10 Worst Black Friday Scuffles, Fights and Horror Stories

Don’t be part of an altercation that goes viral this Black Friday. | Shutterstock.

Ah, Black Friday, the holiday we simultaneously love and detest. It’s perplexing, really, that the single most greedy day of the year falls just after (or, in many cases, on) the holiday for which we gather to give thanks for the things we have in life. In a matter of hours, a solemn, thankful bunch of people can turn into raging, sale-hungry beasts. It’s actually quite alarming.

We’ve rounded up the best of the worst of Black Friday shenanigans, from ladies lying on flatscreen TVs to parking-lot stabbings, to remind us of the embarrassing scuffles of years past. May they serve as a reminder of the horrors that once occurred, lest we repeat our savage ways. If this doesn’t deter you from venturing out this Black Friday, at least consider yourself warned. Let’s all leave the stun guns at home this year, but not your dignity – please bring this with you.

• The number one rule of shopping on Black Friday (or just life in general): Don’t fight with the cops. It won’t end well for you, as this woman found after she was tasered by security in the Walmart checkout line. [Gawker]

• A police officer was sent to the hospital with a broken wrist after trying to break up a parking lot brawl outside a California Walmart two years ago. Walmart security did not increase its numbers in the aftermath, claiming they are “comfortable with the safety and security plans” already in place. Great. [The Sun]

• Let’s not forget about the police officer that was dragged by getaway car through a Kohl’s parking lot while three shoplifters attempted to flee. The driver was shot in the arm by backup officers, stopping their getaway and saving the officer attached to the car. [Chicago Tribune]

• Slightly closer to home, yet another Walmart parking lot was home to a violent outbreak – this time, a DC man got stabbed over a parking lot space. The attacker cut him in the arm, “slicing down to the bone.” [dcist]

• A woman was trampled last year by a tech-crazed crowd stampeding to reach a fresh display of marked down tablets in a Utah (you guessed it) Walmart. Bottom line: Just steer clear of Walmart. [The Sun]

•  At the Oxford Valley Mall last year, a man was caught impersonating a veteran in hopes of scoring a military discount on top of the deals already in place. A real veteran stopped him in the mall to call him out, filming this video that went viral shortly after. [Philly Mag]

• Still not convinced that this holiday brings out the worst in people? You must have forgotten about these two women who got in a stun-gun fight at the Franklin Mills Mall two years ago right in front of a baby stroller. [Philly Mag]

• Is there no dignity left in Black Friday shopping? These clips and images would suggest, well, no. Don’t believe me? Scroll ahead to that that lady clinging to a flatscreen TV like it’s her firstborn child being taken from her arms. [Huffington Post]

• It is a true sign of the times that a website exists called Blackfridaydeathcount.com. Disturbing, yes, but are you surprised? [Black Friday Death Count]

• If this is all getting a bit too depressing and real for you, watch this video of Chrissy Tiegen and a few model friends fighting over shoes like there’s no tomorrow. If only we could all look so gorgeous while scrapping for that last pair of boots. [Fashionista]

Happy – and safe – shopping this Black Friday, my friends.