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J Antero · Guest

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death

By JACK HEALY and ANGELA MACROPOULOS Published: November 28, 2008

A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after he was trampled by a
crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the store
early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain
hunting into a Hobbesian frenzy.

At 4:55 a.m., just five minutes before the doors were set to open, a crowd
of 2,000 anxious shoppers started pushing, shoving and piling against the
locked sliding glass doors of the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y., Nassau
County police said. The shoppers broke the doors off their hinges and surged
in, toppling a 34-year-old temporary employee, Jdimypai Damour, 34, of
Jamaica, Queens, who had been waiting with other workers in the store>s
entryway.

People did not stop to help the employee as he lay on the ground, and they
pushed against other Wal-Mart workers who were trying to aid Mr. Damour. The
crowd kept running into the store even after the police arrived, jostling
and pushing officers who were trying to perform CPR, the police said.

"They were like a stampede," said Nassau Det. Lt. Michael Fleming. "Hundreds
of people walked past him, over him or around him."

Mr. Damour was taken from the Wal-Mart to nearby Franklin Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., the police said. His exact cause of death
has not been determined. The police said that three other shoppers were
injured and a 28-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant was taken to
the hospital for observation.

One shopper, Kimberly Cribbs, said she was standing near the back of the
crowd at around 5 a.m. on Friday when people started rushing into the store.
She said several people were knocked to the ground, and parents had to grab
their children by the hand to keep them from being caught in the crush.

"They were falling all over each other," she said. "It was terrible."

Crowds began building outside the Wal-Mart at 9 p.m. Thursday and grew
throughout the night, as eager shoppers queued up in a line that filled the
sidewalk and stretched toward the boundary fence of the Green Acres Mall.

At 3:30 a.m., store employees called the Nassau police to report that the
crowd was growing quickly, the police said. Officers came by to try to
organize the line, but were called away to a Circuit City, a Best Buy and a
B.J.'s Wholesale Club nearby, to deal with crowds there.

A half-dozen Wal-Mart employees lined up in the entryway trying to hold back
the crowd by pushing against the locked sliding doors, but they were
overwhelmed by the force of the crowd, Lieutenant Fleming said.

As the doors snapped open and people streamed in, several people fell on top
of one another. The 34-year-old employee who died was at the bottom of the
pile, the police said.

On Friday, Wal-Mart released a statement saying that the man who was killed
had been working for Wal-Mart through a temp agency. The company called the
death "a tragic situation," and said it was working with police.

"The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top
priority," Wal-Mart said in a statement.

Lieutenant Fleming said that the store "could have done more" to prevent the
melee.

"I>ve heard other people call this an accident, but it>s not," he said.
"This certainly was foreseeable."

Singanas@Texasgulfcoast · Guest

On Nov 28, 6:27 pm, "J Antero" <a...@re.com> wrote:
[quote]Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death

By JACK HEALY and ANGELA MACROPOULOS Published: November 28, 2008

A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after he was trampled by a
crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the store
early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain
hunting into a Hobbesian frenzy.

At 4:55 a.m., just five minutes before the doors were set to open, a crowd
of 2,000 anxious shoppers started pushing, shoving and piling against the
locked sliding glass doors of the Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, N.Y., Nassau
County police said. The shoppers broke the doors off their hinges and surged
in, toppling a 34-year-old temporary employee, Jdimypai Damour, 34, of
Jamaica, Queens, who had been waiting with other workers in the store>s
entryway.

People did not stop to help the employee as he lay on the ground, and they
pushed against other Wal-Mart workers who were trying to aid Mr. Damour. The
crowd kept running into the store even after the police arrived, jostling
and pushing officers who were trying to perform CPR, the police said.

"They were like a stampede," said Nassau Det. Lt. Michael Fleming. "Hundreds
of people walked past him, over him or around him."

Mr. Damour was taken from the Wal-Mart to nearby Franklin Hospital, where he
was pronounced dead at 6:03 a.m., the police said. His exact cause of death
has not been determined. The police said that three other shoppers were
injured and a 28-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant was taken to
the hospital for observation.

