25 Most Unbelievable Black Friday Disasters

Posted by , Updated on January 4, 2024

It’s hard to believe that Black Friday disasters happen in a civilized society. In the United States, Black Friday falls on the day after Thanksgiving and it’s traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. Retailers provide deep discounts on various limited items and people go through great lengths to take advantage of these deals. Unfortunately, people have acted horribly towards each other resulting in injuries and even death. The Black Friday mayhem is real and disturbing. These are 25 most horrible Black Friday disasters you won’t believe happened.

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25

So you know how things on Black Friday are first come, first serve? As in, there may be an ad for a $5 waffle iron, but there are only six of them in the store? Well, in 2011 one women in LA came up with a clever way to make sure she beat all the other people waiting in line to the items she wanted - when the items were unveiled, she just started pepper spraying the other shoppers.

pepper spraySource: http://www.brainjet.com
24

When a shopping center in California decided to drop 500 gift certificates from the ceiling to over 2,000 shoppers, ten people were injured. They didn't really think that through.

giftcardsSource: http://www.brainjet.com/
23

In 2011 Security at an Arizona Walmart spotted an elderly man tucking a video game into his waistband on Black Friday. They responded, reasonably, by beating him bloody until he had to go the hospital. The man was putting the video game in his waistband so he could use two hands to pick up his grandson. GOOD JOB WALMART, you beat up grandpa. Please keep Rudolph away from the hunting section.

videogamedisplaySource: http://www.mirror.co.uk/
22

Cutting in line is a bad idea. Particularly on the busiest shopping day of the year. One young woman in Wisconsin decided to deal with the backlash by threatening to shoot people who disagreed with her decision to not wait like everyone else. Her excuse was that everyone was cutting in line.

skipping lineSource: http://www.mirror.co.uk
21

Customers in a Florida Wal Mart got into so many fights over GPS devices that were on sale that the GPS started getting thrown around. Because if the person you're punching can't have it, no one should. "It's that time of year when the world falls in love. Every song you hear seems to say 'Merry Christmas, may your New Year dreams come true'"....

GPS2Source: http://www.brainjet.com
20

Also in California, in Palm Desert, a fight between two women over a toy inside a Toys R Us ended when the men with them pulled out guns and started shooting. The men shot each other to death. I can't think of a single toy worth that.

Toys_R_Us_Military_Circle_Mall_Norfolk_VASource: http://www.brainjet.com/
19

A woman in her 70s was separated from her daughter and trampled, causing injuries, at a Brandsmart in Florida. Nothing says "Merry Christmas Grandma!" like some moderate to severe injuries.

brandsmartSource: http://www.obsev.com
18

In 2009 an old man from Queens was shot over his new flat screen tv he was bringing home. He survived, and while the violent robbers did get away, they didn't get away with the tv, because it wouldn't fit in their car.

flatscreen1Source: http://www.nydailynews.com
17

"I have witnessed two people fist fight.....over a (expletive deleted) toaster," That's is NOT what Deck the Halls means, y'all...Fa la la la la...

toasterSource: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
16

In 2009, a rare non 24 hour Walmart in Upland, CA decided to go crazy and stay open all night to reduce the Black Friday violence and lines. Good plan, right? Except that customers started tearing into still boxed items that weren't meant to be sold yet and got into fights, while customers still outside started trying to break into the already crowded store. It's like Stephen King writes this, except all the $200 TVs would be cursed objects.

walmartblackfridaymobSource: https://www.gobankingrates.com
15

"Walmart story time. A couple years ago, when the sale started, there was a surge of people trying to get their stuff. One lady got knocked down and her pen went straight into her neck, thankfully missing the jugular ... No one tried to help. They just walked over her to get their deal items. An associate that saw it happen had to stand over (the) top (of) her to protect her from getting trampled. When the ambulance crew arrived they had to literally shove people out of the way because no one would move. People suck

dependent-dementia-woman-oldSource: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
14

A 22 year old woman named Nadia Ezaldein was shot in a Nordstrom in Chicago on Black Friday 2014. The shooter was her Ex boyfriend. Her family had been planning a surprise birthday party for her after she got off work. There was a history of assault with the shooter,

NordstromSource: http://abc7chicago.com
13

In 2014 five people got into a fistfight at Kohl's on Black Friday for "unknown reasons". The women had cuts on their faces and one person had to be taken to the hospital. Considering that there aren't normally boughts of fisticuffs on Khol's parking lots other days of the year, we're gonna blame the Black Friday madness.

KohlsSource: http://abc7.com
12

"Today, one of our male customers hit another male customer upside the head with a crock pot. What were they fighting over? The crock pot. Both customers had to be dragged out of the store by the police."

crock potSource: Reddit.com User: pandacoot
11

In 2015 a man named Isidro Zarate tried to break up a fight in a Walmart parking lot. Specifically, he told a man to stop beating on a woman. The man shot him, and he died. The woman who was being beaten was also injured and a stray bullet hit a woman inside the walmart who had nothing to do with what was going on. Stay home on Black Friday. Obviously people are on edge, tempers flare, and bad people aren't going to stay home.

