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Subscribe to RSSBlack Friday takes a dark turn around the country with fights, shootings and even pepper spray incidents. NBC News' Kristen Dahlgren reports.
Violence erupted at Black Friday sales across the U.S. with one bargain-hunter left critically injured after being shot during a robbery and 15 other people injured when an angry shopper used pepper spray.
Updated 5:30 p.m. ET: Several of the incidents took place at Walmart stores as millions of Americans loaded up on holiday purchases. A spokesman for the company told NBC News that "overall, it's been a very safe event at the thousands of Walmart stores open for Black Friday."
"There were a few unfortunate incidents, but otherwise we've heard positive feedback from our customers and associates," he said.
Update 12:17 p.m. ET: A robot removed a suspicious device that led to the evacuation of a Walmart store in Cave Creek, Ariz., Maricopa County, sheriff's deputies said.
Deputies told KPHO-TV of Phoenix that they had reason to believe the device might have been an explosive and said whoever left it in a refrigerator at the store Thursday could face felony charges. Police dogs swept the store for further possible devices, they said, and the store reopened late Thursday night, KPHO reported.
Update 11:57 a.m. ET: An off-duty police officer used pepper spray on shoppers at a Walmart in Kinston, N.C.
Kinston police Sgt. Roland Davis said an off-duty officer whom the store had hired to help with security used the chemical while trying to make an arrest during a disturbance. Unconfirmed reports said as many as 20 peopl ewer affected.
Holiday shoppers are flocking to stores with hopes of snagging Black Friday deals. Courtney Reagan reports from the Greene Town Center in Dayton, Ohio.
Updated 10:55 a.m. ET: A Rome, N.Y., man was charged with disorderly conduct after a fight that broke out the moment Black Friday shopping began at midnight, NBC station WSTM of Syracuse, N.Y., reported.
Several shoppers at the electronics department at a Walmart store were pushed to the ground, and several fights broke out, Oneida County sheriff's deputies said. Two shoppers were taken to a hospital for minor injuries.
Updated 10:39 a.m. ET: Police said they were investigating a possible shooting in the parking lot of Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, Iowa, NBC station WHO reported. There was no immediate report that anyone was injured.
Police got a call of shots fired shortly before 4 a.m., when the mall opened. They wouldn't say whether they had a suspect, and they reassured shoppers that the mall is safe..
Updated 9:50 a.m. ET: A 55-year-old shopper was shot and wounded during a robbery near a Walmart in Myrtle Beach, S.C., NBC station WMBF reported.
Tonia Robbins, 55, was shot in the foot after two men demanded her purse shortly after 1 a.m. ET Friday as she stood by the trunk of her car with friends.
Updated 9:45 a.m. ET: An explosive device was found at a break room at a Walmart in Cave Creek, Ariz., according to reports Friday.
Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said a suspicious package was found inside a refrigerator in the store break room on Thursday. The store was evacuated as a precaution while deputies investigated the package.
Updated at 9:40 a.m. ET: A Black Friday shopper was shot and critically injured during a robbery outside a Walmart in San Leandro, Calif., early Friday, police said.
Police patrolling the parking lot found a victim suffering a gunshot wound and a possible suspect being detained by family members of the victim.
Police said the victims were walking to their car with their purchases and were approached by multiple suspects who demanded the merchandise.
A fight ensued and one suspect pulled out a gun and shot one of the victims. Some of the victims wrestled down one suspect as the other suspect fled the scene.
The victim who was shot is in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. The suspect in custody is an adult male in his mid '20s, but it is not known if he was the shooter.
Updated at 7.30 a.m. ET: An angry woman used pepper spray when Black Friday bargain-hunters tried to cut in line at a crowded Walmart store in Los Angeles late Thursday, leaving 15 people with minor injuries. The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. PT (1:20 a.m. ET Friday) in the San Fernando Valley as shoppers looking for deals were let inside the outlet.
Shawn Lenske, a Los Angeles fire department spokesman, said the injuries were due to "rapid crowd movement."
