and semi-literate, what good does knowing such do for us? Catch 22.

[Badunkadunk]

how?; we have to acknowledge a fault or dysfunction to heal it.

[darker]

Overpaid, lazy-ass LONG ISLAND POLICE FORCE ($200K+ per year) in Nassau, Suffolk counties refuses to do ANY work for the over-taxed citizens here. They have no idea of maintaining order. They encourage road rage with a complete lack of presence and chronic inaction.

It's no surprise that such police cannot control a bunch of shoppers and have no idea of
what to do or how to do it. Long Island Police are a DISGRACE.

[blastocyst]

In order to provide the lowest possible prices to the true believers our g0ds will now require human sacrifices on this side of the ocean. Perhaps an in-store altar would be more convenient. We're mulling it over. Happy Holidays bargain-seekers. Shop until someone drops.
Love. Baal.

[mmfrog]

The photo you use to illustrate this piece is mostly of black people!
Why is that?
I think it is a very strange choice of photo.

[TruthaboutIraq]

Perhaps because that neighborhood is primarily black?

[Badunkadunk]

writer is saying 'why choose to photo a store in a black neighborhood'? why not spread the blame as it happens in white stores as well or even more so; so why attach this negative image to blacks.

Anyway, let's not divide ourselves.

[DEMTRUPATRIOTS]

you are right TRUTH...the area is primarily black and that mall is constantly being closed due to: brawls, shots fire inside and outside the mall...and theft. big biz has turned americans into puppets that they dangle...they have now turned the puppets into romans in the coliseum...killing, without the slightest afterthought

[sweetwilly]

but this isn't a scene from the walmart in valley stream. it's a target store in who knows where. not necessarily reflective of facts.

[Not PC]

Maybe it's because everyone who was there is black?? Could be...

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/galleries/walmart_stampede_captured_in_pictures/walmart_stampede_captured_in_pictures.html

Don't let little facts like that get in the way; shouldn't we use a politically correct photo of multiracial crowds on Black Friday even if it is completely misleading? Better yet, throw up a photo of white people who weren't even there.

[robXdion]

You've posted a lot of race-baiting comments alluding to some notion that this occurrence was the sole province of black people. What would you say about mall shooters and of the past few years being white males? Serial killers? The Unibomber? Timothy McVeigh? Charles Manson? etc, etc? Or do you wish to join a special brand of mass terrorists and murderers like the KKK?

Just stop the madness, grow up and go talk to those black neighbors you ridicule in the safety of the internet.

[EmotionDetector]

Who cares????? A life was lost!

[archanjo]

I did not read the photo as being all black. Being American is what makes us the worst kind of consumers in my opinion, race does not matter when it comes to conspicuous consumption. We all want, want, buy, buy. I am a black person who believes that younger people are questioning the practice of racism since all of us are now slaves to "Mastercard," victims of corrupt financial practices, subjects of socialized risk and privatized profit.

We have an opportunity to address these issues now with a coming 4 years minimum of new leadership who may prove to be more responsive to the American public that any in recent history.
Citizenship requires vigilance and participation.

I admire and repect our new President Elect Obama, but I will be taking care of my own business, solving my own problems, proud to have a leader and hopefully a government who will at least be responsive to my concerns.

[reno1190]

THIS IS TARGET LOOK AT THE CARTS RED ,WALMART GRAY

[JD2774]

Good catch. I guess any photo of people shopping would do. Surprised they didn't have the youtube video of the incident.

[59godz]

This is nuts! Is it really this serious? We've been complaining about the economy and those overseeing it. Does this mean we now act like fools to get a deal?

[Georgiamitch]

WTF?! disgusting. I'm guessing walmart didn't shut down their cash registers during this and people just stepped over the body. Absolutely shameful...not only walmart but all the shoppers. Was it worth it? remember that while your kid is unwrapping that present you killed someone to get to...lovely.
Merry Christmas!

shameful.

[grf67]

So what we have here is a mob of folks who think buying cheap crap from China is more important than a person's life. Have we all become republicans?

[viflyer]

So sad, so true!

[NickSmith]

Wouldn't these doorbuster sales be an argument for sensible Government regulations?

Isn't it obescene that you are allowed to first build up a kind of mass hypnosis and then only have a dozen or so of these items available in your store? Isn't that just false advertising? Why not make it mandatory that if you advertise for a certain product or "bargain" to be available on a certain day, it is your damn responsibilty as a retailer to be stocked with sufficient quantities? Sure, you might have sold all items at 10:35a, instead of 11a, but not at 5:10a; this creation of an artificial shortage just to make sure that 2000 people will have lined up in front of your store, desperate to get their hands on anything unless they got what they came for, is just abominable, or so it seems, at any rate, to me.