Isidro ZarateSource:https://www.washingtonpost.com
10

In West Virginia a 61 year old shopper at Target collapsed and people pretty much ignored him and literally walked over him to keep shopping. He died later at the hospital. One has to wonder if getting help more quickly could've changed the outcome. Even if not, stepping over someone in medical distress to shop officially makes you a terrible, no good, very bad person.

TargetCrowdSource: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
9

"Back in my poor college days when I worked at Walmart we had a fight break out over a bike. Fists were thrown and there was some blood. Eventually one guy got a hold of it and managed to get away from the crowd, he rode the bike out of the store to flee his pursuers (without paying)."

old-bikeSource: Reddit.com User: KnowMatter
8

In 2014 shoppers at a Texas Walmart literally climbed on top of each other to get to TVs that were on sale. Police stepped in to attempt to prevent injuries but were...ignored. Because who wants to listen to police when there's a cheap flatscreen up for grabs?

Walmarts-Pre-Black-FridaySource: https://www.gobankingrates.com
7

Two people died on Black Friday 2016 in a shooting at a New Jersey mall. The mall closed at Midnight on Thanksgiving and was going to reopen at 6am, the shooting happened at 3:30 am, so it's assumed they were waiting for the mall to open, like the witnesses were.

murderSource: https://nypost.com
6

"I've thrown one punch in my life. It was on black Friday. So it was the year the (Xbox)360 came out. I was standing in line to get some external hard drive next to the video games. And there was this 11ish year old kid with a woman in her 60s. He was waiting for his 360 bundle. Woman before him had "gotten the last one," sighs all around. Then he says "nope one more" and begins the motion of handing it to the kid and this guy comes out of no where and pushed the older woman and the kid. The kid hit his face on the edge of a video game rack, you know the one with the metal and plastic dividers. At 19 years old I don't know what came over me but I instantly swung for the dudes head and caught him right in the temple sending him into a kurig tower in the middle of the Isle. Everyone froze, including me. Guy had dropped the 360 and got up and walked away. I slid it with my foot to the kid and he didn't say anything either."

Xbpx360Source: Reddit.com User: Ruckus55
5

A Marine reservist was stabbed on Black Friday in 2010, in Georgia, for attempting to stop someone who was stealing a laptop. The Marine had been manning the Toys for Tots drop-off station when the man made a run for it and pulled a knife.

US_Navy_041205-N-1113S-005_A_seven-year-old_gives_an_electronic_toy_game_to_a_Marine_Corps_Gunnery_SgtSource: http://www.nydailynews.com
4

At a Florida Walmart (and seriously, why do so many of these things happen at Walmart?) two people were fighting over a parking spot. A man and a woman ended up stumbling into the garden center with gunshot wounds. HONESTLY. It's the 21st century, do we have to tell people not to cause physical harm over a parking spot?

Parking lotSource: http://www.brainjet.com
3

In 2012 a family had been out shopping for so long that dad was more tired than he realized, and fell asleep driving. The crash killed his 20 year old daughter and his 23 year old daughter who was engaged.

Accident-Vehicle-Crash-White-Car-TransportationSource: http://www.nydailynews.com
2

A 24 year old Walmart employee named Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death by customers on Black Friday in 2008. Who are these people that are trampling to go shopping? Mob mentality is real, and it's deadly.

WalmartSource: http://www.nydailynews.com
1

That same day at the same Walmart, a woman who was eight months pregnant lost the child she was carrying. That's 2 lives lost for cheap discounts. A mother who spent the Holiday season mourning a child she never got to hold. Maybe we should all take a moment and re-think what Christmas and the Holidays are really about.

Pregnancy-Pregnant-Gestation-Pregnant-Woman-BabySource: http://www.mirror.co.uk


Image Credits: 25. Shutterstock, 24. 401(K) 2012 via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0, 23. Mike Mozart via flickr CC BY 2.0, 22. The Pug Father via flickr CC BY 2.0, 21. Shutterstock, 20. Mike Kalasnik from Fort Mill, USA via commons.wikimedia.org CC BY-SA 2.0, 19. BrandsMart U.S.A via brandsmartusa.com (Fair use), 18. Shutterstock, 17. Public Domain, 16. yancy9 via flickr CC BY 2.0, 15. Public Domain, 14. Author unknown via en.wikipedia.org CC BY 2.5, 13. Kohl’s via commons.wikimedia.org CC BY 2.0, 12. Mike Mozart via flickr CC BY 2.0, 11. Photo of Isidro Zarate via expressnews.com (Fair use), 10-9. Public Domain, 8. Walmart Ad used as illustration via thekrazycoupnlady.com (Fair Use), 7. Public Domain, 6. Javier Donoso via commons.wikimedia.org CC BY-SA 3.0, 5. Public Domain, 4. Shutterstock, 3-1. Public Domain. Thumbnail image: Powhusku via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0