what's wrong with this picture?

[kitanzi]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/28/national/a080140S70.DTL&tsp=1

'A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday after an "out of control" throng of shoppers eager for post-Thanksgiving bargains broke down the doors at a suburban store and knocked him to the ground, police said.

At least four other people, including a woman 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.

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 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 the man were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Witnesses said that even as the worker lay on the ground, shoppers streamed into the store, stepping over him.

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."

The 34-year-old man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined, and the man's name was not released.

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. At least three other people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.

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."'

Wow. Season of good cheer and all, yeah? Fuck that.

Comments

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

There are times I hate my fellow Long Islanders

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

In fairness, I've heard of this happening before - I think it's people that this reflects, not just Long Islanders. But daaaaaamn.

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

It gets worse; last I heard, the woman miscarried also. I didn't realize she was that far along!

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

Damn, I hadn't heard. The original article said she and the baby were fine - where'd you get the update?

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

I read it on Metafilter.

[madfilkentist]

That appears to be a rumor. A number of news stories mention a pregnant woman who was hospitalized without mentioning a miscarriage, and some, such as this one, say the fetus was still fine.

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

Serves me right for trusting MetaFilter *g* Anyway it's far worse that that poor employee got trampled. The horror of that, knowing how badly WalMart treats its employees anyway... it's chilling.

[anaisdjuna.livejournal.com]

A really large proportion of people are sick, selfish, shallow, me me me me assholes. That is absolutely disgusting.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

It's disgusting, horrifying, and a whole host of other adjectives. And somehow I'm not surprised it happened at a Wal-mart, either.

[grey-lady.livejournal.com]

Since my son currently works at WalMart, I find this rather distressing, yes.

[annonynous.livejournal.com]

Late Friday night, I heard an ad on the radio for a mattress chain store sale, let's call the company SleepEase. They were calling it a "door buster". It was in the newspaper, too. Sheesh. Like people need encouragement for this sort of attitude. Haven't heard the ad on the radio today, though. Maybe SleepEase got hit over the head with a Clue By Four?

Ann O.