Faith in humanity? Poof, gone

[Xta Large]

Source - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081128/ap_on_.../wal_mart_death

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.

I'm actually speechless.

 

[Little]

omg. thats horrible.

 

[Banger]

Yea I heard about it shortly after it happened. Only a few of the couple hundred people who were there at the time actually stopped to see how the people were doing.

 

[da_head]

yeah i heard about this. there's no facepalm epic enough to describe this.

 

[p1ngpong]

It just goes to show, when in a mob people loose all intelligence!


God people actually complained!

 

[Banger]

I really do not think this would have happened if the economy wasn't so fucked.

 

[science]

Wow, just wow. You think people who would not care about trampling a man to death would just steal shit instead of waiting in line to buy it.

I seriously can't believe this. I hope every single one of the people who ran into that store feel guilty, because each one of them contributed to his death. I am just... wow. Just to save a few dollars. Wow.

 

[nin10do]

and the customers kept on shopping even though they knew they just killed someone.

credit crunch.... customers not spending.... yeah right.

edit: people are starving in africa, palestenians being tortured and innocent people dying in iraq/india/afghanistan.

my faith in humanity was lost a long time ago.

the wal mart incident will pretty much reinforce the stereotype that most americans just don't care about other people.

 

[The Teej]

That's just ridiculous. I can't believe some people can be so cold and heartless.

 

[silent sniper]

Wow, just wow. You think people who would not care about trampling a man to death would just steal shit instead of waiting in line to buy it.

I seriously can't believe this. I hope every single one of the people who ran into that store feel guilty, because each one of them contributed to his death. I am just... wow. Just to save a few dollars. Wow.

JUST guilty?

Fuck, they should get hung!!

 

[Jax]

What a coincidence, I was watching Jingle All The Way earlier today.

Black Friday really makes people hungry for X-Mas shopping.

 

[Xta Large]

Wow, just wow. You think people who would not care about trampling a man to death would just steal shit instead of waiting in line to buy it.

I seriously can't believe this. I hope every single one of the people who ran into that store feel guilty, because each one of them contributed to his death. I am just... wow. Just to save a few dollars. Wow.

JUST guilty?

Fuck, they should get hung!!

Nah, man, I'm hung and believe me, that's not really a punishme... oh. that's what you meant.

 

[cosmo2389]

I've long lost faith in humanity...

It's sad really when laughs and bargains are more important than the feelings and the health of other human beings.

 

[granville]

This makes me want to do horrible things to myself with a razor. And I'm not even an emo! I won't though. I just want to vomit at how villainous and selfish the human race can be. When I heard this story, I literally banged my head against the wall. Sorry, but I'm feeling so hateful towards these selfish rampaging consumers right now. Every one of these people should be arrested and executed.

 

[Anakir]

What the fuck. Those people are fucked up in the head. I thought that at least when you know you're stepping on someone, you'd stop to help that person out and apologize. Those people are just retarded. I hope they feel guilty for the rest of their lives.

Edit; To piss the fuck out of the customers that didn't listen, they should've closed all the cashier lanes. There's no way to pay for it that way that way. They can always close the doors shut and not let anyone out so they could've prevented shoplifting. Just let the customers out slowly.

 

[Rayout]

There was also a pregnant woman who miscarried as a result of the crush. Really sickening. This happens more often than you think though.

 

[Galacta]

Thats terrible. Those people in Wal-mart are psycho!

Everyone in that damn Wal incident would get hung up by a group of Islanders. AND FEEL THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE GBA SLOT.

 

[Youkai]

Yeah I allways try not to go anywhere near crowds of ppl

I as well cannot understand how it is even possible to do something like this

I allways life (which is mostly a bad thing) like the saying "behandle andere wie du selbst behandelt weden willst" which means very free translated "be nice to others so that they are nice to you as well"

Well I hope people learn from this ! and with this i am not sugesting the shops taking better security measurments but the people starting to think before doing

 

[Midna]

Gotta love america.

I can't say anything that can accurately show my repulsion after reading this.

 

[granville]

Gotta love america.

I can't say anything that can accurately show my repulsion after reading this.

I have to agree. And I AM an American. It makes me ashamed of being one.