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But, in America at least, professional sports teams take extraordinary efforts to minimize that possibility.

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My guess here, was the manager took his/her time to give the OK to unlock the doors and the very few up front greeters and staff was quickly overrun. There were probably NO professional crowd control people and I doubt highly the management staff their ever went through any real crowd control training.

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ORIGINAL: bamabbwsub

I'm guessing that NONE of the people who work in retail -- whether it's WM, KMart, Best Buy, Sears, etc. -- go through "real crowd control training." Besides, once the mob starts surging, what can a small group of people -- regardless of what kind of training they have -- do about it, anyway?

As I said before, "People kill people." This incident was an aberration.

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ORIGINAL: FatDomDaddy
And one cannot charge a mob criminally.

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This act, repealed in 1974, gave a crowd one hour to disperse before their actions stopped being a misdemeanour and became a felony punishable by death. We've gone soft I tells ya.

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ORIGINAL: FatDomDaddy

Perhaps not. But they didn't.

Their lack of taking simple common sense measures will cost.... big and will as cl has offered, make them liable.

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ORIGINAL: popeye1250

I haven't been in a Walmart store in about 6-8 years since that scandal about them hiring illegal aliens.
You have to consider the people who shop at Walmarts, lots of lowlifes.
You're pretty much "on your own" in those kind of stores.
The low paid employees couldn't give a shit it seems. 
And I remember dodging all kinds of spills and stuff on the floor.
I felt like I needed a shower after comming out of a Walmart.
I'd much rather pay $50 yearly dues to Costco and get *much* better service and better quality stuff than the junk at Walmart.
The service you get from Costco employees is outstanding! If you ask them where something is they don't just tell you, they walk you right to it. "Sure, follow me!"
And they're always very friendly and smiling.
Huge difference!
And their stores are CLEAN too.
"Hey, where'd you get that shirt?"
"Oh, I got it at Wa......Sears."

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ORIGINAL: bamabbwsub

Again I ask: Would WM still be to blame/at fault/(choose your definition here) if the crowd had overcome control personnel, overturned those barriers, and the same thing happened? At what point is WM not liable?

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ORIGINAL: tkenslve

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ORIGINAL: popeye1250

I haven't been in a Walmart store in about 6-8 years since that scandal about them hiring illegal aliens.
You have to consider the people who shop at Walmarts, lots of lowlifes.
You're pretty much "on your own" in those kind of stores.
The low paid employees couldn't give a shit it seems. 
And I remember dodging all kinds of spills and stuff on the floor.
I felt like I needed a shower after comming out of a Walmart.
I'd much rather pay $50 yearly dues to Costco and get *much* better service and better quality stuff than the junk at Walmart.
The service you get from Costco employees is outstanding! If you ask them where something is they don't just tell you, they walk you right to it. "Sure, follow me!"
And they're always very friendly and smiling.
Huge difference!
And their stores are CLEAN too.
"Hey, where'd you get that shirt?"
"Oh, I got it at Wa......Sears."

As one of those 'lowlifes" who LOVES her Walmart, i will happily take the other lowlifes, red necks and inbred's over having to deal with someone like you. We thank you for putting us down and letting us know how stupid we are.

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The only poor souls not really accountable are the employees themselves and the few good souls that were out for a lark and a good deal if it was in the cards.  The rest, including the corporation, are guilty based on pure unadulterated greed. 

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ORIGINAL: TNstepsout

It's terribly tragic and preventable. I was just watching a "dumbest criminals" episode last night that featured "dumbest shoppers" and I couldn't believe how insane those mobs were. People were getting into fights, falling and getting injured and you know it was just a matter of time before something like this happened. Theses stores should have seen the writing on the wall years ago and set up these events so they are not so unruly but instead they encourage the feeding frenzy. Oh and are the people to blame? YES!!!

Any wonder someone was killed? What the hell is wrong with people anyway?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZJVZ2p223o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tLtWD8sqxs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehSkxg7wvyk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeSgBL7gpAk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhp1ElO4MiA&feature=related

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ORIGINAL: bamabbwsub

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The only poor souls not really accountable are the employees themselves and the few good souls that were out for a lark and a good deal if it was in the cards.  The rest, including the corporation, are guilty based on pure unadulterated greed. 

I agree! The sales tactics stink...but as long as they continue to be profitable for the retailers, they'll still make those once-in-a-lifetime deals and people will still line up like cattle in the hopes of landing that HDTV for $500. Greed goes both ways, in my mind.