Wow…
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11292008/news/regionalnews/killer_tide_at_shop_of_horror_141344.htmlA rampaging mob of bargain hunters trampled a Long Island Wal-Mart employee to death early yesterday as he opened the store for the post-Thanksgiving sale - unleashing a stampede that blew the doors off the hinges.
A crowd of about 2,000 people eager to snatch up steeply discounted electronics had lined up outside the store at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, police said. When the doors were not opened exactly at 5 a.m. as advertised, the crowd became unruly.
“All of sudden, they started beating on the door, banging it down,” said shopper Camla Brown, 47. “They began shouting, ‘Open up! Open up!’ ”
Then, at 5:03 a.m., Jdimytai Damour, 34 - hired just for the holiday rush - opened the door, and a frenzied horde of hundreds surged forward, knocking him to the ground and crushing him, police said.
“They overran him and kept running into the store. They pushed right over his body,” said Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming. “Many of them did not even know he was down there.”
The force of the crowd - many of whom had begun lining up the previous night - bent the store’s outer door inward and shattered its glass. Several other employees were forced to jump atop soda-vending machines to avoid the rush, police said.
Other employees tried to battle forward to help Damour, but were pushed back by the crowd, Fleming said. Even officers responding to the scene had difficulty pushing through the mob to get to the fallen man.
“It was utter and complete chaos,” Fleming said.
Even though it was clear there was trouble, shoppers continued pushing forward, stepping over Damour’s crushed body, witnesses said.
“Nobody cared. They were still trying to get in. People were stampeding to get inside,” Brown said.
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