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Competitive Shopping — Heavyweight Division

The “Black Friday” start to the holiday shopping season got off to a bang as shoppers tried to be first to get limited merchandise at the Walmart store in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles, Calif. Just after it opened its doors, about 100 people streamed in to vie for video games. “People started screaming, pulling and pushing each other,” one witness said, “and then the whole area filled up with pepper spray.” Apparently, one woman used the spray to push back other shoppers, and then moved to “gain preferred access to a variety of locations in the store,” said Los Angeles Fire Dept. Capt. James Carson; fire paramedics were called in to render first aid to at least 20 victims of her spray. “She was competitive shopping,” Carson said. The woman later turned herself in to police, who have declined to identify her as they research what charges might be filed against her. (RC/Los Angeles Times) ...Her trainer at U.C. Davis, meanwhile, says he is “very proud of her.”