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November 29, 2008
Shoppers Stampede and Trample Worker at Long Island Wal-Mart
Worker dies at Long Island Wal-Mart after being trampled in Black Friday stampede
Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him, police said.
The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde.
When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.
He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Wal-Mart worker Jimmy Overby, 43.
"They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me.
"They took me down, too ... I didn't know if I was going to live through it. I literally had to fight people off my back," Overby said.
Damour, a temporary maintenance worker from Jamaica, Queens, was gasping for air as shoppers continued to surge into the store after its 5 a.m. opening, witnesses said.
Even officers who arrived to perform CPR on the trampled worker were stepped on by wild-eyed shoppers streaming inside, a cop at the scene said.
"They pushed him down and walked all over him," Damour's sobbing sister, Danielle, 41, said. "How could these people do that?
"He was such a young man with a good heart, full of life. He didn't deserve that."
Damour's sister said doctors told the family he died of a heart attack.
His cousin, Ernst Damour, called the circumstances "completely unacceptable."
"His body was a stepping bag with so much disregard for human life," Ernst Damour, 37, said. "There has to be some accountability."
Roughly 2,000 people gathered outside the Wal-Mart's doors in the predawn darkness.
Chanting "push the doors in," the crowd pressed against the glass as the clock ticked down to the 5 a.m. opening.
Sensing catastrophe, nervous employees formed a human chain inside the entrance to slow down the mass of shoppers.
It didn't work.
The mob barreled in and overwhelmed workers.
"They were jumping over the barricades and breaking down the door," said Pat Alexander, 53, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. "Everyone was screaming. You just had to keep walking on your toes to keep from falling over."
After the throng toppled Damour, his fellow employees had to fight through the crowd to help him, police said.
Witness Kimberly Cribbs said shoppers acted like "savages."
"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!'" Cribbs said. "They kept shopping."
From The New York Times
and Newsday
Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death
By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held back no longer. Fists banged and shoulders pressed on the sliding-glass double doors, which bowed in with the weight of the assault. Six to 10 workers inside tried to push back, but it was hopeless.
The person who was trampled to death was Jdimytai Damour, a temporary worker from Queens.
Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him. Others who had stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to hold the doors were also hurled back and run over, witnesses said.
Mr. Damour, who lived in Queens, went into the store sometime during the night to stock shelves and perform maintenance work.
On Friday night, Mr. Damour’s father, Ogera Charles, 67, said his son had spent Thursday evening having Thanksgiving dinner at a half sister’s house in Queens before going directly to work. Mr. Charles said his son, known as Jimmy, was raised in Queens by his mother and worked at various stores in the area after graduating from high school. His family roots are in Haiti, and he had a brother and four sisters.
Myrthil, who is Jean's son, said Damour was a big man and had no apparent health problems. Damour did construction work for a time and installed fences, he said.
Damour loved poetry, and he was a fan of the late novelist Donald Goines, the friend said.
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Wild Thing's comment.........
I never have shopped on the Friday after Thanksgiving, I can't stand mobs. There are just too many facotrs that make it hard to control a mob.
In these photos at the Wal-Mart in Long Island, we see the spirit of the season brought on by Obama supporters.
At the link for the article, I was glancingi through the comments that were made,l some that showed there is still humanity in this world but other comments by horrible peoople pushing their I hate whitie agenda as well as hate for Bush and their admiration for Obama.
Here is one example:
BDS to the max:
“Hey rodent424, this aint WalMarts fault; it aint nobodys fault cept BUSH! He made this bad eonomy that made folks have to skrimp and hunt for cheap stuff cause they aint got no money on account of BUSH giving it to all his fatcat buddys like HALLIBERTON and FANNE MAY and his big banker buddys. Now there aint no money left for the little guys so he’s got to go to WALMART when they gots stuff on sale so they can have a Christmas. BUSH need to resign NOW and let B.O. take over so we dont have no more mess like this of today.”
These are angry people, one would think they would be so happy since they won the election. happy that it is the Christmas season and be able to control themselves. But their anger is not going away just because Obama won, nope!
Thoughts of this being a rehearsal for the upcoming Inauguration.
Posted by Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 03:50 AM
Comments
This is why I am glad I don't live in a big city. We have never experienced something like this horrific act. Yeah, our Wal Mart had specials, but they did it in an orderly fashion. You waited your turn.
My hubby and I did go out yesterday late morning to Walmart and TSC and our older daughter went out last night. We had no problems finding a parking spot close to the building and it all seemed pretty ordinary.
One benefit of small town living. Everyone knows who you are and if you mess up, they'll call you out on it, so you play nice.
What in the world were these people after? The flat screen HDTVs or the WII?
Posted by: Lynn at November 29, 2008 05:59 AM
WT, Don't ja just love it this the 15% of the population that will be in Washington on the 20 th of January demanding their House Bills be paid by obama.
If we were to make a list of everything that was Bush's fault, i.e., Katrina, the economy, the Walmart stampede, by a bunch cretins, with all this power Bush has why then is he even leaving office. Not even the massiah has this much power.
If ignorance if bliss then these people are living in nervana.
Posted by: Mark at November 29, 2008 07:23 AM
My thoughts and prayers are with the Damour family. What could have been so important?
