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The temporary employee who was barreled over in a Valley Stream Wal-Mart by a crush of Black Friday shoppers died of asphyxiation, preliminary autopsy results revealed yesterday.

Nassau police released the findings at a news conference in which they also defended themselves from criticism - including allegations of negligence by a father and son who filed a $2 million notice of claim against the county.

"The flaw here really comes down to the planning and organization of the sales event," Nassau Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey said.

Mulvey said that police had met with security officials from Green Acres Mall, where the store is located, "in anticipation of these sales."

"And the message was clearly portrayed to all those parties that these kinds of events fall within the purview of their security," Mulvey said. "And they need to plan, organize and police them properly.

"We clearly put it on their plate," he said.

Seasonal security worker Jdimytai Damour, 34, of Jamaica, Queens, was trampled during a stampede at Green Acres Mall by some 2,000 frenzied shoppers who broke through a glass door in a rush to take advantage of sales.

Mulvey said yesterday that Damour's cause of death was "positional asphyxiation" consistent with having pressure applied to his chest.

"He was trampled to death," Mulvey said.

The news came the same day Hempstead residents Fritz Mesadieu, 51, and his son Jonathan, 19, filed a notice of claim against Nassau and its police department, as well as a separate negligence suit against Wal-Mart.

The Mesadieus' lawyer, Kenneth Mollins, of Melville, said the father and son were among those caught up in the shopping surge. They sustained neck and back injuries from being lifted off their feet and slammed into people and objects, Mollins said.

According to the Mesadieus, who arrived outside of the Wal-Mart about an hour before the doors opened at 5 a.m., Nassau police were on site before the stampede, but did nothing and quickly left - even as unrest grew among the crowd.

"It was clearly foreseeable, but police either didn't see it, or saw it and didn't care and left anyway," Mollins said.

Mulvey said yesterday officers responded to the Wal-Mart around 3 a.m. after receiving a call about a disturbance, but left about 20 minutes later because, "The assembled people were orderly, behaved themselves."

Yesterday, Therese Sgro, the mother of a 14-year-old girl who said she had her wrist fractured when she was punched by a woman in the crowd around 3:45 a.m., said police "pretty much dismissed us as if it was no big deal" and refused to take a police report.

Sgro's claims could not be confirmed last night, Nassau police said.

In a separate suit, the Mesadieus said Wal-Mart also demonstrated "carelessness, recklessness and negligence" by not sufficiently protecting patrons.

A Wal-Mart spokesman said yesterday that the company had not yet been served with the suit, and declined to comment. However, he did cite a previous statement in which Wal-Mart detailed its Black Friday security measures at the store, including putting up barriers and hiring additional security workers, like Damour.

In an updated statement, Wal-Mart senior vice president Hank Mullany said yesterday that the company "will continue to partner closely with Nassau County law enforcement officials as they conduct their investigation. Nothing is more important to us than providing a safe and secure shopping environment for our customers and associates."

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PALM DESERT, Calif. (AP) — Two men pulled guns and shot each other to death in a crowded toy store Friday after the women with them erupted into a bloody brawl, witnesses said. Scared shoppers fled but no one else was hurt.

The violence erupted on Black Friday, the traditional post-Thanksgiving start of the holiday shopping surge, but authorities indicated the shooting wasn't related to a shopping frenzy.

Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said the fight was not over a toy. He said handguns were found by the men's bodies, but he released little other information. He would not answer a question about whether the shooting was gang-related.

Witnesses Scott and Joan Barrick said they were checking out of the store when the fight began between two women, each with a man. The women were near the checkout area, but the Barricks did not think the women had purchases.

One woman suddenly started punching the other woman, who fought back as blood flowed from her nose, Scott Barrick, 41, said.

The man who was with the woman being punched pulled a gun halfway out of his pocket, then shoved it back in, he said.

"He pulled his gun right next to me. I turned to look for my wife, and she was already hiding," Barrick said.

"I was scared," said Joan Barrick, 40. "I didn't want to die today. I really didn't want to die today, and I think that's what we were all thinking."

The other man pulled a gun and pointed it at the first man but forgot to cock it, Scott Barrick said. The first man tried to run but was blocked by the line of people, then ran back toward the store's electronics section as the other man fired his gun, he said.

The first man reached a dead-end in electronics, turned around and ran toward an exit, pulling his gun and firing back, he said.

"He went up to the cash register, he went to put his hand on the thing and he just went phoomp," he said, indicating the man fell.

He said he did not see what happened to the other man.

Palm Desert Councilman Jim Ferguson said police told him two men with handguns shot and killed each other.

"I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toys "R" Us?" he said. "I doubt it was the casual holiday shopper."

Ray Turner, 20, said he was two aisles away when two women began shouting and screaming at each other and he had a clear view of the fight until a crowd clustered around them. Both women had children, he said.