One shopper, Kimberly Cribbs, said she was standing near the back of the
crowd at around 5 a.m. on Friday when people started rushing into the store.
She said several people were knocked to the ground, and parents had to grab
their children by the hand to keep them from being caught in the crush.

"They were falling all over each other," she said. "It was terrible."

Crowds began building outside the Wal-Mart at 9 p.m. Thursday and grew
throughout the night, as eager shoppers queued up in a line that filled the
sidewalk and stretched toward the boundary fence of the Green Acres Mall.

At 3:30 a.m., store employees called the Nassau police to report that the
crowd was growing quickly, the police said. Officers came by to try to
organize the line, but were called away to a Circuit City, a Best Buy and a
B.J.'s Wholesale Club nearby, to deal with crowds there.

A half-dozen Wal-Mart employees lined up in the entryway trying to hold back
the crowd by pushing against the locked sliding doors, but they were
overwhelmed by the force of the crowd, Lieutenant Fleming said.

As the doors snapped open and people streamed in, several people fell on top
of one another. The 34-year-old employee who died was at the bottom of the
pile, the police said.

On Friday, Wal-Mart released a statement saying that the man who was killed
had been working for Wal-Mart through a temp agency. The company called the
death "a tragic situation," and said it was working with police.

"The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top
priority," Wal-Mart said in a statement.

Lieutenant Fleming said that the store "could have done more" to prevent the
melee.

"I>ve heard other people call this an accident, but it>s not," he said.
"This certainly was foreseeable."
[/quote]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wally Mart probably has a $1 million life insurance policy on him
showing the company as the beneficiary. His family can always sue
Wal-mart for negligence: failure to provide adequate security of a
crowd
in excess of 1000.

Cheers, David H not Hines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arved Sandstrom · Guest

"Singanas@Texasgulfcoast" <davidholiman@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5bb48f97-472c-4e53-b0df-11c71d49d954@u14g2000yqg.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 28, 6:27 pm, "J Antero" <a...@re.com> wrote:
[quote]Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death

By JACK HEALY and ANGELA MACROPOULOS Published: November 28, 2008

A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after he was trampled by a
crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the
store
early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain
hunting into a Hobbesian frenzy.
[ SNIP ][/quote]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wally Mart probably has a $1 million life insurance policy on him
showing the company as the beneficiary. His family can always sue
Wal-mart for negligence: failure to provide adequate security of a
crowd
in excess of 1000.

Cheers, David H not Hines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Especially seeing as how the potential for a crowd doing this on
post-Thanksgiving bargain day is entirely predictable. A police spokesman
quoted on CNN said exactly that.

I>ve put in some time working as a security guard, including at retail
locations, and I>ve seen how unmanageable much smaller crowds get near store
opening time, let alone a thousand or two thousand. For starters, the public
doesn>t listen - not in large numbers...people need personal instructions
and you can>t do it in those situations. And let>s face it, although they>re
potential rioters they>re not rioting yet, so you can>t treat them like
Marine recruits or looters.

Situation like this, really anything over maybe a few hundred people, just
numbers of security guards won>t be enough. The following may sound like
exaggeration, but it>s not. You need an outer perimeter that can be
enforced. You need a manned entry point where unruly elements can be
screened out. And you need crowd calming through use of sturdy mazes, which
also need to be manned to prevent line-jumping. Visual obstructions are
helpful. If necessary (and it probably will be) you can further control
final access with a large sturdy tent containing a final inner fence and
possibly turnstiles. The entire idea is to manage the people, slow them
down, calm them down, stupefy them, and meter them in in dribs and drabs.

There>s a great deal more stores can do to prevent this kind of thing.
Because after all, the force impelling these people is the desire to be in
the store early enough to snap up one of the 100 items of Thing X before it
runs out. Now, the store could care less *who* the lucky hundred customers
are, so why not devise a system that reduces the importance of being one of
the first people in the store? It would take a bit of imagination but it
could be done.

