http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/wal_mart_death;_ylt=Aq62HkOylknNuuXyQmF_7mvXn414


NEW YORK – A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday when "out-of-control" shoppers desperate for bargains broke down the doors at a 5 a.m. sale. Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials said they were closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries, and the store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

Shoppers stepped over the man on the ground and streamed into the store. When told to leave, they complained that they had been in line since Thursday morning.

Nassau police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the store doors at the mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the man, identified by police as Jdimytai Damour of Queens, to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.

"This crowd was out of control," said Nassau police spokesman Lt. Michael Fleming. He described the scene as "utter chaos."

Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help Damour were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said.

Items on sale at the store 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.

Damour, 34, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined.

A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, where she and the baby were reported to be OK, said police Sgt. Anthony Repalone.

Police said criminal charges were possible in the case, but Fleming said it would be difficult to identify individual shoppers. Authorities were reviewing surveillance video.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., based in Bentonville, Ark., called the incident a "tragic situation" and said the employee came from a temporary agency and was doing maintenance work at the store.

"The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority," said Dan Fogleman, a company spokesman. "At this point, facts are still being assembled and we are working closely with the Nassau County Police as they investigate what occurred."

Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like "savages."

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling 'I've been on line since yesterday morning,'" she said. "They kept shopping."

Shoppers around the country line up early outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving in the annual bargain-hunting ritual known as Black Friday. It got that name because it has historically been the day when stores broke into profitability for the full year.

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

Wow, that's just awful. Greed is the reason this happened. What some people will do to save a buck or get a good deal is crazy. Let them live with themselves now.

WTF! Someone died but the shopping must go on? SICK SICK SICK!!! :barf:

My heart and prayers goes out to the victim and his family. That is just so so sad and horrible!

Man......:(

Unbelievable.:rolleyes:

I can't believe how heartless and self-absorbed some people are sometimes.

Yah, I heard about this on this afternoon's news. Talk about pathetic that people are in THAT much of a rush. So to save a few dollars, some poor guy has paid for it with his life - especially when he was a worker there - not a shopper too.

I've said it before... the world has just lost its collective mind... :eek:

I read that article online this morning...my first thought was "oh my God I am so THANKFUL my husband didn't have to work this morning" - he's in retail too and I get scared because the same thing almost happened to him two years ago on Black Friday. There were a mob of people entering the store at 5 a.m. and my husband got knocked down and kicked by the mob. Fortunately, his co-workers and his manager at that time were quick on their feet and got him to safety immediately. I've been scared to death on Black Friday since. I just feel bad for the worker's family - they lost someone special to them just because people were anxious to save money. That sux!!!

i think this also shows some poor planning on the part of the store involved; obviously if you have an angry mob waiting to burst through the doors there should be some precautionary measures taken - like get a couple of security guards and some barricades and only let people in one at a time in an orderly manner.

I read that article online this morning...my first thought was "oh my God I am so THANKFUL my husband didn't have to work this morning" - he's in retail too and I get scared because the same thing almost happened to him two years ago on Black Friday. There were a mob of people entering the store at 5 a.m. and my husband got knocked down and kicked by the mob. Fortunately, his co-workers and his manager at that time were quick on their feet and got him to safety immediately. I've been scared to death on Black Friday since. I just feel bad for the worker's family - they lost someone special to them just because people were anxious to save money. That sux!!!
Absolute insanity and lack of respect for your fellow human anymore.

i think this also shows some poor planning on the part of the store involved; obviously if you have an angry mob waiting to burst through the doors there should be some precautionary measures taken - like get a couple of security guards and some barricades and only let people in one at a time in an orderly manner.

Im sure they will next year. Those people should be charged with murder. I hope they will be able to charge someone with this senseless death. :(

I wonder if they had the security cams going like they always do...maybe they could pick out the ones involved with knocking him over and stepping on him... It'd probably be hard to pick faces out, though, with a crowd that large.
That's so sad what happened.
That's why I've come to dislike Christmas so much--it's become all about shop shop shop!! and spend, spend spend!! Too many people have forgotten the real reason we celebrate

Sick, sick, sick.

