PrintNovember 27, 2010
Black Friday Door Buster; Let me in line or I'll shoot you
The feeding frenzy known as the Black Friday Door Buster never ceases to amaze. Those once in a lifetime deals that retailers dangle like a piece of meat in a tank full of piranha have a way of bringing out the worst in some people.
Thursday night in the great liberal bastion of Madison, Wisconsin (the San Francisco of the Mid-West) hundreds of shoppers were lined up in front of the Toys “R” Us store at the West Towne Mall when 21 year-old Lanessa Lattimore tried to sneak into line. WMTV reports:
Nichole Retallick says she confronted Lattimore and that’s when things got serious.“We just kind of got into an argument and then she decided that she was going to tell me that she was going to her car and get a gun and shoot me in the face,” said Retallick.
Ms. Retallick had been waiting in the incredibly long line for what must have seemed like an eternity when Lattimore tried to breach the line.
“I knew no one else would say anything, everyone just kind of looked and let her go, I’m not the kind of person to just get stepped on like that,” said Retallick.
When the police arrived they questioned the shoppers and according to Ms. Retallick 15-20 people who had witnessed the confrontation came forward to back up her story. The incident report filed by the Madison Police Department states that:
On 11/26/10, several hundred shoppers were waiting in line for the Toys “R” Us store to open when a 21-year-old woman attempted to move to the front of the line.She was confronted by numerous shoppers and in turn she made threats to retrieve a gun and shoot the shoppers.No gun was found and the suspect was arrested for disorderly conduct and taken to the Dane County Jail.
Lattimore denies that she tried to cut into line and further denied that she had made any threats claiming that she does not have a gun. Lattimore said “I don’t do violent acts, I’m not a violent person” and she added that “I just feel like I’m being, in a way, victimized.”
On a positive note I would like to report that I witnessed no pushing, shoving, threats, rude behavior, long lines or unpleasantness during my Black Friday shopping this year…on line.
November 27, 2010