AHS

Guest

On Nov 29, 11:17 am, "Arved Sandstrom" <asandst...@accesswave.ca>
wrote:
[quote]"Singanas@Texasgulfcoast" <davidholi...@yahoo.com> wrote in message

news:5bb48f97-472c-4e53-b0df-11c71d49d954@u14g2000yqg.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 28, 6:27 pm, "J Antero" <a...@re.com> wrote:> Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death

By JACK HEALY and ANGELA MACROPOULOS Published: November 28, 2008

A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after he was trampled by a
crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the
store
early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving bargain
hunting into a Hobbesian frenzy.

[ SNIP ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wally Mart probably has a $1 million life insurance policy on him
showing the company as the beneficiary. His family can always sue
Wal-mart for negligence: failure to provide adequate security of a
crowd
in excess of 1000.

Cheers, David H not Hines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Especially seeing as how the potential for a crowd doing this on
post-Thanksgiving bargain day is entirely predictable. A police spokesman
quoted on CNN said exactly that.

I>ve put in some time working as a security guard, including at retail
locations, and I>ve seen how unmanageable much smaller crowds get near store
opening time, let alone a thousand or two thousand. For starters, the public
doesn>t listen - not in large numbers...people need personal instructions
and you can>t do it in those situations. And let>s face it, although they>re
potential rioters they>re not rioting yet, so you can>t treat them like
Marine recruits or looters.

Situation like this, really anything over maybe a few hundred people, just
numbers of security guards won>t be enough. The following may sound like
exaggeration, but it>s not. You need an outer perimeter that can be
enforced. You need a manned entry point where unruly elements can be
screened out. And you need crowd calming through use of sturdy mazes, which
also need to be manned to prevent line-jumping. Visual obstructions are
helpful. If necessary (and it probably will be) you can further control
final access with a large sturdy tent containing a final inner fence and
possibly turnstiles. The entire idea is to manage the people, slow them
down, calm them down, stupefy them, and meter them in in dribs and drabs.

There>s a great deal more stores can do to prevent this kind of thing.
Because after all, the force impelling these people is the desire to be in
the store early enough to snap up one of the 100 items of Thing X before it
runs out. Now, the store could care less *who* the lucky hundred customers
are, so why not devise a system that reduces the importance of being one of
the first people in the store? It would take a bit of imagination but it
could be done.

AHS
[/quote]
Good post.

Vince · Guest

I see in the local rag that rooms for the Inauguration are going for
ridiculous sums. Dr. Ruth and I are happy to host two or three of the
regulars who would like to come and don>t have a place yet. It helps if
you are adaptable. No charge, but you can always bring a bottle. You
can walk from our place to the Navy Med Metro. Send me a note if you
are interested

Vince

firelaw@firelaw.us

MARK TEST@teranews.com · Guest

"Arved Sandstrom" <asandstrom@accesswave.ca> wrote in message
news:xWdYk.921$yK5.622@edtnps82...
[quote]"Singanas@Texasgulfcoast" <davidholiman@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5bb48f97-472c-4e53-b0df-11c71d49d954@u14g2000yqg.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 28, 6:27 pm, "J Antero" <a...@re.com> wrote:
Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death

By JACK HEALY and ANGELA MACROPOULOS Published: November 28, 2008

A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after he was trampled by a
crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the
store
early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving
bargain
hunting into a Hobbesian frenzy.
[ SNIP ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wally Mart probably has a $1 million life insurance policy on him
showing the company as the beneficiary. His family can always sue
Wal-mart for negligence: failure to provide adequate security of a
crowd
in excess of 1000.

Cheers, David H not Hines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Especially seeing as how the potential for a crowd doing this on
post-Thanksgiving bargain day is entirely predictable. A police spokesman
quoted on CNN said exactly that.

BS![/quote]
we were all told this would be the WORSE black friday EVER!
So why so many shoppers???????

I love it......let>s blame the company, not the culprits.