:eek: :eek: Complete maddness!!!! :eek: :eek:

Hopefuly that will put an end to this madness.

It's sickening to see what people will do to thier fellow man just to get a friggin digital camera for 50 bucks. Have we become that obsessed with getting bargains?

I also blame the big retailers for whipping people into this Black Friday frenzy.
Opening thier stores at 5 AM for deals? Are they that desperate for our money?

It's not right.

There are times that I'm ashamed to be a human being.

This is one of those times. :(

I wouldn't go out on Black Friday if they were giving stuff away, and I'm not kidding. I just read there was a shooting at Toys R Us. Not sure what it's about, but it's a wild world out there. Everyone gets a gift ordered online from me.

Everyone gets a gift ordered online from me.

Cool. I'll contact you with my address. ;)

I actually just ordered my family Christmas gifts from Amazon. So I don't have to go out shopping. I'm a procrastinater and usually I shop on Christmas Eve. I didn't want to do that this year, lol.

I wouldn't go out on Black Friday if they were giving stuff away, and I'm not kidding. I just read there was a shooting at Toys R Us. Not sure what it's about, but it's a wild world out there. Everyone gets a gift ordered online from me.
Ditto here - you couldn't pay me enough to go to these places on Black Friday. I'd much rather sleep in!!!

Janice, I'll keep an eye out for that gift you're sending me. ;)

I can't believe someone didn't stop & help that worker. Can you imagine what would happen to small children if they got in the way of these crazed shoppers? What a horrible world we live in!

Awful! I don't know how someone could enjoy their new digital camera (or whatever they wanted) knowing someone died for it.

Wow people make me sick sometimes. :mad:

I wouldn't go out on Black Friday if they were giving stuff away, and I'm not kidding. I just read there was a shooting at Toys R Us. Not sure what it's about, but it's a wild world out there. Everyone gets a gift ordered online from me.
i'm with you. i do not participate in black friday. to me its the epitome of greed! while everybodys going berserk out there i stay in my cozy little nest putting up my tree and nativity scene. the whole scenario is sickening to me, people acting like barbaric heathans just to save a few bucks! in the words of charlie brown "does anyone know the real meaning of christmas?" if i do my shopping i do it on qvc and each person on my list is only getting 1 gift this year. last friday, a week before black friday, i got a 7in. digital photo frame for $36 on qvc from the comfort of my own living room couch while all these people rolled out of bed at 4am today literally killing each other for one. and while they were out stuck in mall traffic, the ups man delievred my frame this afternoon while i was still in my pajamas!

what these morons don't understand is that most of these stores will live or die depending on sales this xmas season. and there will most likely be bigger sales than the ones today in the days leading up to xmas, if these stores are going to survive into the new year. but all these idiots buy into the hype and act like animals that have no sense of reasoning!

Very sad & can't believe people could so lose their perspective & behave like such savages. My condolences to that poor man's family. Count me out of Black Fridays! And shame on all the stores for whipping people up like this - they have some culpability too - esp. with all this crap of starting the Xmas decos & music in October!

...oh my gosh. that is freaking unbelievable. a man was KILLED all because some people couldn't be patient for a couple of more minutes? ugh...that's disgusting. and so many others were injured in the process, including a pregnant women. black friday sales aren't worth KILLING a man over. and they weren't super amazing this year either. the fact that they wanted to go on with the shopping & had no remorse is absolutely sickening.

Normally we don't have a "black Friday" in Canada, it happens more on Dec. 26th - our Boxing Day and I'm like Janice - it's the LAST place I'd be.

Now, for the first time this year, we're starting with the black Friday thing too because of the economy and sure enough, some were almost as bad as they were in the States.

And people are just becoming animals out there - I'll pass thanks.

