Wal-Mart greeter dies in 5:03 a.m. Black Friday stampede

It's tragic, but is anyone surprised that this happened? Police say the 34-year-old worker died Friday morning after "a throng of shoppers ...physically broke down the doors" and knocked him to the ground as the crowd pushed its way into the store. (Newsday || "Bum-rushed by 200 people")

Comments

[IronOre]

Wow. Buying something for 25% off is worth someone's life?

[Lambiepie]

someone is going to come up with a reality show of mobs fighting over 50% discounts - killer fun

[phantom]

maybe they should use cardboard cut outs to hold the shoppers at bay until the store is open

[Kim]

It was only a matter of time before something awful like this happened. The stores spend so much time hyping the big sales and deals, what do they expect will happen (especially at a less-than-high class place like Wal-Mart)? But NOW they will put rules in place to control activities like this to prevent mayhem next year.

[Hey!]

Sad. And compounding the tragedy is the lack of concern shown by the shoppers and Wal-Mart. The police should have taped the place off as a crime scene and sent everyone home.

[Ter]

Sad. The other article I read on this also reported that a woman miscarried.

My husband announced to me that he was getting up early to go shopping at 5am. He asked me if I wanted to go with him. Nooooooooooooo, said I. I'd rather sleep.
And I joked with him (as he's a big fella), be careful out there, you're liable to be the one man gang and start your own riot.
But,he went out anyway and got home safely in time to take me to work.
Hope everybody had a safe (no stabbings!) and happy Thanksgiving.

[Soo]

MSNBC also mentioned that a pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage that was attributed to a walmart stampede somewhere this morning, but didn't mention where.

And my kids wondered why I don't go to these sales. I'm sorry, but the fights and the stampedes have been happening since the mid-90s at least (I was living in Europe at the time, and the walmart toy fights made news over there). I will be no part of it.

If my kids don't like the gifts I can afford to buy at regular sale prices, then they weren't raised right. My life is worth more than a sale.

[cherie]

I seriously don't get this or the mentality behind it....I've only gone shopping once on black Friday and that was many years ago. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid...

[SFL]

"The police should have taped the place off as a crime scene and sent everyone home"

No, they should have locked the doors behind everybody until the cops could get there and started booking the people for disorderly conduct or whatever so they could get mugshots to compare with the security camera tapes. Then start picking who gets charged with manslaughter.

[Ter]

I think what shocks me more is that there are some 'news' outlets releasing security or cell phone videos of this tragedy.
I absolutely refuse to watch something like this, it's bad enough reading about this.
I stated on Wednesday that I await the first Black Friday death news story and I can see I was not disappointed, it's like fish in a barrel.
The adage applies here "People being kind to other humans."

[NitroPress]

Good reason for celebrating today as Buy Nothing Day. (Google it.) I have for decades... The frantic "black Friday" nonsense is just sickening on so many levels.

[Lambiepie]

why do stores hype this one day as "the one" when there is still a month of shopping to go
it's not like the discounts are going to disappear on Dec 24th

why do they hype christmas? why do they hype anything? I think the answer is obvious.

[Moose]

Next year, I'm all for employees using tasers/pepper spray on idiots. I feel bad for this guy - I mean, all he did was show up at work.

[Lots42]

Yet another reason to sue Wal-Mart for negligence.

[jupiterjim]

WTF? How could you get that worked up over some over-priced piece of crap that was made over seas by slave labor that you join a mass of other people and trample some poor greeter to death?
We just came back from the dollar store. Now that was a fiasco. Some guy bought 244 Santa hats. I sense a new gang taking over S FL.

[Soo]

JJ: the last time I was in a certain dollar store, they had catalogs available for those who needed to buy in bulk. I had wondered who would do that, and what would they buy; I guess now I know.

Also, a few years back at this same store, I bumped into a friend from college, and she was walking her mom through the store. Her mom had two full carts. I raised an eyebrow, and my friend explained that her mom had never been inside a dollar store before.

