Wal-Mart employee killed; 2 killed in shooting at Toys R Us

(CNN) - Three violent deaths in two stores marred the opening of the
Christmas shopping season Friday.

In the first, a temporary Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death in a rush of thousands of early-morning shoppers as he and other employees attempted to unlock the doors of a Long Island, New York, store at 5 a.m., police said.

In the second violent incident on what is historically one of the year's busiest shopping days, two men were shot dead in a Toys R Us in Palm Desert, California, after they argued in the store, police said.

The Wal-Mart worker, whom authorities did not identify, was 34 and lived in Queens, said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Michael Fleming.

"This was utter chaos as these men tried to open the door this morning," Fleming said.