Would you have supported the wal-mart manager hiring a squad
of men armed with 12 gauges, firing warning shots to quell the
crowd?

Mark
--
"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of
another man,
nor ask another man to live for mine."
--John Gault

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

La N · Guest

"Vince" <firelaw@firelaw.us> wrote in message
news:4931D8B0.5090002@firelaw.us...
[quote]I see in the local rag that rooms for the Inauguration are going for
ridiculous sums. Dr. Ruth and I are happy to host two or three of the
regulars who would like to come and don>t have a place yet. It helps if you
are adaptable. No charge, but you can always bring a bottle. You can walk
from our place to the Navy Med Metro. Send me a note if you are interested

Vince

firelaw@firelaw.us
[/quote]
That>s very nice of you and Dr. Ruth, Vince. btw, I know of a couple of
Canadians who are planning to go down for the inauguration (they already
have accommodation arrangements, so you don>t have to worry about snowbirds
invading your porch ...heheheh).

- nilita

Vince · Guest

La N wrote:
[quote]"Vince" <firelaw@firelaw.us> wrote in message
news:4931D8B0.5090002@firelaw.us...
I see in the local rag that rooms for the Inauguration are going for
ridiculous sums. Dr. Ruth and I are happy to host two or three of the
regulars who would like to come and don>t have a place yet. It helps if you
are adaptable. No charge, but you can always bring a bottle. You can walk
from our place to the Navy Med Metro. Send me a note if you are interested
Vince

firelaw@firelaw.us

That>s very nice of you and Dr. Ruth, Vince. btw, I know of a couple of
Canadians who are planning to go down for the inauguration (they already
have accommodation arrangements, so you don>t have to worry about snowbirds
invading your porch ...heheheh).

- nilita

[/quote]
No problem

We could put Canadians out in the garden house :-)

Hold the fort, Im off to Germany

Vince

La N · Guest

"Vince" <firelaw@firelaw.us> wrote in message
news:bqAYk.1976$QX3.1475@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...
[quote]La N wrote:
"Vince" <firelaw@firelaw.us> wrote in message
news:4931D8B0.5090002@firelaw.us...
I see in the local rag that rooms for the Inauguration are going for
ridiculous sums. Dr. Ruth and I are happy to host two or three of the
regulars who would like to come and don>t have a place yet. It helps if
you are adaptable. No charge, but you can always bring a bottle. You
can walk from our place to the Navy Med Metro. Send me a note if you
are interested
Vince

firelaw@firelaw.us

That>s very nice of you and Dr. Ruth, Vince. btw, I know of a couple of
Canadians who are planning to go down for the inauguration (they already
have accommodation arrangements, so you don>t have to worry about
snowbirds invading your porch ...heheheh).

- nilita

No problem

We could put Canadians out in the garden house :-)
[/quote]
We would be recognized by the gift of Molson>s we bring you :)

btw, in this season of Thanksgiving, I wish to acknowledge that - despite
your spicy ability to ruffle more than a few (Republican) feathers, your
kindness and generosity extended to others - despite their political
stripes - throughout the years has been very much appreciated. Don>t ever
change, Vince ... well, maybe engage a spellchecker a little more often ...
;)

[quote]
Hold the fort, Im off to Germany
[/quote]
Have fun, stay out of trouble, and say hi to Juergen for me!

[quote]
Vince

[/quote]
- nilita

Arved Sandstrom · Guest

"MARK TEST@teranews.com" <MARKT38@peoplepc.com> wrote in message
news:334f4$4932bcf1$24832@news.teranews.com...
[quote]"Arved Sandstrom" <asandstrom@accesswave.ca> wrote in message
news:xWdYk.921$yK5.622@edtnps82...
"Singanas@Texasgulfcoast" <davidholiman@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:5bb48f97-472c-4e53-b0df-11c71d49d954@u14g2000yqg.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 28, 6:27 pm, "J Antero" <a...@re.com> wrote:
Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death

By JACK HEALY and ANGELA MACROPOULOS Published: November 28, 2008

A Wal-Mart employee in suburban New York died after he was trampled by
a
crush of shoppers who tore down the front doors and thronged into the
store
early Friday morning, turning the annual rite of post-Thanksgiving
bargain
hunting into a Hobbesian frenzy.
[ SNIP ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wally Mart probably has a $1 million life insurance policy on him
showing the company as the beneficiary. His family can always sue
Wal-mart for negligence: failure to provide adequate security of a
crowd
in excess of 1000.

