Walmart Black Friday Violence Adds to Shopping Frenzy at Stores Across the Country
As the chaos began to intensify within Black Friday crowds, some consumers found themselves in the midst of violent outbreaks at major retailers across the country.
Shoppers at a Walmart in San Leandro, Calif., waited for hours in line to be some of the first to receive the best deals. Unfortunately, some did not have the patience to wait in line and instead waited for unsuspecting holiday shoppers in the store's parking lot.
Multiple suspects in one parking lot approached a family as they left a store. The armed assailants demanded the victims to give them their merchandise. When they refused, a man was shot.
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According to reports from ABC 7 news affiliate KGO-TV; Police received a report of a fight in front of the Walmart at 15555 Hesperian Blvd., around 1:50 a.m.
There were officers patrolling the premises and when they arrived at the scene, they found one man with a gunshot wound and the other family members struggling to detain one of the suspected assailants.
The victim was taken to a local hospital in critical, but stable condition, police said. The other suspects fled.
In a separate incident, also occurring at a Walmart in California, a woman reportedly pepper sprayed a crowd of fellow shoppers. A witness told Los Angeles' NBC4 that the incident started as people waited in line for the new Xbox 360.
The witness claimed that the woman, who also had two children with her, became angry with people as they were pushing in line. She then pulled out her pepper spray and used it on the crowd.
NBC4 News reported police said no more than 15 people were hurt and that the effects of the pepper spray caused most of the injuries.
Shawn Lenske, a Los Angeles fire department spokesperson, said some the injuries were also due to "rapid crowd movement" as shoppers ran away from the area.
Police Lt. Abel Parga said that the woman who used pepper spray left quickly after the incident. Parga said police were still looking for the woman.
