Police in Missouri opened a criminal investigation after a wild altercation that may have involved more than twenty customers broke out there and was videotaped.
Around nine o’clock on Tuesday night, a violent brawl broke out inside the big-box store’s self-checkout area, off West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb.
People are aggressively beating, kicking, and stomping on one other while yelling profanities in a cellphone video of the altercation, which has since gone viral on social media sites.
Some of the combatants pick up poles and other things and beat their opponents with them. Others spray fire extinguishers, startling bystanders and sending them running for their life, even shopping with children.
Between 10 and 25 persons appeared to have been involved in the altercation, according to Ferguson Police Chief Frank McCall, who called it “disgraceful.”
The commotion that was captured on camera, according to the town’s top constable, came after a minor issue that was allegedly handled internally and without police assistance earlier that evening.
“Apparently, it kicked back up shortly thereafter,” McCall said.
Police said they believe those involved in the fracas knew each other.
“We’ve never had an incident that involved 20 individuals in a brawl like that in a department store,” McCall told KSDK. “I don’t see really the purpose of it.”