Awful! I don't know how someone could enjoy their new digital camera (or whatever they wanted) knowing someone died for it.
agreed. humans are nasty creatures. hopefully they'll at least remember and honor the man who died to save their money. :rolleyes:

****ing Brainless Morons! :rolleyes: :mad:

What greed will do to some people, I'm glad I wasn't out there. I can't afford to buy presents this year, so I'll stay at home.

Humans are animals. I certainly hope that everyone who stepped on that poor man will feel some kind of guilty conscience when they are wraping up those gifts at the very least. That is so disturbing. I hope that the Walmart does something about this situatuation so that this will not happen again.

It amazes me what people will do for a stupid bargain. I hope those people feel down right rotten for killing that employee. I stay away from shopping on black friday. Its too dangerous. If anyone pushed or shoved me, I would deck them right in the face or punch their lights out. Our WalMart had a line of over 1,000 before the doors opened. It just terrible though that a hard working employee getting paid minimum wage was killed because of some stupid human beings. They have got to do something about this because it is getting worse every year. I hope the people that are guilty can be prosecuted. If that employee had family members, I am truly sorry for your loss.

Another thing that gets me is, if they keep saying our economy is so bad, how come all these people can afford to take off work on black friday and spend A LOT of money still? They will probably have to face the music with their debt come December 26 and beyond.

It amazes me what people will do for a stupid bargain. I hope those people feel down right rotten for killing that employee. I stay away from shopping on black friday. Its too dangerous. If anyone pushed or shoved me, I would deck them right in the face or punch their lights out. Our WalMart had a line of over 1,000 before the doors opened. It just terrible though that a hard working employee getting paid minimum wage was killed because of some stupid human beings. They have got to do something about this because it is getting worse every year. I hope the people that are guilty can be prosecuted. If that employee had family members, I am truly sorry for your loss.

Another thing that gets me is, if they keep saying our economy is so bad, how come all these people can afford to take off work on black friday and spend A LOT of money still? They will probably have to face the music with their debt come December 26 and beyond.

Exactly. What goes around comes around. Karma's a bitch.

That is terrible :( People have zero respect for anyone but themselves these days. It's all about "me, me, ME!"

I've been buying gift certificates or making handmade presents for Christmas. I'm not putting up with the mad rush anymore. It's not even what Christmas is about.

this story was on sky news last night here in england. it's very sad indeed. it is a shame that people care about spending their dollars and yet someone has to die because of this needless act. cannot believe they can be so inconsiderate. how can those people who did this live with themselves after what they have done is totally beyond me. police should find out the culprits and press charges. and surely there must've been cctv footage captured on camera that can be used to nail those heartless morons, so they can be identified and to have them arrested.

I just heard on Headline News that the family of the victim is suing walmart for not providing adequate protection on the job. I hope they win!

I hope they win too. Wal-Mart is just as guilty here.

Even if the people who did this aren't caught and charged, they will still have to answer to God one day.

What I don't understand is if they knew there was an angry mob outside why didn't someone call the police? :crazy:

What I don't understand is if they knew there was an angry mob outside why didn't someone call the police? :crazy:
Or hire extra security?

That is terrible :( People have zero respect for anyone but themselves these days. It's all about "me, me, ME!"

I've been buying gift certificates or making handmade presents for Christmas. I'm not putting up with the mad rush anymore. It's not even what Christmas is about.

Thank you! I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm also making a few of my gifts too. But more than anyone else, I blame the store - they have a long-standing reputation of treating their employees dreadfully. Other large stores had BIG Black Friday sales without any of this. Difference? They care more abt their employees and treat them with courtesy and respect -not like serfs on the feudal manor.

I just heard on Headline News that the family of the victim is suing walmart for not providing adequate protection on the job. I hope they win!

Me too. And I'll go you one further. I hope they win BIG TIME. If ever a store deserved punitive damages this is it.

I agree. :mad: Walmart treats their employees like crap. They are like slave drivers man.

the world has just lost its collective mind...

I agree and I hope that the victim's family wins their lawsuit.

I hope Hell-Mart pays dearly for this.