Shootings, pepper-spray attack mar Wal-Mart Black Friday sales

[sce56]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/wal-mart-black-friday-marred-by-shootings-pepper-spray-attack-.html
As shoppers converged on retailers around the country looking for Black Friday deals, authorities reported scattered problems.

In Porter Ranch, a woman pepper sprayed customers at a Wal-Mart in what authorities say was a deliberate attempt to get more "door buster" merchandise. In San Leandro, a Wal-Mart shopper walking to his car was shot and wounded in a suspected robbery early Friday. Another shooting was reported at a parking lot next to a Wal-Mart in South Carolina, also a suspected robbery attempt. Officials told WMBF-TV they believe the robbery was tied to Black Friday.

At Porter Ranch, 20 customers, including children, were hurt in the 10:10 p.m. incident, officials said. Shoppers complained of minor skin and eye irritation and sore throats. "This was customer-versus-customer 'shopping rage,'" said Los Angeles Police Lt. Abel Parga. The woman used the spray in more than one area of the Wal-Mart "to gain preferred access to a variety of locations in the store," said Los Angeles Fire Capt. James Carson. "She was competitive shopping," he said.

Police are searching for the woman but said they've had trouble getting a clear description of her. Black Friday sales began at the Wal-Mart at 10 p.m. and featured sales on toys, including $5 Bratz dolls, $10 Wii video games and $29 tricycles. Witness Matthew Lopez described a chaotic scene in the San Fernando Valley store among shoppers looking for video games soon after the sale began. "I heard screaming and I heard yelling," said Lopez, 18. "Moments later, my throat stung. I was coughing really bad and watering up."

And that was a 10PM opening.

[RandySF]

1. A man was shot this morning

outside Wal-Mart in San Leandro.

[slackmaster]

3. It's a good thing the gun ban fanatics got Trader Sports shut down

Otherwise someone might have gotten shot.

[msongs]

2. with all this walmart violence why are the police not evicting walmart? or gassing it? nt

[liberalmuse]

4. This makes me want to weep for humanity...

I wish Americans had a tenth as much enthusiasm for Democracy as they have for cheap, disposable toys and electronics. :(

[sce56]

5. +1

[Marnie]

7. Amen to that.

And the cops would arrest Wall Street crooks and the Bushies and support peaceful demonstrations that want justice done.

[awoke_in_2003]

8. "cheap, disposable toys and electronics"

all made by slave labor

[sce56]

6. Black Friday shooting outside Bay Area Wal-Mart injures one person

A victim remains in critical but stable condition after would-be robbers shot and wounded a Black Friday shopper outside a Bay Area Wal-Mart early Friday morning.

Three or four suspects pulled up next to three to four shoppers standing near their car in the parking lot around 1:05 a.m., said Sgt. Mike Sobek of the San Leandro Police Department. The suspects demanded merchandise, and when the victims refused to hand it over, one suspect opened fire.

The shoppers who were not wounded detained one of the suspects for police, Sobek said.

It remains unclear if the detained suspect was the shooter. Sobek said authorities are interviewing the suspect this morning. He added that surveillance video of the parking lot may assist the investigation.

San Leandro is a suburban East Bay city of about 85,000 people just south of Oakland.

[saras]

9. Shootings, pepper-spray attack characterize Wal-Mart Black Friday sales. There, fixed that.

[sce56]

10. Great see if the LA Times will hire you since that was their headline...

Thanks