[Non-Sequitur]

Breaking open a box would have been wrong and possibly a reason for Costco to summon their security staff, but many sports drink packs come in plastic yokes, and individual drinks can be slipped out of and back into the yokes.

Not at box stores like Costco. You buy in bulk, and packages of things like Gatorade come in 30 or 36 bottle cases encased in shrink-wrapped plastic wrapping. Once broken open they can't be repackaged and sold, it's a loss to the store. Like I said, breaking it open for your own experiment may have been the act of a jackass but was hardly threatening. And certainly not worth killing over.

[HighWheeler]

If that’s the case, then the store manager should have made him pay for the merchandise, and not pay with his life.

[wardaddy]

You should be ashamed of yourself going to Costco.

Lib owned like Progressive Insurance.

spend your cash locally when you can.