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US-ECONOMY-BLACK FRIDAY

Source: STAN HONDA / Getty

This year’s Black Friday shopping has turned violent—once again—with at least six people shot and two dead. 

According to the New York Daily News, there were four separate shootings — one at a New Jersey Macy’s, two in Tennessee and one at a Nevada Walmart. None of the attacks took place inside the stores, instead they occurred outside as shoppers lined up to get into the stores. 

The victims included:

  • Twenty-year-old Demond Cottman was shot and killed around 1 a.m. on Friday morning in front of a mall in Atlantic City, CBS Philadelphia reported. His brother Shadi Cottman was also shot in the leg.

  • An unidentified 33-year-old was gunned down on Thursday night in a driveway leading up to a Reno, Nevada Walmart. According to KOLO 8 News, the victim and the shooter were arguing over a parking spot.
  • A 21-year-old Tennessee man was critically wounded in a Thursday night shooting at a local mall and two more Tennesseans were shot when gunfire erupted outside a mall in Chattanooga after a fight happened inside, says WRCB.

Witnesses outside of the Atlantic City shooting shared their fear about participating in the iconic shopping day.

It’s sad. We’ve been doing this, me and my girls, for probably about 10 years now, just for the fun of going out — a girls’ night and trying to get some special sales and it’s getting scary now,” one shopper told the New York Post at the scene.

Another told CBS: It’s very scary, you know, you’re starting off the holiday season and you’re excited about the upcoming times with family and now there’s going to be family who are missing people and their holidays will never be the same.

Black Friday violence is not new or rare in the United States. According to BlackFridayDeathCount.Com, between the years 2006-2014, there have been seven deaths and 98 injuries across the country.

In the end, shopping and saving a few dollars should never result in this type of violence.

RELATED LINKS:

The Ultimate Black Friday 2016 List

Blackout For Human Rights Kicks Off Third Annual #BlackOutFriday Boycott

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