Black Friday: Store evacuation, fights and other tales of mayhem
Karen Brooks and Phil Wahba, Reuters
Nov 29, 2013 , Last Updated: 3:09 PM ET
A police officer was injured while breaking up a fight outside a California Walmart, a shopper was shot in the leg over a TV in Las Vegas and a Walmart north of New York City was evacuated as the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush sparked incidents of violence across the nation, according to police and media reports.
The holiday shopping incidents also included a suspected shoplifter shot by police in a Chicago suburb, a woman spitting on another woman’s child in an argument over baby clothes and fights over a parking space.
A man in Claypool Hill, Va., had his arm slashed to the bone in a fight for a parking spot Thursday evening, police told the local NBC affiliate WVVA.
“Black Friday,” the biggest U.S. shopping day of the year, began a few hours earlier this season as many department stores for the first time opted to open or start discounts on Thanksgiving night.
While most retailers reported peaceful - if hectic - opening hours, some saw the shopping craze erupt into violence.
In White Plains, just north of New York City, an outlet of Wal-Mart Stores Inc was evacuated on Friday, with employees and shoppers saying they had been warned of a possible bomb threat.
“Out of nowhere, they just said, ‘You have to evacuate,”’ said Olaya Goodman of the Bronx, as she stood outside the store.
A fire engine and police with automatic weapons responded to the store. A White Plains police dispatcher declined to comment on the incident.
Police in Romeoville, Illinois, shot a suspected shoplifter in the shoulder late Thursday night after the car he was driving dragged an officer through the parking lot of a Kohl’s department store, Romeoville Police Chief Mark Turvey said in a video posted by the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
Police were responding to a report of two shoplifters at the store when an officer chased one of the suspects to a waiting vehicle, where the suspect jumped into the passenger seat, Turvey said.
“The officer was struggling with the suspect as he got into the car, and then the car started to move as the officer was partially inside the car,” Turvey said. “The officer was dragged quite some distance.”
Another officer shot the driver in the shoulder, the car stopped, and three suspects were arrested, Turvey said. The dragged officer was treated at a hospital and released, the Chicago Tribune reported.
In Las Vegas, a shopper was shot in the leg during a struggle with thieves who tried to take the TV he had just purchased in a Black Friday sale at Target, as he was carrying it to a nearby apartment complex, 8NewsNow reported.
Las Vegas police did not respond to Reuters’ requests for confirmation.
An police officer in Rialto, Calif., suffered a fractured hand and finger after responding to an assault in the parking lot of a Walmart just after the sales started Thursday, said Sgt. Richard Royce of the Rialto Police Department, about 50 miles (80 km) east of Los Angeles.
“It was a pretty bizarre scene,” he said.
Two shoppers were leaving the store when they were confronted by two people in a vehicle in the parking lot. One of the people in the vehicle got out and began punching and kicking the shopper, and also assaulted a woman who tried to stop the fight, Royce said.
When police tried to stop the fight, a second suspect emerged from the vehicle and the two began fighting the officers, he said.
Two victims were treated at a hospital and released, as was the injured officer, Royce said.
The suspected attackers were charged with felony assault, assault on a police officer, and assault with a deadly weapon, Royce said.
In New Jersey, a Walmart shopper was arrested after becoming belligerent and attacking a police officer inside a store in Garfield, police said. Several officers subdued a 23-year-old suspect and took him to jail.
Officers also ticketed a 29-year-old woman who spit on another woman’s child during an argument over infant clothing at the same store, police said.
The annual tradition of shopping — and fighting for the hottest deals — spawned the hashtags #WalmartFights and #Brawlmart on Twitter.
Black Friday madness wasn't just in the U.S. A security guard in Bristol, England, suffered a cut to his face when a customer was told he could only buy one television, not two, the Daily Mail reported.
Stores opened early in Canada on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of violence.
With files from QMI Agency
Wal-Mart Black Friday fight for TV 2013 - YouTube
Black Friday 2013: Walmart Kicked Me Out For THIS video - YouTube
Black Friday Madness - Fort Worth, TX - YouTube
Black Friday Fight Video Outrageous People Shopping after Thanksgiving Video - YouTube
Black Friday: Store evacuation, fights and other tales of mayhem
In-freaking-sane!8O No savings is worth that mayhem.
