Posted on 07/24/2006 6:12:21 AM PDT by Samwise
INDIANAPOLIS -- A 3-year-old boy was fatally injured when a floor-mounted mirror fell on him at an Indianapolis Wal-Mart.
Police said Christopher Antonio was apparently playing near the 5-foot-tall mirror in the children's section of the store Saturday evening when it fell at the store in the 3200 block of 86th Street.
The boy was with his 5-year-old sister and his mother. The mother told police she was about 5 feet away from her son when she heard a loud crash.
Police said it took two people to pull the mirror off the boy.
Cheap labor, arguably from illegal workers.
Floor-mounted mirror? What's that for, looking up girls skirts? And if it's floor-mounted, how did it fall?
I obviously don't have all of the facts either, but usually -- though not always -- there is some fault on both sides.
Oh puh leeze. You never shopped with two kids? Five feet is literally arms' reach plus one step.
Prayers for that family.
I see WalMart store manager to blame here. NO heavy floor display should be so moveable as to be that sensitive to tipping, even if pulled on by a 3 yr old.
Why wasn't the child in a cart, right there in front of the mother? It drives me nuts when I go to Walmart and see little (toddler) kids running all over the place. I can't count the number of times I've almost ran over a child with my cart because they came running out of a side aisle.
And 5 feet is a huge distace in Walmart, very easy to lose track of someone, especially if the store is busy.
Walmart should implement a safe child policy - if your child is not in a cart, positioned properly, they ask you to leave. I've seen our commissary do that a few times.
Very heavy floor mirrors don't usually fall over unless they have some help.
All that being said, prayers for the mother and Walmart.
Terrible. My friend was dining at a Famous Steakhouse when a Kangaroo fell on her head. I'm not making that up. It was mounted to the wall and it fell right on her head. Thankfully, she didn't die, but she was messed up alright.
"Tragic story...fingerpointing will begin soon, I fear."
You know, little kids never died in any sort of freak accidents until Wal-Mart showed up. /SARCASM ;)
(I seem to remember Adam Walsh being abducted from a Sears store at the mall; no one boycotted Sears.)
Replay of that TV that fell over on an infant several days ago....
I agree with you. Too often, I've seen kids in stores running amok and their parents do nothing about it. If the kid was playing on the mirror, the parents should reimburse Wal Mart for the loss of the mirror. But if the mirror spontaneously fell on the kid, Wal mart needs to be taken to the cleaners. Secure items simply don't fall. Something made it fall.
Very well put!
All floor mirrors are inheritably unstable.
I say again..All.
Puleeze you have no way of knowing who's fault this is, the kid might have not been touching a mirror which was improperly set up, he may have been climbing a secure mirror and broke it, or this could be a freak accident! Stop blaming the parent when you're clueless as to what happened..
Wow. Just wow. I cannot believe the callousness on this board and the ridiculous concern for Walmart's falling profits. So what if a pound of pickles goes up two cents!
Prayers for this little boy's family.
When I go to Home Depot, I try and leave the kids at home. If I must go, I keep them glued to my side. Too much stuff that could fall and the forklifts. However, going to Walmart, I am not as protective. I don't let them out of my sight. I just don't walk through the door thinking that something could kill them inside the store.
How does the parent bear responsibilty? If the mirror was not properly secured and it resulted in the death of the child, then Wal-Mart is liable.
You know, there are cases where businesses are to blame when people are injurred and/or killed.
The child was 3,why wasn't the boy in a cart under Moms control?
Yup. They were in the cart under my control.
The child was only 5 feet away. That is close enough. She had a reasonable expectation that heavy fixtures were not going to fall onto her child.
Every second of every day?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.