That seemed like the strangest thing. 244 santa hats, however, tops that.

[kestrelmas]

Never gotten into the early morning sales... it's not worth it. You can get shot, stabbed, trampled... etc...

Who needs it?

I feel bad for this poor guy's family...

[midwest girl]

I went to wally-world just once on black friday...I was NEVER so scared in my life....No organization...and the store was totally over the limit ppl wise..It was so crowded tht pushing a cart wasn't even an option...never again!

[Dave]

I do 99 percent of my shopping online. People still actually go out to stores? How archaic.

[NitroPress]

One way to celebrate Buy Nothing Day is the "WalMart Whirl": Get together as many people as you can. 200 is good. 500 is better. Descend on WallyWorld. Each take a cart. Spend a fun hour wandering the aisles and greeting each other while keeping your cart conspicuously empty. When you leave, leave your cart in an aisle.

Great fun.

[Jenn]

JJ: 244 Santa Hats.... makes me think elementary or middle school music teacher. "Tis the season" for Christmas Concerts.

[jupiterjim]

The Music teacher sceanrio is probable but I think it most likely was for a Toy Run for an MC the way the person was dressed.
My better half teaches preschool and the dollar store is great for getting supplies like paper and what ever. We dropped over $50 today and that was a first.
Two things I have noticed they sell there where I question the overall value / quality
1) EPT kits
2) Sausage Biscuits

[Bob]

These stampedes are nothing new, they've been going on this time of year since at least the 40's, probably longer. Admittedly, back then it was usually one of the big dept. stores, such as Macy's or Sears, rather that Wally World. The fatality may be a new feature, though.

[Joe]

How could people do this? Two words: Mob Mentality. When people are in a group like that, they loose the feeling of individual responsibility, and do things that they wouldn't do individually.

[Cheesus]

The real problem here is Black Friday Discounts. Merchants put like a Plasma TV at a massive discount and then only have a couple in stock. So everbody is trying to get the only few they have. Its a modern day tactic of "Bait and Switch". They can loose money on selling just a couple to bring you into the store, then you will buy other stuff they have plenty of because you can't get the big deals unless you are camping overnight and pushing to get in the door. They should outlaw this "Bait and Switch" type of sale and make it only normal sales that you can get a raincheck on if they run out of stock. Then nothing like this would happen. I learned my lesson years ago when I went to Best Buy at 4:00 in the morning, had ten people ahead of me to buy an item that they only had one of on the shelf and the 9 people in front of me were going for the same thing and the first person got it. Pure bait and switch. I don't do black friday anymore because its BS and I am not gonna kill someone like today to save 100 buck or less on something, even a thousand is not worth a life.

[thetruth]

Am currently on Long Island doing some work. This doesn't surprise me. The "stereotype" about rude, obnoxious New Yorkers is NOT a stereotype, it's the God's honest truth. They care about no one but themselves. Am sssssoooooo glad I'm just here temporarily!!!

[gesher]

uh wow ya lets kill a person cause were so jacked up on Dramamine and get 5$ off entire store merchandise, Christmas is what people make of it....and this is just pretty damn sad....

[David]

Walmart and every person in that crowd are responsible for the death of the man and the forced abortion of the woman. It is negligent of Walmart not to have crowd control in place.

Every year we see the stories of people hurt in these sales, as well as stories of the trampling deaths at concerts caused by people from the back shoving people into walls and onto the floor. last year were a number of stories of people trampled during sales, luckily none of them died.

This year we weren't so lucky.

[David]

At least the miscarriage turns out to be a rumor.

[Lots42]

The dollar stores in my neck of the woods succeed in the 'better, cheaper, cleaner, faster, more, variety' categories.

