by wildcherry on Friday, November 28th, 2008 | News

Two people were killed in a shooting at a Palm Desert, California, Toys “R” Us store on Friday.

Three violent deaths in two stores marred the opening of the Christmas shopping season Friday.

In the first, a temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in a rush of thousands of early morning shoppers as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m., police said.

Here’s a cell phone video that captured the man after being trampled:

http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=7aUwmsi6Wc0

In the second violent incident on what is historically one of the year’s busiest shopping days, two men were shot dead in a Toys “R” Us in Palm Desert, California, after they argued in the store, police said.

The Wal-Mart worker, whom authorities did not identify, was 34 and lived in Queens, said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming.

“This was utter chaos as these men tried to open the door this morning,” Fleming said.

The California shootings occurred about 11:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), authorities said.

By the time police arrived, two men were dead from gunshot wounds, Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said. He said authorities are not seeking any other suspects.

Gutierrez said that the men did not appear to be store employees and that the dispute appeared unrelated to shopping.

“There was a confrontation inside of the store. But over a toy? I don’t think that is accurate,” he said.

In a written statement, Toys “R” Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh said the shooting appeared unrelated to the heavy shopping day.

“Our understanding is that this act seems to have been the result of a personal dispute between the individuals involved,” she said.

She said company officials were “outraged” by the shooting and were working with authorities to find out what happened.

Gutierrez said no one else in the store was injured. The store remained closed Friday afternoon as homicide investigators studied the scene.

Full story: Walmart death,2 Dies at ToysRus Palm dessert

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