Police Seeking Wal-Mart Shoppers Who Trampled Employee

NEW YORK — Police are reviewing surveillance videos of a post-Thanksgiving shopper stampede that trampled a suburban Wal-Mart worker to death, but they acknowledge it may be difficult to bring criminal charges.

Nassau County police and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said no new information was available Saturday on the employee's brutal death, which rattled shoppers even as they flocked to the Valley Stream store a day later.

"It felt a little freakish," customer Ellie Berhun, 48, told the Daily News. "Some man lost his life because a VCR was on sale? Please. It's just too sad for words."

Police said the temporary worker, Jdimytai Damour, was mowed down as about 2,000 bargain-hunters surged into the store at Friday's 5 a.m. opening, leaving a metal portion of the door frame crumpled like an accordion.

Other workers were knocked to the ground as they tried to rescue Damour, and customers simply stepped over him and kept shopping even as the store announced it was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or treatment for minor injuries. The store, about 20 miles east of Manhattan, closed for several hours but reopened Friday afternoon.

The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday because it has traditionally marked the point when a throng of shoppers pushes stores into profitability for the year.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart said it added staffers and outside security workers and put up barricades to try to prepare for the crush. But police spokesman Detective Lt. Michael Fleming said Friday that security was inadequate for a scene he called "utter chaos."

Criminal charges are possible, but identifying anyone in the store's videos may prove difficult, Fleming said.

Damour, 34, came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store, Wal-Mart said.

A woman reported being trampled by overeager customers at a Wal-Mart opening Friday in Farmingdale, about 15 miles east of Valley Stream, Suffolk County police said. She suffered minor injuries but finished shopping before filling the report, police said.

Items on sale at the Valley Stream Wal-Mart included a Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV for $798, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28, a Samsung 10.2 megapixel digital camera for $69 and DVDs such as "The Incredible Hulk" for $9.

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AP retail writers Anne D'Innocenzio and Mae Anderson contributed to this report.

Comments

[KaPi]

This is easy. The police could simply post and ad reading:

"SPECIAL ONE-TIME ONLY 50% OFF SALE!!!! *Limited to customers with blood stains on shoes.*
Doors open at 5AM!! Don't be late!! "

Then all the cops have to do is be there at 5AM and wait for the shoppers to come to them.

[zitlight73]

People should never be exempt from criminal prosecution just because they were a part of a mindless mob presidential administration in particular.

[Snafu]

you are wrong. it's called inciting a riot and the manager of that Walmart is 100% responsible. This is why festival seating is against the law in many states. A mob is it's own organism and acts rather like a jellyfish.

[drowninginred]

You're wrong too... we are responsible for our own actions, period. Does Walmart bear responsibility too? Absolutely yes, but so do the people who stampeded in and then continued shopping after an announcement about a man losing his life! Find 'em, charge 'em!

[mergina]

Judging from the looks of the crowd, I personally do not find this surprising. Wal-Mart is at fault here. They should have had STRONGER security in place allowing a certain amount of customers in at a time. SOMEONE needs to be prosecuted BIG TIME, and not just the savage shoppers, but the place that spawned this greedy horror story.

[dotmafia]

Disgusting but typical. I'm not surprised by this in the least. You won't ever hear about this kind of behaviour in Canada. Uncivilized savages are words that come to mind.

[slg]

This kind of misbehavior is common everywhere, even here in Canada. So many people freaked out, exhausted, ill prepared; bruised and battered around for how long now? What are we all handing off to the tall skinny gentleman who smiles less with each passing day?

[Snafu]

Oh, so there's never been a riot after a hockey game in Canada?

[Giounit14]

This just shows us more about human nature, we really are just wild animals but our civilization and morality keep us from letting it out. It reminds me fo Lord of the Flies, they get in a frenzy around the fire and tear 2 kids apart.

[NoMercy]

I'm sure most of the people who ended up trampling the poor man didn't know they were doing it, because of the pressure of the crowd.

Everyone who went there should examine their conscience and donate to a fund for his family.

[NoMercy]

For the record, I would. If I had the money to shop, I"d have the money to help the family of sacrificial victim of that day.

[dotmafia]

I do believe that in their unremorseful minds are the words "no mercy".