Karen Brooks and Phil Wahba, Reuters
Nov 29, 2013 , Last Updated: 3:09 PM ET
A police officer was injured while breaking up a fight outside a California Walmart, a shopper was shot in the leg over a TV in Las Vegas and a Walmart north of New York City was evacuated as the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush sparked incidents of violence across the nation, according to police and media reports.
The holiday shopping incidents also included a suspected shoplifter shot by police in a Chicago suburb, a woman spitting on another woman’s child in an argument over baby clothes and fights over a parking space.
A man in Claypool Hill, Va., had his arm slashed to the bone in a fight for a parking spot Thursday evening, police told the local NBC affiliate WVVA.
“Black Friday,” the biggest U.S. shopping day of the year, began a few hours earlier this season as many department stores for the first time opted to open or start discounts on Thanksgiving night.
While most retailers reported peaceful - if hectic - opening hours, some saw the shopping craze erupt into violence.
In White Plains, just north of New York City, an outlet of Wal-Mart Stores Inc was evacuated on Friday, with employees and shoppers saying they had been warned of a possible bomb threat.
“Out of nowhere, they just said, ‘You have to evacuate,”’ said Olaya Goodman of the Bronx, as she stood outside the store.
A fire engine and police with automatic weapons responded to the store. A White Plains police dispatcher declined to comment on the incident.
Police in Romeoville, Illinois, shot a suspected shoplifter in the shoulder late Thursday night after the car he was driving dragged an officer through the parking lot of a Kohl’s department store, Romeoville Police Chief Mark Turvey said in a video posted by the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
Police were responding to a report of two shoplifters at the store when an officer chased one of the suspects to a waiting vehicle, where the suspect jumped into the passenger seat, Turvey said.
“The officer was struggling with the suspect as he got into the car, and then the car started to move as the officer was partially inside the car,” Turvey said. “The officer was dragged quite some distance.”
Another officer shot the driver in the shoulder, the car stopped, and three suspects were arrested, Turvey said. The dragged officer was treated at a hospital and released, the Chicago Tribune reported.
In Las Vegas, a shopper was shot in the leg during a struggle with thieves who tried to take the TV he had just purchased in a Black Friday sale at Target, as he was carrying it to a nearby apartment complex, 8NewsNow reported.
Las Vegas police did not respond to Reuters’ requests for confirmation.
An police officer in Rialto, Calif., suffered a fractured hand and finger after responding to an assault in the parking lot of a Walmart just after the sales started Thursday, said Sgt. Richard Royce of the Rialto Police Department, about 50 miles (80 km) east of Los Angeles.
“It was a pretty bizarre scene,” he said.
Two shoppers were leaving the store when they were confronted by two people in a vehicle in the parking lot. One of the people in the vehicle got out and began punching and kicking the shopper, and also assaulted a woman who tried to stop the fight, Royce said.
When police tried to stop the fight, a second suspect emerged from the vehicle and the two began fighting the officers, he said.
Two victims were treated at a hospital and released, as was the injured officer, Royce said.
The suspected attackers were charged with felony assault, assault on a police officer, and assault with a deadly weapon, Royce said.
In New Jersey, a Walmart shopper was arrested after becoming belligerent and attacking a police officer inside a store in Garfield, police said. Several officers subdued a 23-year-old suspect and took him to jail.
Officers also ticketed a 29-year-old woman who spit on another woman’s child during an argument over infant clothing at the same store, police said.
The annual tradition of shopping — and fighting for the hottest deals — spawned the hashtags #WalmartFights and #Brawlmart on Twitter.
Black Friday madness wasn't just in the U.S. A security guard in Bristol, England, suffered a cut to his face when a customer was told he could only buy one television, not two, the Daily Mail reported.
Stores opened early in Canada on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of violence.
With files from QMI Agency
Wal-Mart Black Friday fight for TV 2013 - YouTube
Black Friday 2013: Walmart Kicked Me Out For THIS video - YouTube
Black Friday Madness - Fort Worth, TX - YouTube
Black Friday Fight Video Outrageous People Shopping after Thanksgiving Video - YouTube
Black Friday: Store evacuation, fights and other tales of mayhem
In-freaking-sane!8O No savings is worth that mayhem.
