Black Friday Worker Stampeded to Death

Stampeding Holiday Shoppers Trample Man at Wal-Mart
Stampeding Holiday Shoppers Trample Man at Wal-Mart : People.com

In a hurry to take advantage of holiday discounts at a Long Island, N.Y., Wal-Mart, hundreds of shoppers busted through the store's front door, trampling a maintenance worker to death.

The 34-year-old man, whose name has not been released, tried to contain the growing crowd when the store opened for its annual Black Friday sale at 5 a.m. But shoppers surged into the store, knocking the man down and stepping on him.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," co-worker Jimmy Overby, 43, told the New York Daily News. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too. ... I literally had to fight people off my back."

Emergency crews were called to save the man's life, but shoppers continued to rush past the scene until police shut down the Valley Stream store. The man was then taken to nearby Franklin Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m.

Wal-Mart called the death "a tragic situation," in a statement released Friday. "The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority."

But Nassau County Det. Lt. Michael Fleming told the New York Times that the store could have worked harder to prevent this situation.

"I've heard other people call this an accident, but it's not," he tells the Times. "This certainly was foreseeable."
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Wal-Mart death preventable, union says

"This incident was avoidable," said Bruce Both, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500, the state of New York's largest grocery worker's union. "Where were the safety barriers? Where was security? How did store management not see dangerous numbers of customers barreling down on the store in such an unsafe manner?

"This is not just tragic; it rises to a level of blatant irresponsibility by Wal-Mart," he said.
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THERE WE GO! Wal-mart should be held criminally-liable for this!
 
It's kinda sad to see how people are behaving like this, just so they can save a little of their money. Sure, Sales may be great for some penny pinchers but really, it isn't the end of the world. It just amazes me to see how these shoppers are acting like it's end of the world and going berserk just so they can get the things on sale. :roll:
 
Jolie77 said:
It's kinda sad to see how people are behaving like this, just so they can save a little of their money. Sure, Sales may be great for some penny pinchers but really, it isn't the end of the world. It just amazes me to see how these shoppers are acting like it's end of the world and going berserk just so they can get the things on sale. :roll:
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Yeah, It only happen once a year, right? That's why they are acting like this. Some people can't wait for another year to come...
 
Nathan said:
Yeah, It only happen once a year, right? That's why they are acting like this. Some people can't wait for another year to come...
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That is my point. Besides that, We win some and we lose some. It's not a big deal, right? :)
 
i think the whole thing is amusing. That worker who got trampled though... hopefully cameras show who took part and they charge EVERYONE for manslaughter cuz thats pretty fucking ridiculous. It is funny to see old ladies fighting over the last of whatever though, thats just hysterical to watch.
 
Aghori said:
I think it can be prevent if each store hire riot police or extra security.
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you cannot hire riot police. beside - it's extremely costly to hire riot police and it's not for private use. Like Vamp said previously - the store can simply make a barrier like using shopping carts. Extra security would be great too.
 
Jolie77 said:
That is my point. Besides that, We win some and we lose some. It's not a big deal, right? :)
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Exactly. It is sad indeed when the value of a purchase is taken into consideration before the value of a person. It seems that American values are very twisted.
 
jillio said:
Exactly. It is sad indeed when the value of a purchase is taken into consideration before the value of a person. It seems that American values are very twisted.
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Agreed, It is indeed very twisted and not to mention, it's out of whack. You know what I find so ironic all about this - A lot of people would say they value a life more than an item but yet when it comes to the talk of the money, That is all thrown out of the window.

I only wish Greed would be outlawed and it should. ;)
 
Greed cannot be outlaw because it is sorta an emotion.

Also, the govern needs to be greedy or the USA would be bankrupted. Typical.

The world runs on currency and so do we.
 
Jolie77 said:
Agreed, It is indeed very twisted and not to mention, it's out of whack.You know what I find so ironic all about this - A lot of people would say they value a life more than an item but yet when it comes to the talk of the money, That is all thrown out of the window.

I only wish Greed would be outlawed and it should. ;)
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Wouldn't it be nice if we could outlaw Greed? And self centeredness while we are at it. I can't believe that people are so concerned about saving a few pennies that they would not even stop to help a fellow human being who was being trampled.
 
imdeafsowhat said:
Greed cannot be outlaw because it is sorta an emotion.

Also, the govern needs to be greedy or the USA would be bankrupted. Typical.

The world runs on currency and so do we.
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You're right, The world runs on the currency and we all do but my point is - Why would a person value greed more than anything else? Why don't they take it in moderation to value a life than the money?

Sometime, I just don't get it. I mean, Sure, it is nice to be able to save some money but when someone gets overzealous about it, it isn't meaningful either.
 
jillio said:
Wouldn't it be nice if we could outlaw Greed? And self centeredness while we are at it. I can't believe that people are so concerned about saving a few pennies that they would not even stop to help a fellow human being who was being trampled.
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Precisely.
 
dead money said:
i think you have to be a little greedy when it comes to the successes of life.
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That is a cultural phenomena. The result of living in a singularly based culture instead of a collectively based culture. Those in a collectively based culture would determine that success is only possible through your interconnectedness with others and the absence of greed.
 
jillio said:
Wouldn't it be nice if we could outlaw Greed? And self centeredness while we are at it. I can't believe that people are so concerned about saving a few pennies that they would not even stop to help a fellow human being who was being trampled.
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i couldn't agree more. the way those 200 shoppers acted was pathetic and self-serving. :mad2:
 
the sad thing is that most, if not all of those shoppers who were responsible for the death of this innocent person will feel absolutely NO remorse about what they've done.
 
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