[Cluckie]

I've never understood the appeal of getting up in the middle of the night to go shopping. Granted, I'm not a typical shopper in the first place - I *hate* Christmas shopping (or shopping in general) - and doing battle over a sweater on sale with some cow isn't my idea of fun or the holiday "spirit". I'd rather find things through the year, put them away, then give gifts that mean something to the recipient.

I spent black friday at a football game with family and friends. It was a blast, and better than anything I could have bought at a store.

[Sky]

Wow how sad. There were some very nice people out there yesterday however there were many rude people also. We bought the crap Polaroid tv mentioned in the article. Took it back last night (didn't work) and there were five other ones sitting behind the service desk. Lesson Learned.
God Bless their families.

[Dances With Books]

I think the lack of concern says it all. Not so much running him over (which is bad), but actually stomping and continuing ahead. Because we all know one old coot greeter is not worth as much as that cheap laptop (or whatever they had on sale).

Me? I stayed home. After all, for all the hype, there really are no major deals. They just want you to think there are.

[troschne]

This is the ONLY good Black Friday:

When Black Friday comes
I'll stand down by the door
And catch the grey men when they
Dive from the fourteenth floor
When Black Friday comes
I'll collect everything I'm owed
And before my friends find out
I'll be on the road
When Black Friday falls you know it's got to be
Don't let it fall on me
When Black Friday comes
I'll fly down to Muswellbrook
Gonna strike all the big red words
From my little black book
Gonna do just what I please
Gonna wear no socks and shoes
With nothing to do but feed
All the kangaroos
When Black Friday comes I'll be on that hill
You know I will

When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna dig myself a hole
Gonna lay down in it 'til
I satisfy my soul
Gonna let the world pass by me
The Archbishop's gonna sanctify me
And if he don't come across
I'm gonna let it roll
When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna stake my claim
I'll guess I'll change my name

RIP, Walmart greeter. Yet another reason why I refuse to shop there.

[troschne]

Sadly, this is really nothing new. Back in 1996, when Tickle Me Elmo was the item of the year, I was trying to get one for my nephew. I got up at 6:00 AM one Sunday morning, when the K-Mart circular came out, and when I got there, they had sold out. They gave me a rain check, and weeks later, just before I was leaving town to spend Christmas with my family, K-Mart called. I went over to get the Tickle Me Elmo, and you would have thought that I was buying a nuclear device. On the message they left on my answering machine, they gave me a code word to use, and not to mention anything about Tickle Me Elmo. They went to the stockroom and brought it out in a black garbage bag. I felt like I was buying porn! Christmas gets a little less special for me every year.

[Bluntfacts]

Some great comments here on the Black Friday event. Thank goodness Jim didn't post the Cali event at Toys; imagine having to hear gunfire on the day after Thanksgiving when patrons are just shopping for toys from Communist China.

[Dale]

I honor of the employee that was stampeded to death
Walmart will be selling all wreaths for 50% off.

position open: door greeter apply within

[SFL]

Well, at least the cops are trying. From the CBSTV website:

"Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday's video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman."

If they can't get anybody charged, they could at least post the surveillance videos so we can see what a bunch of greedy vicious pigs look like.

[anon]

Can't let my usual moniker show. Wally-World's legal dept. is something fierce!

Anyway, I got to experience my first Black Friday mob at Wal-Mart as private contract security. Mind you, the only official reason I was there was to encourage folks to think twice before slipping DVDs into their coat pockets.

However, I have experience in crowd control and as the store I worked is open 24 hours, I was able to neatly arrange the ever growing mob around the electronics department flush against the counters, leaving aisles clear for the harried employees to pull their pallet jacks through. At least from around 3am when everyone started jockeying for position until 5am when I no longer had to holler at people not to tear apart the black plastic over the "Blitz" displays.

Suddenly, the aisles I proudly kept clear for 2 hours were invaded by a convoy of carts filled with Barbie Jeeps from the toy section. From there it got worse until it was utter gridlock in the aisles. Already sick to begin with, my voice was hoarse to non-existent by now. The lone security officer in the midst of a sea of humanity clamoring for cameras and GPS systems as if their very lives depended on them.

