A frenetic stampede in a Colombus Walmart store has left three people trampled to death and hundreds of injured after customers come to blows over toilet paper and pasta.
The coronavirus pandemics is leading more and more Americans to stockpile certain goods like masks, hand sanitizers and now, toilet paper.
A horde of several hundred panicked people literally stormed the Walmart store in Columbus this morning to stock up for the quarantine.
Things rapidly turned violent as goods like toilet paper and spaghetti started running out only ten minutes after the opening.
Jim Thompson, one of the store’s security guard who witnessed the whole scene, says dozens of fights broke out in less than a minute.
“Everyone was punching each other and rolling on each other with their carts. I saw a woman bite an old man and kick him repeatedly for 24 rolls of toilet paper.”
Mr. Thompson says that hundreds of bloodied customers were lying on the floor and dozens were still fighting when the Colombus Police Department crowd control unit arrived fifteen minutes later.
“Even while being handcuffed, some refused to let go of their pasta or corned beef. Even some of the elderly resisted their arrest to hang on to their goods.”
Three people died and a total of 174 others had to be transported to hospitals across the region, 23 of which are in critical conditions.
213 customers were also arrested under various charges, a number which could go up over the next hours according to the Columbus Police Department.
In a brief press release, the CPD asked the population to remain calm and promised increased police presence in retail stores for the duration of the quarantine.
