Black Friday shopper shot in SF Bay area robbery attempt
A San Leandro police officer, right, holds a bloody shirt as evidence is gathered at the scene of a shooting at Wal-Mart on Hesperian Boulevard, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, in San Leandro, Calif. Gunfire rang out about 1:50 a.m. and a man was shot in a robbery attempt. Despite major injuries, police said he was in stable condition. (AP Photo/Bay Area News Group, Jane Tyska) MANDATORY CREDIT; MAGS OUT
SAN LEANDRO, Calif.>> A Black Friday shopper was hospitalized in critical but stable condition after he was shot by an armed robber in a crowded parking lot outside a Walmart store in Northern California, police said.
The victim and his family were walking to their car around 1:45 a.m. when they were confronted by a group of men who demanded their purchases.
When the family refused, a fight broke out, and one of the robbers pulled a gun and shot the man, San Leandro police Sgt. Mike Sobek said. The victim’s name was not released.
"It looks like he’s going to live," Sobek said. "The suspects saw these guys, got out of their car and tried to rob them but were unsuccessful."
During the fracas, other family members wrestled down one of the suspects, 20-year-old Tony Phillips, who was arrested by officers on suspicion of attempted homicide and attempted robbery, police said.
A call to a sheriff’s spokesman to determine if Phillips had a lawyer was not immediately returned.
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Police were looking for at least three other people involved in the shooting, including the gunman, who fled in a car.
Investigators were reviewing video from a surveillance camera mounted outside the store. "The footage is a bit grainy, but we’re hoping it gives us a better idea of what happened," Sobek said.
Witnesses said the Walmart parking lot was crowded with Black Friday shoppers at the time, and the store was briefly closed as police investigated.
Also Friday, a man was stabbed outside a Sacramento mall in an apparent gang-related incident as Black Friday shoppers were hitting the stores.
The victim was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The stabbing stemmed from a fight between two groups around 3 a.m. in front of a Macy’s department store at the Arden Fair Mall. The store had opened at midnight to offer shoppers post-Thanksgiving deals.
Richard Swift, a witness, told KCRA-TV that the stabbing involved three men and began when one of them made a comment about women who were with two other men.
No arrests have been made. Police were hoping surveillance video will help identify the suspects.
