What Christmas Spirit???

[White92]

And the difference between animals and humans is.....?

A worker died after being trampled by a throng of unruly shoppers when a suburban Wal-Mart opened for the holiday sales rush Friday, authorities said.

At least three other people were injured.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in Bentonville, Ark., would not confirm the reports of a stampede but said a "medical emergency" had caused the company to close the store, which is in Valley Stream on Long Island.

Nassau County police said the 34-year-old worker was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m., an hour after the store opened. The cause of death was not immediately known.

A police statement said shortly after 5 a.m., a throng of shoppers "physically broke down the doors, knocking (the worker) to the ground." Police also said a 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital for observation and three other shoppers suffered minor injuries and were also taken to hospitals.

The dead worker's name was not released.

"Local authorities are looking into the situation," said Wal-Mart representative Dan Fogleman. But he said it would be "inappropriate for me to share any additional information" until authorities investigate further.

Shoppers around the country lined up early outside stores in the annual bargain hunting ritual known as Black Friday. Many stores open early and stay open late. The Valley Stream Wal-Mart usually opens at 9 a.m.

 

[GOTTSPD]

Unbelievable! Someone was killed so that other's could be save a few $ on some material possession that they don't need. What the hell is going on with us? I hope that those that trampled the deceased are charged with felonies.

 

[NSX Noobie]

One reason I decided not to go to Walmart, everyone is crazy and desperate there just to save a few bucks. :frown:

 

[joboy77]

Wow! I dislike going to walmart in general. I couldn't imagine actually breaking down a door and trampling someone to get in to one.

 

[fullracehonda]

i hope some serious charges are filed against anybody that was part of the stampeed

 

[myguitar]

i hope some serious charges are filed against anybody that was part of the stampede

CNN - Asked about the possibility of criminal charges in the Wal-Mart death, Fleming said he would not rule it out but noted that charges would be "very difficult," as it would be "almost impossible" to identify people in the crowd from the video and that those in the front of the crowd were also pushed by those behind them. Hundreds of people probably lined up in an orderly fashion, he said, but got caught up in the rush.

Also on the same link...

CNN - In California, two people were killed in a shooting at a Toys 'R' Us in Palm Desert, according to the Riverside County Fire Department. The shooting occurred about 11:36 a.m. (2:36 p.m. ET), authorities said.

Animals!

 

[Sarge]

People suck.

 

[davidf]

I'm betting the lawyers will line up at the victims family's door.

 

[White92]

I'm betting the lawyers will line up at the victims family's door.

I'm betting you're right. It won't matter if it was the people at the front of the line or the people behind those people who were pushing. The lawyers will go after Walmart, deep pockets theory.

 

[GreyHoundSteve]

Just another reason why i refuse to leave my house on Black Friday. Its amazing what some people will do to save a few bucks. I personally won't even wait in the lines or deal with the crowds, i would rather pay full price in a civilized manner.

 

[KooLaid]

And at a walmart too. That's a horrible way to go. Just sad.

I did some black friday shopping still though but we left for it at 1pm when most were gone. Went to Best Buy, bought nothing. Went to Cycle Gear, bought LOTS. Went to the Ducati dealership, bought a shirt. Went to the mall, looked at almost nothing, bought late lunch, left. Went to the new Bass Pro Shop, bought a few things. We avoided the snarling horrible crowds of those regular stores alone though. It's just psychotic! Atleast at Bass Pro, a huge crowd is a daily occurance there.

WalMart needs to pay up to the family. And I'm 99% sure that they will. They can afford to and will pay to avoid the press on it and to avoid having a jury or judge decision in the books that may go against them. Jury would side the family because Wal Mart can definitely afford proper security. That and everyone knows Wal Mart needs to be taken down a peg or two.

 

[White92]

WalMart needs to pay up to the family. And I'm 99% sure that they will. They can afford to and will pay to avoid the press on it and to avoid having a jury or judge decision in the books that may go against them. Jury would side the family because Wal Mart can definitely afford proper security. That and everyone knows Wal Mart needs to be taken down a peg or two.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere a few years ago that Walmart got introuble because they were hiring fairly old people and taking life insurance policies out on them. Walmart was the beneficiary.

 

[KooLaid]

It's pretty shocking though you know. Wal-Mart is the only corporation I know of that gets richer the more america gets poorer. How ironic is that? What can you really do about it either you know? What really gets me upset is how they intentionally set up their business plan to make the government (read: american tax payers that don't get it all back) pick up their employees' tab on health care costs.

