NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Wal-Mart employee in New York stateās Long Island died on Friday when a throng of shoppers surged into the store and physically broke down the doors, a police spokesman said.
The 34-year-old man was at the entrance of the Valley Stream Walmart store when it opened at 5 a.m. local time and was knocked to the ground, the police report said.
The exact cause of death was still to be determined by a medical examiner.
Four shoppers, including a 28-year-old pregnant woman, were also taken to local hospitals for injuries sustained in the incident, police said.
The Friday after Americaās Thanksgiving holiday is known as Black Friday and marks what is traditionally the busiest retail day of the year, kicking off the Christmas shopping season.
U.S. stores across the country opened in the early hours of Friday to offer discounts to consumers hit by a contracting economy. Hundreds of shoppers waited on line before dawn at some locations to secure deals on holiday gifts.
Representatives at Wal-Mart, the worldās largest retailer, were not immediately available for comment.
Holy crap!Ā There was also two deaths at a Toys R Us in California:Ā
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2 killed at Toys āRā Us
Shopping violence also broke out in Palm Desert, Calif., on Friday afternoon. Two people were killed inside a Toys āRā Us store in the southern California community, said Riverside County sheriffās Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez.
Witnesses reported hearing four shots at about 11:30 a.m. and nearby stores reported that customers and staff were seen running from the building.
Police were continuing their investigation on Friday afternoon.
Known as Black Friday, the day after U.S. Thanksgiving is the traditional kickoff to the Christmas shopping season. Many stores open early and offer deep discounts, leading to long lineups and crowd surges when the doors open.
A friend in Texas told me that her husband had to work at Game Stop today - they were opening at 6am instead of their usual 10am, but there were NO new sales - the same stuff was on sale this morning as there was Wednesday.Ā The line was huge - apparently the store made $30,000 in just a couple of hours.
People also need to learn that after Christmas, the best sales are in the first week of January.Ā Sooooo many people get sucked in by that Boxing Day sale crap - when it usually is just that, crap!Ā Electronics stores bring in the cheapest models of items from China, say itās on āsaleā at insanely low prices when thatās probably MORE than what the product is worth!Ā Seriously - if you want good deal, wait till January!
I will volunteer to be strung up by my toenails because I didnāt show sympathy on an internet forum for the people that passed away. Be sure now to comment on every single death in the news that is posted here so that you canāt be accused of lacking sympathy.
I am very very very sorry for those that died (as well as their families) as a result of crazy, ignorant and pathetic shoppers looking for a bargain. I also like how you have clearly misunderstood that my āshopping tipsā, if followed, could create a whole lot less stupid people trying to race for ābargainsā and thus possibly resulting in a much lower death toll.