[andvoodoo2]

I have a friend who got up early in order to get to our local Target store by their 5:00 am opening on Friday. (I think she's nuts.) The store only allowed 100 people in at a time, I presume to avoid this type of thing.
The people who stepped on this man are murderers just the same as someone who runs a red light and deliberately hits a pedestrian in the way because they are in a hurry. They should be prosecuted accordingly.

[TheBlackCat]

Both the shoppers and the store should be held accountable. There is no excuse for Walmart not having better security and crowd control for this.

As far as the crowd...I was at Bonnaroo a few years ago and we were in the thick of a huge crowd waiting for the front entrance to open in the morning. There was definitely at least 15-20,000 people in just the one area I was in, all pushing to get forward. In the crush of the crowd, the friend I was with passed out. When this happened, the people closest to us instantly called back to get people to back up, the crowd gave her some room, called out for a medic, and made a path for them to get in and get to my friend, and we got her out of there and to the first aid tent extremely quickly. I just don't buy the argument that when you get to a critical mass of people, suddenly they become a brainless mob with no idea what's going on around them, and you can just trample people without even realizing what you're doing. Either you're the kind of person who cares about what's going on around you and take responsibility for your behavior, or you aren't.

[abbeyroad]

yeah -- MANY americans have become rude, self-absorbed, greedy creeps.

i'm american.
i live in the heart of los angeles.
i see it every damn day.

[slaxx]

ugh....i've heard some things about the people in LA. i've never been there and don't want to overgeneralize, but i heard that all they care about is materialsim and getting ahead. they have no use for you unless you can help with their careers, images, or status.

so i hear...

[GeoLee]

I live in the midwest where the herd mentality does not exist quite as significantly. The scenes on our television of store openings here seemed to show people pretty much lined up and going in more single file like and last year when i was heading to a great savings on computer printers, it was so politely single file I was amazed since before all I saw were scenes on national television of openings usually in much bigger cities such as NY. However, it is much different when it is a rock concert with some big name person finally coming to our part of the country...I was almost trampled when I was in the front of the line to see Joan Baez and Bob Dylan 30 years ago. The worst place I have ever been for obnoxious dangerous crowd scene entering a facility was in Germany when the doors opened to the science museum in Munich and not knowing German did not help. When one is my small size, one learns to avoid going to to many openings.

[abbeyroad]

i'm not refering to "crowds".

my statement refers to human behavior.

[pangurban]

but only Americans? You did single us out...see below

[andvoodoo2]

Yes, he did. And, hundreds of people die every year trying to reach Mec.ca.

[mapleman]

as David Mamet put it in the aptly titled, 'Bambi Vs Godzilla':

"Manners in Hollywood stink on ice."

seems to be the case far and wide these days.

a deep look inward is in order here

[mia12]

Sad that people are so easily convinced that the Christmas season is about lining up at the crack of dawn to buy junk they don't really need and probably can't afford. What a scam by Walmart.

[pegbo]

Don't just blame Walmart for Black Friday. All the stores advertise deals. And, I believe there have been instances somewhat like this at other establishments. So, I think you can blame all retailers.

[KRS1]

This isn't the first trampling that happened at a Wal*Mart http://www.local6.com/news/2670095/detail.htmll) though. You'd think they'd get the hang of what needs to be done to ensure public safety.

[Karisma]

What kind of people would walk on top of someone and keep going? Someone who sells their soul for a buck!

[billkarwin]

I imagine when you have 1,900 other people behind you, shoving you forward because they don't know what has happened, you don't have much of a choice but to keep moving. Though I've never been in such a stampede, so I'm just supposing.

[dct1999]

You suppose correctly. It happened to me on New Years eve of 1994 in Times Square. I went to see the ball drop and was caught up in a crowd of people. In a matter of minutes I was blocks from where I started and had been separated from my family, and I'm a big guy. People were running, pushing, crying, shouting and looking for their friends and families. It is impossible to describe the helplessness and fear that I felt. If I'd fallen I would have been trampled. It was complete and total chaos. It only lasted a few minutes but it seemed like an eternity. Scary stuff.

[Lotus19]

A few years ago during another stampede during a concert the victim was a 6'4, 250+ lb. man. Goes to show how much power any one person has during a mad crush.

