'A lot of security' at LI store where worker died

At the Valley Stream Walmart, lines were long but orderly and security was heavy on Black Friday, two years after a stampede of post-Thanksgiving shoppers caused the death of a temporary worker there.

A line of shoppers snaked along the front of the building and curved around the parking lot, filled with people hoping they weren't too late for the laptop computer and TV bargains.

Bakari Jenkins, 27, of St. Albans, Queens, took a team approach: He and his two brothers showed up together and fanned out through the store looking for deals.

"I want to get my Christmas shopping done early," Jenkins said as he shopped in the electronics aisle. Still, he said, the chaos of the store made him reconsider whether he'll go back next year.

"We're getting too old to do this Black Friday stuff," Jenkins joked.

A company spokesman did not give sales volume or an estimate of the crowd, but there was a steady stream of shoppers at the store, some of whom had camped out since early Thanksgiving evening.

Tanisha Clarke, 27, of Jamaica, and her husband, Donald, had been at the Walmart since 10 p.m. Thursday, waiting for a chance to buy two TVs. They emerged with their purchases - and smiles on their faces - roughly eight hours later.

"It was good," Clarke said of waiting in line. "We met people and exchanged numbers. It was better than last year."

While many shoppers knew of the 2008 incident in which a mob of Black Friday customers crushed Jdimytai Damour, 34, a temporary worker, as they rushed inside, people said they felt secure this time around.

"I think they did a good job," said Stephanie Vasquez, 17, of Valley Stream. "They had a lot of security."

Walmart used fencing to create a snaking, orderly line to the entrance, and posted security guards along the line and at the front to control the number of people allowed into the store at once.

"The incident that occurred two years ago was a tragedy and we don't want anything like that to happen again here or anywhere," said Wal-Mart spokesman Greg Rossiter.

The store used a voucher system to handle the demand for laptops and other hot items. Still, many shoppers emerged either empty-handed or with a more expensive product than they had intended on buying. At 5:30 a.m., security guards with bullhorns announced that the hottest deals were already sold out.Lincoln Heron, 40, of Westbury joined the long line in front of Walmart at 5 a.m. in order to get a TV.

"I'm trying to find a cheap price," Heron said. "It's crazy."