Video uploaded to youTube shows shopper recovering after one woman allegedly doused them in pepper spray as they battled for bargains at a Walmart in Los Angeles. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.
NBC News reported police said no more than 15 were hurt, 10 of them for the effects of inhalation of pepper spray.
Police Lt. Abel Parga said a woman used pepper spray, then left. Parga said police were looking for the woman and no arrests have been made.
"It was an unhappy customer,'' he said.
A witness told Los Angeles' NBC4 that the incident started as people waited in line for the new Xbox 360.
The witness said a woman with two children in tow became upset with the way people were pushing in line. The witness said the woman pulled out pepper spray and sprayed the other people.
NBC News quoted a police officer as saying the flare-up was triggered when a crowd rushed toward merchandise following a "big reveal" of items that had been hidden by draping.
NYT: Friday's deals may not be the best
One section of the store was cleared while patients were treated and the pepper spray dissipated, Parga said. People were seen pouring out of the store, but customers were allowed back in to continue shopping.
The dispute came as as stores opened their doors at midnight — a few hours earlier than they normally do on the most anticipated shopping day of the year.
Story: Crazed weekend launches crucial retail season
Herald Square in New York was bustling at 6 p.m. ET Thursday, the Associated Press reported, with shoppers looking to snag discounts at Old Navy and other stores that were open on the Thanksgiving. By 9:45 p.m. ET, more than 300 people were waiting outside a Best Buy in New York before it opened at midnight. An hour later, nearly 2,000 were in line at another Best Buy in St. Petersburg, Florida, ahead of its midnight opening.
Retailers hope the earlier openings will make Black Friday shopping more convenient for Americans who are more likely to be worried about high unemployment and the other challenges they face in the weak economy.
A Texas couple is set to tie the knot after meeting three years ago while waiting in a Black Friday shopping line at Target. KXAS-TV's Amanda Guerra reports.
Black Friday is important to merchants because it kicks off the holiday shopping season, a time when they can make 25 to 40 percent of their annual revenue. It's expected that shoppers will spend nearly $500 billion during the holiday shopping season, or about 3 percent more than they did last year.
PhotoBlog: Black Friday shopping starts on Thursday
"It's a good move to try to get shoppers to spend sooner, before they run out of money," says Burt Flickinger, III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group.
About 34 percent of consumers plan to shop on Black Friday, up from 31 percent last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, and 16 percent had planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day itself. For the weekend, 152 million people are expected shop, up from 138 million last year.
Update at 5:45 a.m. ET: Authorities say gunfire erupted at a North Carolina mall as holiday shoppers gathered, the Associated Press reported.
The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office said detectives were looking for two suspects after gunfire rang out at Cross Creek Mall in Fayetteville early Friday. No injuries were reported.
The first shots were fired around 2 a.m. outside the mall near a food court entrance. Investigators say several more shots were fired after one of the suspects ran inside the mall.
Leave a Comment:
I have no time to comment. I have to watch TV so they can tell me when to shop, what to buy, where to buy it, what to wear, what to eat, and how I should feel about everything and anything. The media is the shepherd and I am but a member of the flock.
Then if someone in real life like the police, a teacher, or my boss tries to tell me what to do I resent it like hell.
To get the proper information on time you must have the latest 52 inch 3D in your 10 x 12 living room. This means you are a serious successful citizen, not the mind numbing, system manipulating, ignorant, trailer trash that so many believe you to be.
Obama and the far-left have been calling for mob-rule for the past few weeks. This mob-behavior is what they have been calling for, and calling it the "majority".
Ugly isn't it. The left is to blame for the mob-rule ugly behavior that it espouses, asked for, and supports!
Willing Sniper you can't blame the world on Obama and what you call the far left, if you want to blame anyone blame Bush, Limbaugh, Gingrich, Romney, The Tea Party and the far right they wroked really hard on screwing up this country when Bush was in office.
uh duh. you are wrong too. the time change is only 2 hours right now. so 10:20 is 12:20.
