Another Top 10 Most Insane Black Friday Catastrophes
Another Top 10 Most Insane Black Friday Catastrophes
20 Most Insane Black Friday Incidents
Maybe it's better to just shop online. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for Another Top 10 Most Insane Black Friday Catastrophes. For this list, we're looking at more violent outbreaks that have turned a shopping holiday into a yearly danger, basing our choices on the misbehavior involved, the damage done, and the general insanity of these shocking incidents.
#10: And the Crowd Goes Wild! (For Urban Outfitters)
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Before Urban Outfitters was even open for Black Friday in 2011, the Thousand Oaks Mall in California was packed with shoppers. The mass of people remained surprisingly calm, at least until the first employee walked by the gate. The initial shouting had a note of celebration, but the mob’s screams became deafening as they rushed through the entrance. With the crowd pouring in like a zombie horde at Brains R Us, you can see anti-theft sensors bend and break under the weight of the swarm. With all the damage done, it's a miracle no one was injured at the Thousand Oaks Mall.
#9: Walmart + Black Friday + Towels = ???
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Also in 2011, a horde of shoppers at an Atlanta, Texas Walmart lost their minds digging through . . . towels, glorious towels, of all things. The eager beavers tore through the crates like it was the end of days and absorbent fabric was the only way to stave off a presumably soggy apocalypse. Some shoppers even ended up in the bins themselves, while one woman dramatically tore free of the cloth-mad crowd with her sweet, sweet prizes held aloft. While we all love a good sale, you’d think these towels were gold-plated, diamond-encrusted Ferraris in disguise. Towels continue to be a top-seller on Black Friday, with similar outbursts a regular occurrence.
#8: Tesco Turmoil
2014 was such a hectic Black Friday for the city of Manchester, that police were called out to seven Tesco locations around the city. Three people were arrested for violence and hundreds of others refused to leave a store even though all stock was gone. Useful fact: you can’t buy things from an empty store. Another Tesco closed within an hour of opening due to fights and injuries from a falling television set. There were chaotic scenes at Tescos in the rest of the UK too, with one customer in Cardiff reporting that people were even biting each other, in scuffles that could give even American Black Friday blowouts a run for their money.
#7: Waffle Riot
We love waffles, but there’s gotta be a line somewhere. In 2011, two dollar waffle-irons transformed Walmart shoppers in Arkansas into a seething sea of waffle-loving monsters. The Little Rock store saw people ripping into the bins like it was feeding time at the zoo, with some emerging from the shrieking, heaving mass holding as many as six irons at a time. It’s like the mosh-pit at a metal concert but no one is having a good time and everyone hates each other. Oh, and everyone is there to see . . . waffles. A customer at another Walmart even claimed that she saw a toddler stepped on over the breakfast appliances.
#6: Gift Certificate Drop
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As part of their 2006 holiday sales promotions, the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance, California dropped 500 gift certificates from the ceiling in balloons. Two thousand people showed up however, which turned the friendly event into a vicious free-for-all. The resulting stampede left nine people injured and one elderly woman hospitalized. The mall's staff was completely unprepared for this reaction, and called in the fire department. One teen was seen vaulting over picket fences and holiday display to escape the out-of-control crowd. Not really worth it for a $25 sushi voucher.
#5: El Paso Showdown
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How badly do you really need that 50-inch TV? Enough to trample an old lady? To take a swing at a cop. Shoppers at this El Paso Walmart in 2015 thought so, overwhelming police. People battled it out around the television palettes, shoving and punching, and one 23-year-old man even trampled an elderly woman before an officer pulled him off. The crazed shopper fought back before the cops were able to overpower him. Similar melees were filmed on the floor, with the elderly going at it just as hard as the young’uns. The scene is as entertaining as it is terrifying.
#4: Shirtless & Beltless Is No Way to Go Through Life, Son
When an Adidas store in Vancouver, British Columbia was offering a rare NMD Bape shoe on Black Friday 2016, things got a little crazy. The masses got so rowdy ahead of the store opening that chants and fights started to break out. With the streets already crowded from nearby bars and clubs, police were called to the location. Eventually a man took his shirt off and started whipping people around him with his belt. After another civilian choked him, the man was eventually arrested. The incident was so out of hand that Adidas called off the sale and raffled off the shoes instead.
#3: Pepper Spray Is Big This Year
To handle the chaos for their event, a Walmart in Kinston, North Carolina, hired off-duty police to assist their security. But staff was still setting up products after shoppers entered the store and started tearing into boxes. When one man tripped into a cell phone display, the off-duty police officer shot pepper spray into the air to suppress the mob, and the deterrent allegedly rained down into shoppers’ faces. Meanwhile, in California on the same Black Friday, a woman used pepper spray on rival shoppers. Now that’s a dirty way to get ahead of the competition.
#2: That’s One Way to Get the Parking Spot
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Tensions were so high outside a Tallahassee Walmart in 2012 that customers were fighting over parking spaces rather than discounts. After two couples got in a heated argument outside the store, one man pulled out a gun and shot a man and woman, who were rushed to hospital. Another customer reported dozens of shoppers running inside during the shooting, in an attempt to avoid gunfire. Things must have escalated fast considering the assault happened at midday rather than the usual midnight rush. Luckily the victims weren't critically injured and were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at the time.
#1: A Fatal Mistake
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After dropping his wife off at a San Antonio Walmart, Isidro Zarate went to break up a fight in the parking lot. As he watched a man hold a woman's hair and beat her, Zarate drove up and said 'Take your hands off her.' The 21-year-old assailant immediately pulled out a gun and shot Isidro dead. Zarate's passenger was injured with shrapnel, and an additional pedestrian was hit by a stray bullet. The shooter was caught ten miles away and later sentenced to life in prison. The merciless shopper killing is even more tragic considering Isidro left behind four children, and all for simply trying to help.
