Pepper-spraying Black Friday Shopper Turns Herself In

UPDATE: After the adrenaline from the country's biggest shopping day wore off, perhaps a little bit of conscience finally re-asserted itself in the brain of the week's most notorious consumers. 

The Los Angeles woman who used pepper spray for her "competitive shopping" against other Wal-Mart customers on Black Friday has turned herself in, according to the Associated Press. The woman, whose identity has not been released, turned herself in Friday night, according to Police Sgt. Jose Valle.

According to Sgt. Valle, the incident occured as the unnamed woman and other shoppers lined up to get at discounted Xbox video game consoles. The woman began spraying people to get an advantage. She is not currently in custody, but law enforcement says she may face battery charges.

With 20 people suffereing minor injuries, the L.A. pepper spray event proved just one of several incidents of violence arising from intense shopping and deal-hunting in the wake of Thanksgiving.

One of the worst stories came out of Phoenix, where grandfather Jerrald Allen Newman was badly bloodied by police who thought he was shoplifting--when really the 54-year-old was trying to help his grandson, who was being trampled by other shoppers. Newman put a video game in his waistband while trying to help the boy; police said he resisted arrest, which is why they leg-sweeped Newman, who then hit his head, suffering a bloody nose and later receiving four stitches.

Wal-Mart meanwhile acknowledged to Talking Points Memo that there were "a few unfortunate incidents," but that "overall, it's been a very safe event."

Update Nov. 25 12:54 p.m.: And the stories are still coming. In Northern California, a man was shot in a Wal-Mart parking lot after refusing to give up his Black Friday bounty to robbers, according to the Associated Press.

He was coming out of a San Leandro Wal-Mart store with his family when two armed robbers demanded they hand over their purchases. When the family refused to do so, a fight ensued and a man was shot. The would-be robbers fled the scene before police arrived; the man is in an area hospital in stable condition. The Wal-Mart store "was briefly closed while police investigated."

Original post Friday Nov. 25 10:06 a.m.: Pepper spray--it's not just for police any more; civilians can use it too!

A woman in Los Angeles exemplified the Black Friday competitive spirit Thursday night by using it against many of her fellow shoppers, in a mad rush at a Los Angeles Wal-mart. 

The Los Angeles Times reports that the suspect was trying to get first dibs on electronics that were unveiled late Thursday night (Wal-mart started Black Friday at 10 p.m. Thursday this year).

The woman was attempting “to gain preferred access to a variety of locations in the store,” Los Angeles Fire Captain James Carson told the L.A. Times. “She was competitive shopping.”

20 people, including children, were injured in the incident — some during “rapid crowd movement,” perhaps while trying to get away from the woman. The suspect is still at large. Perhaps the authorities should check Macy’s or Target?

Meanwhile other Black Friday violence broke out in other areas, like a North Carolina shopping center where two suspects fired guns before running into the mall. Thankfully no one was injured in either incident, and, shockingly, the stores involved stayed open!

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