Continuing a sobering College Fix tradition, we bring you our annual report on holiday sneaker violence. Last year, we reported on a number of riots and stabbings, etc, that occurred in U.S. shopping malls among mobs of shoppers desperate to get the latest Air Jordan athletic shoes:
In Georgia, a mob of hundreds lined up, beginning at midnight, waiting for the shopping mall to open at 8 a.m. But they got tired of waiting, so a number of them simply broke into the mall.
Police found that one woman had left two small children, ages 5 and 1, unattended in her car while she vied with the mob for shoes. Remember the old TV jingle: “Like Mike, if I could be like Mike?” Apparently some people take that maxim so seriously they are willing to resort to child endangerment.
In Houston, a man who bought a pair of Air Jordans was beaten and a female companion stabbed. After the brutal assault, his attackers carefully removed and made off with his shoes.
This year we have a pitiful case of murder-for-sneakers to report. The Houston Chronicle reports that a man was shot and killed shortly after purchasing several pair of Air Jordan shoes:
[Joshua] Wood was shot about 10:30 a.m. Friday in the 1700 block of Plumwood near Hallfield in northwest Harris County.
He was trying to move from the passenger seat of a car to the driver’s seat to escape two armed men demanding his new Nike Air Jordan shoes, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
He and another man had bought several pairs of the newly released Air Jordan XI “Bred” sneakers earlier that morning at Willowbrook Mall and then drove home.
As the driver stopped at his house, a green four-door car pulled up in front of him, the sheriff’s office said.
An armed man got out of the green car and demanded the newly purchased shoes, which retail for about $185.
The driver took off running, with the armed man shooting at him, leaving Wood, the passenger, behind.
As the driver knocked on a neighbor’s door for help, he heard more gunfire, which turned out to be another man firing shots at Wood.
All for a few pair of shoes…
This is one of those moments when you ask yourself: What is our world coming to?
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