Its sad how a majority of americans will turn a blind eye towards Wal Mart all in the sake of saving a buck even when the economy was thriving. I have to admit, it's difficult to NOT shop there when it's so convenient and they have EVERYTHING at a price that's generally better than the competitors.

 

[GreyHoundSteve]

It's pretty shocking though you know. Wal-Mart is the only corporation I know of that gets richer the more america gets poorer. How ironic is that? What can you really do about it either you know? What really gets me upset is how they intentionally set up their business plan to make the government (read: american tax payers that don't get it all back) pick up their employees' tab on health care costs.

Its sad how a majority of americans will turn a blind eye towards Wal Mart all in the sake of saving a buck even when the economy was thriving. I have to admit, it's difficult to NOT shop there when it's so convenient and they have EVERYTHING at a price that's generally better than the competitors.

South Park did a great episode on this. Walmart came to town and put all of the towns small businesses out of business and so all of the town boycotts them except that no one in town can refuse their huge selection and low prices so they all try to sneak in at night when they think no one in town is watching to only discover that the entire town has been shopping there all along and hiding it from one another. Funny stuff.

 

[LJSB]

People suck.

My cousin says:

"People are highly overrated."

 

[sahtt]

And some people claim america is nothing more than a mindless society of consumers.

 

[Sarge]

And some people claim america is nothing more than a mindless society of consumers.

That could be very accurate

 

[steveny]

I saw this on the news last night. They had his parents on and it was very sad. The thing that seemed the most odd to me was the guy working the door was younger and had a college diploma.

You know you can say say a lot of rotten shit about Walmart but when it comes right down to it they have struggled to not be GM. You can't have it both ways people either the company profits and the worker suffers or the company suffers and the worker prospers.

If GM could have continued to handle the workers as they did when GM first started up GM would still be profitable. Eventually, as always, Walmart will fall to the powers that be and file bankruptcy the same way all it's predecessors have done throughout the years.

 

[Cairo94507]

Walmart has been investigated many times for failing to provide security for customers once they are outside of their stores. Many homicides, kidnaps, rapes, robberies, etc. have occurred in their parking lots. Walmart rarely (apparently) has security watching the lots or exterior of their stores.

As far as I am concerned, knowing it was black friday and people would flock to their stores like lemmings, they needed to have anticipated and planned for large crowds, and people who are stupid and act like animals in a crowd situation.

I have no sympathy for Walmart in this particular situation-sorry.

 

[Vega$ NSX]

Once I was in New Orleans during the 2000 Sugar Bowl. I was in a mess of people on Burbon Street and before I knew it, I was completely stuck. It was crowded that I had one hand in my pocket and couldn't even take it out to save my life, I was wedged in that tight. Once the boobs on the balconies started going, the crowd got tighter and tighter. People on the outside were pushing to get in closer. People on the inside were pushing out to get some space. It got so bad that at some points I got the air squeezed out of me and I couldn't even breathe. I could easily see a smaller person easily being crushed even while standing up. If someone had actually fallen down, forget about it, they would have been trampled despite the fact you couldn't do a thing about it. There wouldn't be nothing anyone could do even if you were standing on that person. Like I said, I was already getting the breath squeezed out of me. And if you were unlucky enough to fall down, there would be no chance of getting back up again for a long, long time.

Here's the crazy thing. It's not like Burbon Street is a confined building. It's an open street. There is plenty of room for people to meander. The "squeeze" was caused by people pushing in from the outside. But what's even crazier is on the outsde, people were still laughing and having a great time. They were just trying to get better views of boobs and take pictures. It's not like they were forcefully pushing, but it's like a waterfall effect. When they push slightly to get a better view, people closer to the middle push in to give themself some space. It all gets concentrated on the center where those people on the inside were suffering. It would have been impossible to point a finger at someone to blame because there is no way that the people on the outside would know what is going on the inside. Having gone through that experience, I can very easily see how someone could get trampled in a rush of people and it's not like anyone was aware what was happening. People in the back are trying to move forward, get a better position or not lose their place in line. However, people further up are just trying to give themself some comfort space. The people in the front are just struggling to keep from getting crushed themselves. Unfortunately if someone gets caught up in the fray, there isn't much anyone can do about it.

 

[White92]

Wow! Here's a strange twist that I didn't think of. The customers involved in the stampede are suing Walmart!

Customers injured in crush suing Wal-Mart
Story Highlights
Men suffered injuries after being carried along in rush for bargains, suit claims

Customers also filed claim against police, say they didn't maintain order

One store employee killed in post-Thanksgiving rush for bargains

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two customers are suing Wal-Mart for negligence after being injured in a mad rush for post-Thanksgiving bargains that left one store employee dead, the men's attorney said Tuesday.