Cheers, David H not Hines
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Especially seeing as how the potential for a crowd doing this on
post-Thanksgiving bargain day is entirely predictable. A police spokesman
quoted on CNN said exactly that.

BS!
we were all told this would be the WORSE black friday EVER!
So why so many shoppers???????
[/quote]
Anyone who seriously believed those forecasts must have been delusional.
Cramped credit may hamper big purchases - it won>t keep the bodies from the
stores. Not in North America. Christ, if you took away shopping what would
over half the population actually have to do in their leisure time?

[quote]I love it......let>s blame the company, not the culprits.
[/quote]
Tell me exactly who the culprits are in a situation like that. It>s a mob
mentality, probably few or no identifiable leaders, the people pressing at
the middle and back have no idea what>s going on at the front, the people at
the front couldn>t stop if they wanted to...yes, I>ll blame the company.

It may come as news to you, but organizers of events where large crowds are
expected (and this was an event) are traditionally and rightfully held
responsible for injuries, deaths or damages which arise from a foreseeable
occurrence. And let>s see - damage, injuries and deaths occurring in crowds
are reported ad nauseam in the press. It was foreseeable.

[quote]Would you have supported the wal-mart manager hiring a squad
of men armed with 12 gauges, firing warning shots to quell the
crowd?
[/quote]
No, because given reasonable calming measures of the sort I described it
would not come to that.

There are a lot of similarities between managing security for a sizeable
concert (of certain types) and for bargain days at big box stores. Except in
the former case concert promoters seem to usually take things seriously.

AHS

D. Spencer Hines · Guest

Yes...

Such crowds -- for rock concerts, sporting events or "privileged" shopping
events -- are CATTLE and must be TREATED like CATTLE lest they stampede
and kill people -- as was the case in this tragic event.

They must be channeled, security checked, restricted, dribbled into the
stores/arenas/stadiums/concert halls and then controlled when once IN the
stores/arenas/stadiums/concert halls with access restrictions and numbers
allowed through the check points -- precisely like CATTLE -- because they
ARE FUNCTIONALLY CATTLE...

Even Judas steers may be required...

'Nuff Said.
--
DSH
Lux et Veritas et Libertas
Vires et Honor

"Arved Sandstrom" <asandstrom@accesswave.ca> wrote in message
news:NIHYk.1361$yK5.1356@edtnps82...

[quote]Anyone who seriously believed those forecasts must have been delusional.
Cramped credit may hamper big purchases - it won>t keep the bodies from
the stores. Not in North America. Christ, if you took away shopping what
would over half the population actually have to do in their leisure
time?

I love it......let>s blame the company, not the culprits.

Tell me exactly who the culprits are in a situation like that. It>s a
mob mentality, probably few or no identifiable leaders, the people
pressing at the middle and back have no idea what>s going on at the
front, the people at the front couldn>t stop if they wanted to...yes,
I>ll blame the company.

It may come as news to you, but organizers of events where large crowds
are expected (and this was an event) are traditionally and rightfully
held responsible for injuries, deaths or damages which arise from a
foreseeable occurrence. And let>s see - damage, injuries and deaths
occurring in crowds are reported ad nauseam in the press. It was
foreseeable.

Would you have supported the wal-mart manager hiring a squad
of men armed with 12 gauges, firing warning shots to quell the
crowd?

No, because given reasonable calming measures of the sort I described it
would not come to that.

There are a lot of similarities between managing security for a sizeable
concert (of certain types) and for bargain days at big box stores.
Except in the former case concert promoters seem to usually take things
seriously.

AHS[/quote]


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