I quickly came to the realization that I'd soon become roadkill where I was, and that my routine of patrolling the aisles of the department had become impossible. I retreated to the relative void around the restrooms in back, where I could at least prevent anyone from disappearing with a cartful of merchandise. Biding my time for the last hour until my 12 hour shift ended.

I feel terrible about the guy who got trampled! The mob took the term "Doorbuster" to its literal and tragic end. I had an officer posted at both front doors as well. But again, their official purpose was to deter theft, not active crowd control. Not only would it require a lot more officers, we'd also need barricades to form a queue. Plus it would have been helpful for Walmart to provide a map to inform people that the flat screen TVs were not in electronics, rather near the produce section.

From my experience working with WalMart as an independent contractor though, they do not seem inclined to spend money on anything that doesn't aim to improve their bottom line. Seems they'd rather take their chances getting fined or sued for safety violations than being proactive in fixing them. With this attention this story has received, it may result in a million dollar lawsuit for the family of the deceased. I can only hope that will encourage Wally-World to take more preventive measures in the future.

I hope I never, ever have to work in a retail setting on black Friday again, and will never shop on that day, having never done so before.

[mianne]

Oh, this stuff goes back well before the 90's. The old fogies among us may remember the Cabbage Patch Doll craze in the 80's. I think that was probably the origin of the absolute must have item for Christmas. No deaths were reported, though lots of cuts and bruises, and according to this video, a broken leg as well. Always good to see people celebrating the true meaning of Christmas!

On that note, not that I expect anybody plans to exchange gifts among readers, but I already own plenty enough ugly sweaters, got lots of assorted electronic gadgets collecting dust, and at least a dozen perfumes that I'll never wear. So my Christmas wish list is for a donation to your local food bank. $60 will keep someone fed probably longer than your kids will still be playing with the latest and greatest Elmo doll.

[mumto3boyz]

I can't imagine being in that crowd. How sad!
I sure hope their "deals" will be appriciated on Christmas day.

[dave]

wally would better make sure his family gets a great christmas ,,,,, and to all the people at the store that morning i hope you enjoy the presents you got for the rest of your life because of you dum ass people a man lost his life i hope you remmeber his family on christmas morning and may god have mercy on your souls ,

[David]

Mianne, while they weren't the start of the "Must have" Christmas item, Cabbage Patch Dolls were the start of major insanity around "must have" items.

People were getting injured or driving hundreds of miles to get them - I remember reading about one women who flew to London to get 2 dolls that she then flew back to the US - each of the dolls having their own seat because she didn't trust them to baggage claim.

[troschne]

Gosh--and all I want is a Red Rider BB Gun with this thing on the stock that tells time...

total animals. don't blame walmart, don't blame the POlice, don't blame bush....blame these fkin tool animals who did it. they know what they did and should be charged with murder

[Phranqlin]

Mianne, that's a great idea. I'll make a donation to our local food bank in the name of the OS&RR gang and Jim Romanesko. Merry Christmas to all of yinz!

Any idiot could have predicted that some poor slob would get killed at one of their Black Friday mob scenes. Hopefully the dead guy's family will sue Wal-Mart for gross negligence. I'm sure they'll find no shortage of trial lawyers willing to take the case.

[Mike S]

Can you imagine if our food water and gas supplies run low,you'll see the same people out of control and killing people.This country needs to get a grip and get a grip fast.

[troschne]

Mike S, I hope you're wrong, but I kind of think the morons who are capable of this type of mob mentality are more concerned about getting a Wii, than they are food and water. I hope that's the case, because maybe they won't be in the same line the more sane of the pack are.

People are so stupid. Jesus Christ, what's wrong with everybody? Is saving a few bucks worth someone's life? Is everyone that fucking selfish? Absolutely pathetic. Morons.