Temporary Wal-Mart worker Jdimytai Damour, 34, was crushed to death as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a store on Long Island at 5 a.m. Friday.

Attorney Kenneth Mollins said Fritz Mesadieu and Jonathan Mesadieu were "literally carried from their position outside the store" and are now "suffering from pain in their neck and their back from being caught in that surge of people" that rushed into the Wal-Mart.

New York Newsday reported that the Mesadieus are father and son, ages 51 and 19.

The lawsuit alleges that the Mesadieus' injuries were a result of "carelessness, recklessness, negligence."

In a claim against the Nassau County police department, the men also contend that they "sustained monetary losses as a result of health care and legal expenses ... in the sum of $2 million."

"This is a tragic situation that could have and should have been avoided with the exercise of reasonable care. There are very simple measures that could have been put in place to avoid this, such as barriers along the line to spread people out, extra security and a better police presence," Mollins said.

He said his clients and others who were at the scene contend that the police "were there ... saw what was happening, and they left."

Calls seeking comment from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. were not immediately returned.

Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department said, "it's our policy that we don't comment on open litigations" and would not respond directly to Mollins and his clients' claim that officers left the scene.

He said it is "incumbent upon the store to provide security" but noted that there was no security force present when officers responded to an initial phone call after 3 a.m. Friday for an unknown disturbance at the site.

Smith said the officers noticed a lack of order with the crowd and began to organize them into a line, remaining on site for about 30 minutes until the crowd had become orderly.

Throughout the morning, officers went back to check on the crowd and continued to notice no disturbance, Smith said.

He said that there were no additional calls for assistance until about 5 a.m., when people began rushing the doors of the store and trampled Damour.

An autopsy showed that Damour died of asphyxiation after being trampled, Nassau County officials have said.

Video showed that as many as a dozen people were knocked to the floor in the stampede of people trying to get into the store. The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, said Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming.

CNN's Kristen Hamill contributed to this report

 

[Dtrigg]

Wow! Here's a strange twist that I didn't think of. The customers involved in the stampede are suing Walmart!

Customers injured in crush suing Wal-Mart
Story Highlights
Men suffered injuries after being carried along in rush for bargains, suit claims

Customers also filed claim against police, say they didn't maintain order

One store employee killed in post-Thanksgiving rush for bargains

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two customers are suing Wal-Mart for negligence after being injured in a mad rush for post-Thanksgiving bargains that left one store employee dead, the men's attorney said Tuesday.

Temporary Wal-Mart worker Jdimytai Damour, 34, was crushed to death as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a store on Long Island at 5 a.m. Friday.

Attorney Kenneth Mollins said Fritz Mesadieu and Jonathan Mesadieu were "literally carried from their position outside the store" and are now "suffering from pain in their neck and their back from being caught in that surge of people" that rushed into the Wal-Mart.

New York Newsday reported that the Mesadieus are father and son, ages 51 and 19.

The lawsuit alleges that the Mesadieus' injuries were a result of "carelessness, recklessness, negligence."

In a claim against the Nassau County police department, the men also contend that they "sustained monetary losses as a result of health care and legal expenses ... in the sum of $2 million."

"This is a tragic situation that could have and should have been avoided with the exercise of reasonable care. There are very simple measures that could have been put in place to avoid this, such as barriers along the line to spread people out, extra security and a better police presence," Mollins said.

He said his clients and others who were at the scene contend that the police "were there ... saw what was happening, and they left."

Calls seeking comment from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. were not immediately returned.

Lt. Kevin Smith of the Nassau County Police Department said, "it's our policy that we don't comment on open litigations" and would not respond directly to Mollins and his clients' claim that officers left the scene.

He said it is "incumbent upon the store to provide security" but noted that there was no security force present when officers responded to an initial phone call after 3 a.m. Friday for an unknown disturbance at the site.

Smith said the officers noticed a lack of order with the crowd and began to organize them into a line, remaining on site for about 30 minutes until the crowd had become orderly.

Throughout the morning, officers went back to check on the crowd and continued to notice no disturbance, Smith said.

He said that there were no additional calls for assistance until about 5 a.m., when people began rushing the doors of the store and trampled Damour.

An autopsy showed that Damour died of asphyxiation after being trampled, Nassau County officials have said.

Video showed that as many as a dozen people were knocked to the floor in the stampede of people trying to get into the store. The employee was "stepped on by hundreds of people" as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, said Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming.

CNN's Kristen Hamill contributed to this report

Now that's the Christmas spirit! Sue the bastards and get some money! I mean after all, that father and son team are out $2 million.