Posted by: James M at November 29, 2008 08:33 AM
HA!! SOME REALLY GREEDY PEOPLE HERE TOO!! --- ONE WOMAN - HERE HAD A HEART ATTACK BECAUSE SHE HAS TOO HAVE A DOG WITH HER AT ALL TIMES AND ALL THE PEOPLE WERE FREAKING HER DOG OUT--- THIS IS GETTING CRAZY!!!
Posted by: Cheryl Zee at November 29, 2008 09:39 AM
Amazing!!
On Thursday if you would have interviewed any of these people they would be crying how they don't have the money to feed their family a Thanksgiving dinner. But on Friday, they have the money to fight for plasma TV's, camera's, phones, etc.
Posted by: BobF at November 29, 2008 09:56 AM
When you look at these loyal Wal-Mart shoppers and realize that each of them had a vote equal to yours and that they are the mainstay of China's economy does it not make you ask WTF? Does me.
Posted by: horace at November 29, 2008 11:53 AM
So this is what Christmas is all about to many. Sales at Wal-Mart.
Mob mentality. I live in a suburb of Dallas. Our local Wal-Mart did not have any of this type problem. I guess it depends on the neighborhood culture.
Like you WT, I hate crowds. You would not catch me at an event like this. I usually get my Christmas buying done before Thanksgiving.
Posted by: TomR at November 29, 2008 12:10 PM
My wife told me a lady was knocked-out at our local Wal-Mart over a Wii. And I live in a small town. I do most of my shopping online. I hate the crowds too. Maybe the retailers should avoid these types of sales. It would save lawsuits in the future. Blaming Bush?!? That's the Obama voter for you. (Yes We Can!)
Posted by: jim warren at November 29, 2008 01:03 PM
Having been in dire need a few times in life I've never been desperate enough in the struggle of need versus want to get greedy.
If you kill or injure someone as a result of your personal negligence you get charged for it. Who will get charged for this mob action? It still goes back to personal responsibility not that Wal-Mart was having a sale.
From the nation where there are no shortages, no rationing, where you can buy anything you want we have a segment that behaves like crazed Muslims attacking an infidel. Kinda makes those butchers in Mogadishu and their Somalian pirate brethren look tame. We are losing the Human Race!!!
Posted by: Jack at November 29, 2008 01:21 PM
This is interesting; from the UK, take a look at the picture that goes along with the story. Does anyone else see that the crowd looks a little different?
Stupid Liberals....... God forbid that Obamba's peoples might be linked to this mindless act, the article also says that the pregnant womans' unborn child died.
Savages indeed!!!!!
By the way is it BLACK FRIDAY SALE or BLACK, FRIDAY SALE. Hard to tell at the Walmart near me.
Posted by: RAC at November 29, 2008 02:28 PM
Savages? Yes. Obama supporters? Yes. Mob rule is now the "rule" in the United States? Yes, just look at the anti-California Prop 8 mobs as another example. When a domestic terrorist is given a pass as a respected college professor and millions of illegal aliens are undocumented workers on their way to amnesty and citizenship why should anyone have respect for the law or common civilized behavior? They shouldn't!
http://i38.tinypic.com/2wdqb6o.jpg
http://www.theodoresworld.net/pics/0407/illegal_aliens_FUCK_You.jpg
http://patterico.com/2008/11/18/mob-anger-and-violence-by-proposition-8-opponents/
http://bp3.blogger.com/_Om0YxyZyKVk/SILnwI5D7FI/AAAAAAAAAXc/gxzmqg1da_4/s1600-h/Obama-Angry_Mob-McCoyGlenn.gif
Posted by: Les at November 29, 2008 03:07 PM
Lynn, yes and New York is the biggest city of all.
Most places had no trouble at all.
I agree too what is the mad rush.
Then if they had more police there they would complain about police brutality.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:14 PM
Mark,LMAO I sure do. Boy howdy are they ever going to be shocked and disappointed.
"Don't ja just love it this the 15% of the population that will be in Washington on the 20 th of January demanding their House Bills be paid by obama."
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:17 PM
James, I agree, I feel badly for the innocent Damour and his family. He seems like a good guy that was only wanting to work and do a good job.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:18 PM
Cheryl, oh my gosh. I agree it is crazy. Christmas shopping should be fun and hearing Christmas music playing and smiling faces.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:20 PM
BobF, good point. And Friday very little was mentioned about the economy and today ( Saturday) they are back on the subject. I don't think these peoople got the memo.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:23 PM
Horace, yes it does. Very scary to think of them voting.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:28 PM
Tom, yes, the look on the faces, the intensity and the way they ran over people. It is like those after game parties too where it gets out of hand in the streets in certain areas. Just really scary.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:32 PM
Jim, thanks for sharing about that.
Yes the blaming Bush has really gotten out of hand. He is blamed for everything under the sun.It makes me angry and there were other comments at the article that said this like the one I posted. sheesh.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:37 PM
Jack, I saw where they are asking people that were there if they knew who did this. LOL OH sure I am positive a bunch of people will step forward.....NOT. Not in that group, they will protect each other.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:39 PM
RAC, good catch....OMG look at that. All they did was pull a photo from " any " store instead of the actual store this was about. WOW!
That photo must be from a Wal-Mart in China town.
LMAO good one RAC, thank you so mcuh for posting that.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:42 PM
Les, yes, important things you brought up.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 29, 2008 06:45 PM
