Black Friday: Target Shoppers Step Over Walter Vance As He Collapses, Dies

A Black Friday shopper who collapsed while shopping at a Target store in West Virginia went almost unnoticed as customers continued to hunt for bargain deals.

Walter Vance, a 61-year-old pharmacist who reportedly suffered from a prior heart condition, later died in hospital, reports MSNBC.

Witnesses say some shoppers ignored and even walked over the man's body as they continued to shop, reports the New York Daily News.

Friends and co-workers saddened to learn of his death, expressed outrage over the way he was treated by shoppers.

"Where is the good Samaritan side of people?" Vance's co-worker Sue Compton told WSAZ-TV.

"How could you not notice someone was in trouble? I just don't understand if people didn't help what their reason was, other than greed because of a sale."

Gawker points out there is no legal obligation to come to someone's rescue, only a moral one.

While some news organizations say that no one helped the collapsed man, his wife refuted this report.

Lynne Vance said six nurses shopping in the store came to her husband's rescue and performed CPR until paramedics arrived, notes the Sunday Gazette Mail.

This wasn't the only incident to taint America's biggest shopping day.

While one customer sprayed fellow shoppers with pepper spray so she could snag a video game, another scenario involved an exhausted Target worker accidentally driving her car into a canal after working the Black Friday midnight shift.

Here are what people bought last year:

Comments

[HMB11375]

10:34 PM on 11/23/2012

Red state...check. Family values state...check...Religious state...check. Hypocrites...check.

[adamlcook]

08:34 AM on 11/26/2012

Stereotyping... check, bigotry... check...hypocrite... check.

[happyjoyjoy333]

06:24 PM on 11/23/2012

Seems like "Black Friday" is living up to the name, when people are more concerned about what they can buy, than who they can help.
Another sign of the times.

[PhilBurgundy12]

04:38 PM on 05/28/2012

How does this even happened in a civilized world? Do people really care that much about shopping that they allow a man to diet? You can shop on http://myblackfriday2012.net/ to find the same great Black Friday deals and you will not have to worry about people hurting you. Let's hope that Black Friday 2012 is safer and that no one loses their life because other people want to save a few dollars.

[Filthy]

05:58 PM on 11/23/2012

It doesn't. Not sure if you read the article but his wife says that six nurses shopping there came to his aid and administered CPR.

[lawlady50]

06:07 PM on 11/23/2012

This is not a civilized country, anymore.

[happyjoyjoy333]

06:25 PM on 11/23/2012

Forget country.
I don't think it's even a civilized world anymore.

[Jenn2]

02:44 AM on 12/04/2011

So people did in fact help him. If you're not part of the solution you're a problem, get out of the way and let the folks who can help do their job. Dramatic news people, I'd step on, however.

[mheinznyc]

04:27 PM on 12/03/2011

Unless, you WERE a nurse or other Medical Professional...what were you morally obligated to DO for a man having a heart attack ? Get a pillow ?

[teacupsmommy]

12:11 PM on 11/23/2012

If you were human, you could at least call 911.

[Crysssy]

12:37 PM on 11/23/2012

You can help to reassure a person, cover them with something since a heart attack victim might feel cold , you can call for help or ask someone to do so. think about what you would want done for you or for your family member if it happened to them, then act accordingly. Sometimes a good word can help someone in need live a little longer...maybe long enought for help to get to them. A few seconds can make a big difference.

[lisazz]

04:06 PM on 12/02/2011

Just shows how the people of west virginia really are ... I see this type of behavior everyday , in this GOd forsaken state !

[adamlcook]

08:39 AM on 11/26/2012

Yes, one example from one place at one time so condemns an entire population. So I am guessing that the entire slideshow of other states from California to Maine behaving just as bad and in some cases worse shows how the people of those states really are? It is not just West Virginians; it is all people, so please point fingers more.

[danglines]

02:41 PM on 12/01/2011

What a bunch of greedy arrogant shoppers!

[Daisy274]

10:28 AM on 12/01/2011

Every year for the past several years I've stories about wretched Black Friday behavior and every year I think that people will read them and decide that the raw consumer gluttony that's at the bottom of it has to stop. I'm always wrong.

[skippythepinhead]

06:45 AM on 12/01/2011

I wrote a book today. It is called The Happy Puppy. The puppy dies. Maybe I should have used a different title?

[Tammy Tyler Palmisano]

03:41 AM on 12/01/2011

the headlines very misleading...kudos to the nurses and the emt. after katrina nothing surprises me about human beings....me me me me me me me me. i bet santa is so proud of the shoppers

[sbrannon]

01:38 AM on 12/01/2011

Okay, the headline does not match the article...some news says that no one came to his aid...while his wife (who was there?) said that six nurses came to his aid and gave him CPR. Now, May I ask why the headlines are so misleading? Do we believe the "news" or the wife? geez. Sad reporting.

[Filthy]

06:03 PM on 11/23/2012

The article is misleading too - last paragraph;

"While one customer sprayed fellow shoppers with pepper spray so she could snag a video game, another scenario involved an exhausted Target worker accidentally driving her car into a canal after working the Black Friday midnight shift."

It's Black Friday today, but it's not midnight anywhere in the continental United States. Guess they're just tacking on stories from Friday's past.

[angelout]

01:38 AM on 12/01/2011

I am about sick of target already, lots of BAD PRESS LATELY...BUT AFTER READING COMMENTS, I GUESS I SPOKE TOO SOON AND NEED TO QUESTION STORY CONTENT IN THE FUTURE.

[rcox486162]

08:06 PM on 11/30/2011

The wife was on the news last evening and said that six nurses were there to help almost immediately. Also an EMT helped until the ambulance arrived. If Huffpost had any ethics they would print a retraction with the same flourish as they have used to propagate this sensationalist story. But, asa we sadly know the truth doesn't sell newspapers.

[sbrannon]

01:39 AM on 12/01/2011

like most other news stories and it seems that the Huff is starting to jump on the band wagon.

[carburetor]

07:58 PM on 11/30/2011

People die every day. Too bad for this guy, it all started at Target. It sounds like he had plenty of medically trained shoppers (six nurses!) trying to keep him alive. In fact, that's the real story here... not the nonsense headline about people stepping over him to shop. Target should give each of those nurses a $100 gift card for making a heroic effort to save a customer. That would be a Christmas story to feel good about. We need more things to feel good about and these six nurses definitely made my day. The man made it to the hospital alive thanks to them. Although he later died as a hospital patient, he had every chance possible to survive thanks to the efforts of these people who chose to help him, instead of continuing to shop. Great story... bad headline.

[jbs902]

08:46 PM on 11/30/2011

How callous and typical of the sinful and disgusting attitudes today. Don't you get it a human life is more I
portant than a Nintendo... No nintendos in heaven my friend...

[carburetor]

11:51 PM on 11/30/2011

My comment concerning Walter Vance's rescue by six nurses is not callous or unsympathetic. Walter, a man in poor health, chose to enter a retail environment on Black Friday to compete with other shoppers. His health failed, perhaps due to the challenges of that environment and he received assistance from six nurses, coincidentally in the mix. My comment was that the six nurses were the story worthy of attention and a headline, not the mob of bargain hunters who stampeded the store. Why focus on the negative story when the positive one is much more worthy of our attention? Do we really crave negativity or expect it so much that it needs to dominate our reading interests?

[sbrannon]

01:40 AM on 12/01/2011

x2 well said, fanned!

[nico88]

07:49 PM on 11/30/2011

So what is the true story?