The difference in time between the right coast and left coast is 3 hours. So. neener neener...Whatchu mean "right now"? The only way it can be 2 hours difference is either if you live in certain parts of Indiana, or you live in central time zone. So. Duh. Duh. Duh.....
That time stuff is so confusing isn't it? I'm on East Coast and our son is on West Coast and every year I call him when the Super Bowl is over here and give him the winner over there as they kick-off. We 're not rich yet?!?
In Arizona, which doesn't participate in daylight savings time............the usual 3 hour difference from eastern standard time becomes 2 hours in the fall when daylight savings time ends.
What a bunch of losers.
Low-life idiots.
Was planning to do some regular shopping today. Now I'm scared. lol
Don't forget to tell the hubby and kids you love them before you leave. Your courage and bravery is very admirable. Good luck and God bless!!
People who shop on Black Friday are nothing but puppets of the media hype, greedy retailers, and their own kids.
You have no one to blame but yourselves. Exercise a little restraint... Quit your bitchin' and spend some very special time with your families.
Be thankful instead of being greedy...
Maybe that's why they're out.
| Maybe that's why they're out.
I'm guessing we have very different definitions of quality time with family...
If quality time with your family is spending Thanksgiving night standing outside a Wal Mart in 40 degree weather, 2 hours before it opens just to get a glimpse of a few bucks saved, you've got issues.
I opened the recliner, sat with my family, talked and watched the boob tube until I fell asleep. But I'm sure you save 10 bucks more than I did.
unfortunantly that doesnt work for employees, maybe wallmart needs to become unionized so they can enjoy the benefits of thanksgiving with their families.
Black Friday should be abolished, period. Rather than stores shooting for major profit in such a short timeframe, it seems to me they could very likely make even more (ugh) profit if they were to just lower prices year round; i.e., more people would buy at a steadier pace if things were more affordable.
As has been stated on here, I think it's downright disgraceful so many people are so stuck on stupid they would risk life and limb for a gadget or gizmo that will more than likely be tossed to the wayside when the next bigger-better-faster-more product comes along. Personally, I would much rather get the gift of a loved one's time than the latest fad toy. Are we as a society so stingy of ourselves we fail to see the value in spending quality time with one another, or going out of our way to do a kind deed for someone else? I would never turn my nose up at a gift someone put time, thought, their hands and creative effort into - for that matter, and I have always told my friends and family I would have a greater appreciation for someone giving me a gift of something I need, not want. The greed and selfishness shown at these Black Friday events are just atrocious.
Consumer greed and business greed... they feed on each other. In the end... the consumer loses... Who's the dummy?
I'm always surprised to hear that from these "cash mobs" no "flash mobs" are created.
Cathy V I'm with you on the gifts I would appreciate. Me, I have more shirts, underwear, pants, tools, cooking apparatus then I can ever use. Make me some cookies, some fudge, a nice framed picture of something beautiful such as a running creek or something and I'm a Happy person. Donate to some charity such as the VFW Voice of Democracy Scholarship Program or a charity for cancer, ms, mda. That is what makes me happy
Jim..........donating to charity....reminds me of when my husband told me that during the Christmas of 1992, he and his family donated money and time to help people still recovering from hurricane Andrew in South FL (instead of buying gifts for eachother)....he said it was probably the best Christmas he ever had.........unfortunately a few years ago he was diagnosed with lymphoma, so I will be donating money to the foundation that researches his rare type of lymphoma, not standing in a mob to grab a TV..........I don't understand that mentality, I would much rather be home with loved ones.........nothing material could ever replace time spent with my husband.
If they had lower prices all year, they would not be in the black ever. BLack Friday is the day when stores finally make a profit. Our taxes are so high that most of what we earn is sucked up by the govt, which buys the votes of the selfish and stupid by handing them OUr MONEY.
