Two men shot and killed each other in a crowded Toys R Us shop in southern California on Friday as shoppers thronged to the sales on what is normally one of the biggest retail days of the year in the US.
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when retailers' balance sheets traditionally move into the black, instead brought tragedy across the country.
A Wal-Mart employee was killed when a crowd, which had gathered for a sale at a Long Island outlet, surged into the shop as the doors were being opened at 5am.
A "throng of shoppers ... physically broke down the doors, knocking him to the ground", local police said in a statement.
The 34-year-old died in the ensuing crush, while three shoppers were injured. The company, one of several large chains to open at dawn on Friday, had erected barricades and brought in additional security personnel for the day.
"Despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred," a Wal-Mart spokesman said.
The shootings at the Toys R Us in Palm Desert, 120 miles east of Los Angeles, came after two women shopping with children became involved in a fight near the checkout. As a crowd gathered around the bloody fight, Juan Meza, 28, who was with one of the women, stepped forward and pulled a gun from his pocket.
Another man, 39-year-old Alejandro Moreno, also produced a gun and chased Meza through the shop. The two men exchanged gunfire as terrified shoppers dropped to the floor or fled the store.
The bodies of the two men were found near the front of the shop, with two guns lying near them. Police refused to confirm whether the men were gang members, although they did say that the two knew each other.
Joan Barrick, who was at the checkout with her husband when the fight began, said: "I was scared. I didn't want to die today. I really didn't want to die today, and I think that's what we were all thinking."
The events came as analysts reacted with cautious optimism to stronger than expected sales figures for the Thanksgiving weekend. Retail sales figures on Friday were 3% up on the same day last year.
