Crush Point
John Seabrook on crowd studies, human crushes, and the effort to prevent stampedes and deaths in places where large groups gather, such as stadiums and festival grounds.
Jdimytai Damour was thirty-four, six feet five, four hundred eighty pounds—one of the large employees positioned to help anyone who fell when Walmart opened its doors at 5 a.m. on Black Friday. Two thousand shoppers had been chanting "Push the doors in!" The police had already left, saying crowd control was "not in their job description."