Damour was pronounced dead an hour later at Franklin Hospital. He had gotten the job through a temporary-employment agency.
Damour likely died from positional asphyxia, "which means he was in fact trampled to death," said Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey.
Damour was knocked down in the vestibule between the exterior and interior sets of doors. There was a "surge" in the crowd of about 2,000 people that likely contributed to the incident, according to police. Other employees protected themselves by climbing on top of soft drink machines in the vestibule to avoid a similar fate.
Mulvey said that in his opinion, the store did not have adequate security. He said that several employees, including Damour, were responsible for crowd control even though they were not trained security guards.
Eight other people were injured in the incident, including a 28-year-old pregnant woman, who was transported to an area hospital for observation.
The store was closed after the incident, but re-opened in the early afternoon, and shoppers did not appear deterred by the morning incident.
According to an advertisement for the Valley Stream Wal-Mart, the store was offering several deals on Black Friday from 5 to 11 a.m. including LCD high-definition television sets as low as $388, as well as sales on digital cameras, GPS systems and Blu-ray players. The lack of security and organization, coupled with the bargains and heavy marketing, created a "recipe for disaster," Mulvey said.
The Nassau County Legislature's public safety committee, chaired by Joseph Scannell (D-Baldwin), is in the process of drafting a "Door-Buster Safety" bill that could set minimum security requirements for stores, require setbacks from main entrances and set a limit on the number of people that can be let in at one time.
The committee heard from several police, security and retail experts at a public hearing on Dec. 10. Mulvey also met with security leaders from several large stores in Nassau County on Dec. 15.
The New York Committee of Occupational Safety and Health and the Workplace Project held a rally at the entrance to the Green Acres Mall on Dec. 21 to protest Wal-Mart. About a dozen people held signs to draw support from passing by motorists.
