Witness: Guns At Air Jordan Stampede

BURLINGTON, N.J. - Fox 29 went to the Burlington Center Mall after a crowd stampeded seeking Air Jordan 11 sneakers, and one witness says men threatened gunfire if they didn't get their shoes.

There was a national shopping frenzy on Friday over the Air Jordan sneakers and locally, a crowd got rowdy outside of Philadelphia.
Burlington Township police confirmed to Fox 29 that a stampede happened after 8 a.m. at the Burlington Center Mall on Mount Holly Road in New Jersey.

After we received reports of the crowd situation, Fox 29's Dave Kinchen went to the mall and talked to one eyewitness.

“The natives were getting restless. The initial call was that the doors were going to open at 6;30 just to let everyone in. Foot Locker opened at 7 or 8 o’clock. … People are boxing people out, the back of the line starts moving forward and the doors literally couldn’t open," said J.R. Santos.

“Security opened the door and it was complete mayhem,” Santos said, as at least 100 people converged on the store as in a brawl over eight pairs of sneakers.

Santos said people threatened to use guns at one point.

“It was a free for all. People were showing up with guns, threatening each other, “ Santos said. “A couple gentlemen walked up and said, ‘if I don’t get a pair of sneakers, I am going to spray the whole line.' ”

Santos said there weren’t arrests, but that was after Foot Locker sold their eight pair of sneakers, and police came about 20 minutes after the mad rush for shoes.

“Nobody ever explained there were just eight pair of sneakers,” Santos said.
The incident is similar other scenes around the country on Friday morning.

A crowd was reportedly hit with pepper spray in Seattle.

Similar incidents were reported in Dallas, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Washington, Staten Island and Kalamazoo.

Another crowd of shoppers in South Florida was also hit with pepper spray on Friday.

Shoppers fueled by the Internet and Twitter were seeking a new release of Air Jordan 11 "Concord" shoes. They were originally designed in 1995 and now retail for $195.

More than 700 pairs of Air Jordan 11 shoes have appeared on eBay, with bids reaching $500 a pair as of Friday morning.