[Existentialist]

Any of the guilty shoppers who can be identified should face prosecution, but I'm concerned that the media's framing of this as a crime story is a very convenient way of avoiding the deeper issues revealed in this tragedy. This crime is a symptom of an American sickness that we are too blind and deluded to see, a sickness that we can't see because we live inside it and call it reality: the disgusting spectacle of consumer capitalism gone mad and eating its own. The videotape of this incident probably resembles a Goya painting. Even thinking about this fills me with nausea and shame.

[LisaLisa1234]

I agree.

[abbeyroad]

wild animals behave better than most americans do.

merry christmas.

[pangurban]

It is not just Americans...it is a worldwide phenomena when there are crowds and no crowd control.

[pangurban]

er, phenomenon

[andvoodoo2]

Every year, worshippers are killed in stampedes trying to reach Mecca.

[jhb90277]

Stampedes occur around the world. Google "holy mecca stampede" and you'll find a number of incidents where up to 1400 have been killed in a single stampede. It's not an American phenomenon. That broad brush you've been painting with must be getting heavy. Perhaps it's time to set it down.

[glorialovelace]

"wild animals behave better than most americans do."

don't say that, or certain HPers will accuse you of r a c i s m.

[dct1999]

Walmart is one the worst examples of corporate greed run amok. The Walton family is one of the richest in the world, yet they pay such low wages many of their employees receive government assistance from WIC, food stamp, welfare and Section 8 programs. We taxpayers are supplementing the incomes of people who work for the largest retailer in the country.

Walmart has violated ADA, FMLA, child labor, EEOC and OSHA laws on numerous occasions. They will probaby do everything in their considerable power to deny any meaningful payment to the victim's family. Yet we have posters who keep defending them.

There are a lot of brainwashed Huffpo commenters.

[glorialovelace]

Wal-Mart may have extremely poor labor practices, but that doesn't entitle you to blame them indiscriminantly for every bad thing that happens in its stores. Maybe you'll be happy when they abandon the practice of these special, pre-Christmas offers that the public seems to like so much.

[bngood40]

Walmart could have easily prevented this death from happening. If you see 300 people at the door waiting for it to open because of limited specials wouldn't you think some precautions were in order. Walmart shoppers are not known for their congeniality.

[pangurban]

I have waited outside concerts and theaters where they know how to handle crowds...they let a certain number in as a group and hold the others back until it is safe to let another group in. Walmart has been crimin.ally negligent and I bet their lawyers know it. The bad PR alone is going to cost them.

[dettecat]

I work for the other mart(Kmart) we too ran doorbuster specials. Kmart knew the supplies would be limited so they planned ahead. Ther where flyers printed out for specials and the manager hande these out before doors opened and told the crowd that only those with flyers would get specials. When flyers ran out specials were gone. There was no need to rush in or fight for deals.

[dct1999]

Simple and effective. Walmart management messed up yesterday, and a man lost his life because of it.

[Broderick]

Am I the odd ball? Or does someone else see how the Christmas holiday has devolved into a commercial inspired free for all, does anyone else see how dangerous people are when it comes to material things. I stopped the madness a few years ago I will not be manipulated into becoming a frenzied consumer. I don't believe that this represents the Christmas spirit but I am starting to believe that I am in the minority when it comes to that kind of thinking. So sad, my deepest sympathies to the family of the man that was killed.

[javaJimmy]

No, you're not alone.

[pup sydney]

Broderick you are not the odd ball at all. Just look at what corporate greed does to everyhting: television, was hailed as the way to end poverty via education, it is now a vehicle of stupidity, advertisement with no end etc. Look at the US army: is being replaced by mercenaries. look at the pentagon: is replaced by a system of procurement for private companies to "make" (they don't even make them, they just say they are working on them) weapons we do not need . Look at the schools: used to create little consumers: kids HAVE TO bring something they bought for christmas. The list goes on and on. Or we control these corporations appropriation of every level of societal living or we are doomed to barbarism, better to further barbarism.

[SadieGirl]

You are not the odd ball. I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving one time 24 years ago. Never again. What most idiots don't realize is if they wait until a week before Christmas, the bargains are way better. Unfortunately, the greed and obsession of the holiday has overtaken any real meaning of Christmas. What a sick, pathetic society we have become.

[slaxx]

i actually think that these people are the odd balls. i don't know anyone who waits in line all night just to shop or shops on good friday.

[slaxx]

oops..black friday.