
People walk through Macy's Herald Square store during early opening for Black Friday sales in Manhattan, New York, U.S., November 24, 2016.
The day after Thanksgiving signals the start of the Christmas gift shopping season. The name supposedly refers to profits that put retailers' accounts 'in the black.' On the downside, many shoppers wanting early access to popular products sometimes literally fight each other for the privilege - sometimes to the death.
Three suspects have been arrested after a shooting at the Wolfchase Galleria mall in Memphis, Tennessee, police said. Multiple vehicles were hit by gunfire, and one person was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Witnesses told WHBQ-TV that "at least 40 shots were fired."
A 33-year-old man was shot and killed in a dispute over a parking spot outside a Walmart in Reno, Nevada, on Thursday evening, local police said. He reportedly got into a dispute with another man, and both were armed. Police have identified the people involved, and the investigation is ongoing.
One man was killed and another injured in a shooting at a parking lot outside a Macy's store in Mays Landing, in Hamilton Township, New Jersey. The deceased was identified as a 20-year-old male from Atlantic City, shot "multiple times." His brother, 26, is being treated for a gunshot wound in the leg. Police are still searching for a suspect.
In stores across the US, shoppers came to blows over holiday sales, in some cases requiring police intervention.
At a Walmart in Houston, Texas, one man lost his shorts trying to hold on to a $99 children's car.
Police intervened after brawling shoppers knocked over a product stand at a Walmart in Moline, Illinois.
Here is a video of a run on towels in Bainbridge, Georgia, taken by Nancy Pritchett.





but when you have a population that acts this way during times of relative prosperity, just imagining what would happen during a major nation-wide catastrophe is scary.