There is a site for folks who may have read the piecemeal reporting about separate
It is called BlackFridayDeathCount.com.
It's been up since 2008, but we just discovered it today. So we emailed the site's anonymous creator for more info.
We got a response back from a 28-year-old programmer from Los Angeles named Travis Dent. Here's what he said about the BlackFridayDeathCount.com's genesis:
"I started this project in 2008 when I bought the domain name after hearing about the first death. There would have to be more, right?
Not really intended to be a strong political message, or make any conclusions about the data, just be thought provoking. I am enjoying the commentary it's sparking."
Seems reasonable. Dent went on to explain that the site only goes back to 2006 because the site relies on stories published on the Internet for reference, and the volume of free news items about Black Friday starts to fall off prior to that date.
And he said he gets a steady stream of referral and correction stories, so he's "pretty confident" the count is correct.
Perhaps the site's greatest service is providing some perspective: Through seven years and for a population of more than 300 million, Black Friday in America has caused four deaths and 76 injuries.
That's still 80 casualties too many, but given the hand-wringing we now hear annually about the day, you'd be inclined to think it was much worse .