"We thought it was just a fight and then someone yelled, 'He's got a gun. He's got a gun.' You really couldn't see nothing because there was a crowd," Turner said.

Rafael Gomez, 11, said he and his father had been in the store about 20 minutes before the shooting but were in a nearby Pizza Hut when they saw people pouring out of the store screaming.

"We just saw them running and crying. I was kind of scared," Rafael said. "We got lucky."

Toys "R" Us issued a statement expressing outrage over the violence.

"We are working closely with local law enforcement officials to determine the specific details of what occurred," the statement said. "Our understanding is that this act seems to have been the result of a personal dispute between the individuals involved. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to associate the events of today with Black Friday."

The Barricks and others remained at the scene long after the shooting because investigators would not allow cars to be taken from the parking lot until a crime-scene reconstruction was completed.

Palm Desert is a resort town about 120 miles east of Los Angeles.

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Funny how the article doesn't stress the disturbing behavior of the "patrons", the people "breaking through the glass and stampeding" through the doors of Walmart at all in that article saruonsfinger posted. People aren't mindless idiots......oh wait, we're talking about Americans at Walmart. Nevermind

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This is probably due to the way that a news story unfolds over a few days.
Obviously the first thing looked at is the event itself with the emphasis on the crowd activity resulting in the death of the employee. I would bet that when many people heard it or better yet - saw it on the news - they were revolted and disgusted and said lots of things about the terrible behavior of that mob.

But then in subsequent days, people started to take a closer look at what happened. The role of Wal Mart in the entire event began to be discussed. Questions arose about the culpability ofthe Wal Mart store and the corporation itself. Then we got the response of the local Long Island police department which indicated they had warned the store about possible problems happening if they did not employ proper security. From there we began to hear of actual people there and what they had to say about it.

To some extent, this is like an onion where as each layer is peeled away, we get closer to the core of it.

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A competitive, no-cutting-in-line conflict between two large groups of shoppers helped to spark the Black Friday stampede in which a Wal-Mart worker was trampled to death, Nassau police said Wednesday.

Shoppers who remained inside their vehicles in the parking lot until the Valley Stream store's special 5 a.m. opening apparently clashed with people who had stood in line for hours outside Wal-Mart, police said.

When the store's doors opened, the conflict between the two groups - with "a considerable amount of people" who had stayed in their vehicles rushing to enter the store without waiting in line - fostered "mob mentality," Nassau Police Lt. Kevin Smith said.

"A whole lot of people started getting out of their cars and made a beeline for that door," Smith said, referring to the one set of doors open to shoppers.
"It's definitely a contributing factor - the mentality of 'They're not going to cut in front of me.' "

In the crush of an estimated 2,000 people, the set of doors was broken and Jdimytai Damour, 34, of Jamaica, was trampled, dying of asphyxiation, police said. No one has been charged in connection with the death, though police are investigating possible criminal charges.

Meanwhile, an attorney for Damour's family yesterday filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Wal-Mart in state Supreme Court in the Bronx, The Associated Press reported. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Elsie Damour Phillipe, the victim's sister.

In a written statement, Hank Mullany, president of Wal-Mart's Eastern Division, said the company is working to implement stronger safety measures.

"We consider Mr. Damour part of the Wal-Mart family, and are saddened by his death," Mullany said. "We have been in communication with members of his family to do what we can to help them through this difficult time. Our associates know that when incidents like this occur, we take care of our own."

The statement did not address the family's lawsuit.

Police reports on the Black Friday disturbance showed a total of five cases requiring medical attention, with people suffering injuries ranging from a broken ankle to complaints of pain, along with three reports of harassment and Damour's death, Smith said.

Police are learning about events leading up to the stampede and Damour's death by interviewing witnesses and examining the store's video surveillance cameras. They could not say how many people left their vehicles and rushed for the doors or how many vehicles were waiting in the parking lot before the Wal-Mart opened.

Attorneys interviewed by Newsday earlier in the week stated that the chances of charges being filed against anyone aren't good.

Police officials conceded that point. "The likelihood of our being able to find, identify and attribute criminality to them will be very difficult," Smith said.

Earlier that morning, Nassau police officers responded to the Wal-Mart at about 3 a.m. after receiving a call about a disturbance. The officers left about 20 minutes later because the crowd was orderly, Smith said.

Officers were called back to the store about 5 a.m. because Damour had been trampled.

A pregnant woman who police did not identify was taken to a hospital after the ruckus. Her water broke, but she did not have a miscarriage and was released from the hospital, police said.

The lawsuit filed by Damour's family is not the first in connection with stampede. On Monday, Fritz Mesadieu, 51, and his son Jonathan, 19, both of Hempstead, filed a notice of claim against Nassau County and a separate negligence suit against Wal-Mart.

They say that the county was negligent, alleging it failed to have proper police in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Their lawsuit seeks $2 million.