You don't begin to actually get your income until later in the year--for the stores, it is the holiday season.
i prefer the present from a loved ones time, like the wool shirt and pants my wife and mother got together and made for me to use for hunting and ice fishing.
Several years ago.....more out of curiosity than anything else, I decided to visit a nearby K Mart in the early hours of one of these "Black Fridays". I missed out on the moment that the doors were initially thrown open, but it was still in the pre-dawn darkness when I found myself wandering into the clusterF@%k......As I grabbed a wobbly-wheeled cart and began meandering the aisles, I couldn't help but think of the bit of news footage I've seen every year....of those wannabe brides rampaging thru that Wedding gown shop.....selfishly scooping up armloads of dresses. Much of the available clothing lay strewn about on the floor...where it had been cast aside by the meaty-armed mob of overweight women....as they barreled along pushing their shopping carts piled high & overflowing with boxes of electronics...a 2nd cart in tow. Some cackled into their cell phones....in obvious communication with their unseen partners...located elsewhere in the same store. At one point, I got within 10 feet of some poor store clerk....who was trying to manuever a cart piled with a few DVD players thru the place. I could see the panic in his eyes, as he was nearly tackled by 3 women....spilling out of their Spandex....as they suddenly rushed him in the aisle intersection...like NFL linebackers. I think I was only there for about an hour. I recall I had managed to pick up a package of socks......That was it. Somewhere in the crazed throng, I collided with an elderly gent....also pushing/hiding behind...cowering in fear...behind his own empty basket. We agreed that neither one of us "belonged there"....We were truly out of our element. I think that was probably the LAST year I ever bothered with Christmas shopping. Now....you're lucky if you get a card from me. I'll NEVER do "Black ( they should call it Black & Blue ) Friday again. LOL
Lolz! You must have gone deaf from hearing all their cow bells, too! Let THAT be a lesson for you to never put yourself through THAT again. Too effing funny! Four star post. :)
I wish people would wake up and just boycott or like a lot on this site have suggested boycott Black Friday. Stores such as WalMart, Best, Target etc are what is wrong with such greed that they have to open their doors on Thanksgiving not wanting to out done by the other, and we all (not me ever) follow like good little sheeple. I would love to see WalMart one of the most evil companies in this Country put out of business. They have gone into towns and destroyed local businesses, and put junk from slave shops overseas for us to buy. BOYCOTT WALMART AND THE REST ON BLACK FRIDAY!
Well the explanation is simple...you were an amateur surrounded by the professionals! Those amazing SOB's can smell fear!! (well, that and rotisserie chicken 7 miles away...)
You sound like you hate women: meaty arms, etc. Women aren't the only shoppers out there. Lots of men shop, too, and not all of them have washboard stomachs.
The other man with the empty cart might have been Jesus--or Muhammed, or one of many avatars of the deity.
Hoy Sheott! What a selfish uncaring beyotch!
Black Friday has turned the majority of Americans into wild apes...wonderful.
Apes don't shop and even in the wild they don't use pepper spray.
I enjoyed thanksgiving day with my family and had a good night's sleep. Woke up this morning intend to have another very nice day. Shopping? Nope. Online or at stores after the insane ones are finished and stay at home bragging how they saved $25 and were able to buy more cigarettes and beer. Take their gadgets and other junk away from them and they're still the same shallow people.
Stores rely very heavily on black fri, xmas shopping. i read a while back that that's what will make or break stores, some stores announce closing down if their sales arent good enough like right after xmas and all the stuff they didnt sell gets reduced, they announce going out of buisness
are they going to change Chanukah into a buy fest, so everyone can run into a christian owned store , and act like an idiot, that only seem fair,and good for business.
Raise the taxes dam it..People got money to burn..Never mind its the "China" Welfare store..
So the government can have it? I mean, yeah that makes sense. They've done such a wonderful job budgeting what they get now. I'm sure things will improve with more.
*facepalm*
Most of those people don't pay taxes. So, you want to raise taxes so they get a bigger refund after not paying to begin with? Thanks.
Pathetic.
Thanksgiving Day - Take a moment to reflect on what and who you have.
Now that that 5 minutes is over......let's go buy more things for ourselves and others.
Disgusting.
Welcome to WalMart, your home for cheap Chinese crap and Welfare Mamas!!!
Amen!
Two kids and people acting like animals..I would have done the samething. Peronsally I blame the store for such bull@!$%#, knowing how people get but then I also know how life means @!$%# to people on that day. When I worked at walmart, i told my supervisor I would pull security at front door with M16 and if it got unruly...shoot people like dogs. I don't care if anyone objects to this statement. If people had common sense and good judgement, there would be no need for this. A walmart employee life was take just for people to save a few bucks. Nice to see life means so little and yet soldiers are doing it everyday for what? Even if they find her, They better not do anything to her.
I hink they should turn black Friday shopping in Walmart into an olympic sport. These people probably train all year and count down the days. And just think- the USA would get all of the gold metals. We would then be soooo very proud of our Walmart olympians, instead of being so ashamed ...
Hey mali not sure where you are but have you seen the annoying "Target" commercial featuring the suburgatory Mom dressed in a red velour sweatsuit with matching high heels, training for Black Friday?? NOW she should be pepper sprayed!
Hahahahahahaha! No! I havent seen it but it sounds pretty funny! eeeeuuuuwww! Red velour? She probably bought that at Walmart!
Well, I can't defend what this woman did, but I can say that every person who waits in line with children to try to get something at a cheap price is not necessarily a greedy person, but might be slightly desperate - like me! I took my 2 children, ages 4 and 6, to wal-mart this morning at 5:30 am to get in line for their tire sale. I have to have 2 tires for my car to pass inspection at the end of this month, and this was my best shot at being able to afford them! I was not able to purchase the tires though, after waiting for an hour and a half with 2 children.....Wal-Mart refused to sell me only 2 tires, because they didn't want to break up the sets (no, it was not a special price for buying 4 tires, it was the "store's discretion" to only sell in sets of 4). So......I pepper sprayed the Automotive manager - hey you would have too! Nah, just kidding.
How awful is that? Rhahdhdh, why did they not tell you up front about this "discretionery" practice?
Just your typical Obama voters.
I don't agree. These are serious people who have their priorities in order. They know if they get their shopping done early in an organized fashion they won't have to worry about missing the "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" reruns.
This is America at its best. Hard to believe we are a world power must be the training of hating your neighbor to get the best price.
What ashame...I was in bed sound asleep...lol
Me Too!
hey it's walmarts need i say anymore??????
You can't FIX STUPID......Will we continue to dumb down America ????????
"Black" Friday. Sure looks like it to me. Must be a lot of "Obama" money floating around. We aren't having a materialism Christmas...For some reason we don't qualify for government money. Perhaps it's for the best...my two sons can re-adjust to what the "Real" meaning of Christmas is...or used to be.
Peace unto all.
Beev, really? Another comment about the President? Take some personal responsibility. Maybe im just weird but Im proud Ive never taken a govt handout, or just lucky I never had too.
Beev..So what you're saying is that everyone out there shopping on Black Friday are getting government checks are on some type of assistance from the government....You must be one of those tea party conservatives who listens to Fox News 24/7...Please I wish you people would find a another line to hang onto because that one has just about played out....Obviously the economy must be getting better under President Obama because there are more people spending this year than last year....You just refuse to give him credit for any improvements that we are experiencing in this country, but trust me, you will surely be this first one to scream failure the first time something goes wrong....If you don't have any money to shop, maybe you need to take responsibility and look within yourself instead of blaming the president for everything that's not going right in your life....
I have a job, thank you. I am not on any government assistance. The only reason I can go shopping this year is because I am still recovering from foot surgery, otherwise, I would be working on Black Friday.
having to work on black friday is just wrong christy. that should be a time when people are able to enjoy visiting with their family members not going to work. just one more reason why companies like wallmart need to become unionized.