According to their calculations, there's a 1-in-20 chance that a meteor would hit one flight over the past 20 years. Which isn't too crazy. But still, the odds of something so small falling from the sky and striking something else that's so small and moving so fast are close to nil, so while this is an interesting theory, the chances are good that it was just a malfunction of the airspeed indicators. [NY Times and Discover]

The man shot four of his kids in their beds, killed a fifth in the bathroom after a struggle, and then turned the gun on himself.

The moral of this story, if there even is a moral to sift out from this tragic mess, is that even though you can do something with technology, that doesn't mean you should. [Yahoo]

Minutes before crashing his train head-on into another train, he texted "I'm gonna do all the radio talkin' ... ur gonna run the locomotive & I'm gonna tell u how to do it" to a teenage rail enthusiast. He had multiple relationships with teenagers who were interested in railroads, and had let one of them into the locomotive cab within a week of the accident. He was so into talking to these kids that he had sent a whopping 43 texts and made four phone calls the day of the crash.

The moral of the story? If you're driving a train, pay attention, please. [SF Gate]

Daniel Petric was caught with Halo 3 on his way into the house after sneaking out to buy the game. His father then took it, placing the game in a lockbox—the same lockbox in which he stored his 9mm handgun.

Somehow, Petric retrieved his game and the gun from the lockbox. And according to his father, Petric entered the living room with a chilling request.

Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you.

At that point, he was said to shoot both of his parents in the head, killing his mother.

Petric's lawyers gave an opening statement mentioning that he'd suffered from a severe staph infection and found himself homebound to games and television for a year.

As of late, video games seem inundated with tragedy. [Cleveland via Kotaku]

Enhanced audio from a cellphone video combined with eyewitness accounts have revealed some truly monstrous behavior. For example: as a paramedic fought to save his life, an onlooker was heard to shout "pregnant" when Damou's belly was exposed from underneath his shirt. Several women in the crowd then laughed at the remark.

Furthermore, an eyewitness who suffered a broken arm in the incident described a chaotic scene. She asked a police officer to do something saying "Can't you see the crowd is out of control?" The officer replied sarcastically: "I'm surprised we haven't heard gunshots yet."

Honestly, I don't even know how to express how depressing this is. [Seattle Times via The Consumerist]

Naturally, the family of victim Jdimytai Damour is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Walmart, the adjacent Green Acres Mall, the company that manages the property and the company in charge of security. In their view Wamart was "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem and was otherwise careless, reckless and negligent."

Despite his 6-5, 270 pound stature, Damour died of asphyxiation when trampled by the 2000+ shoppers that fled into the store that night. The amount that the family is suing for has not been disclosed, but I'm sure that they will get what they ask for. Not that money is much consolation mind you—especially when it appears that the shoppers involved will most likely get away scot free. [MSNBC Thanks Matt!]

Oh, and to make matters worse, the police investigation of the surveillance tape is not turning up any leads—so the people involved in the incident will most likely get away scott free.

[SeattlePi via Crunchgear]

Why was there no line set up? Why didn't they let in a reasonable amount of people at a time? What kind of method is it to just allow hundreds of people to cram up against the doors, waiting for them to open? They may have wanted some photo op of people surging through the doors, but they willfully created a very dangerous situation.

Can you imagine if, say, the Apple store did this when the iPhone was launched? Or when the Wii was launched? When a large amount of people are expected for a retail event, organization is needed, otherwise it creates a dangerous situation. This man's death is on WalMart's hands.

As for the people who did the trampling, well, I hope their cheap crap was worth it. They'll have to live with the human costs of their deals for the rest of their lives. [NY Daily News]

More Advice for the Black Friday Fray:
• The aforementioned Ultimate Survival Guide.
• 5 Gadgets You Can't Skimp On (And How to Save Money Buying Them)
• Best of Black Friday Deals Complete Roundup">All the best deals in one place
• Plus these late breaking ones from Cupertino: Apple Black Friday Deals Include Some Decent Third-Party Discounts
• Warnings: 7 Crappy Black Friday "Deals" That Aren't Really
• How To Choose an HDTV on Black Friday (or Any Day)
• How to set up that new HDTV you just got.

Photochop Contest:
• Brutally Honest Black Friday Ads Showcase Retailers on the Brink

Why You Might Want to Avoid Shopping on Black Friday, altogether:
• 10 Reasons We're Doomed: Black Friday Edition
• WalMart Worker Trampled to Death by Deal-Crazed Black Friday Shoppers

[Complete Black Friday Gadget Coverage at Giz]

[TokyoMango]

The Akihabara district is known to gadget lovers the world over as Japan's gizmodic heart. Today, though, a 25-year-old man named Tomohiro Kato allegedly drove his rented van into a crowd of people, then jumped out stabbing more people, including those he'd already hit with the vehicle. Reuters says that among the reported dead were six men aged 19 to 74—one who may have died from a heart attack—as well as a 21-year-old woman.
[Story and photo gallery at Reuters]
[Murky video and additional pics and maps at BBC]
[More local details at AP Japan]

Just three units are available—yes, you too could be one of the top three plonkers in the world should you choose to become one in Le Million club. Anyway, they're on sale in Russia now, so perhaps Vladimir Putin, with the Man of the Year's fortune recently estimated by some to be as much as $40 billion, would like to snap up all three, gifting one to Hu, one to Bush, and keeping the red one for himself.[Born Rich]

Our poll yesterday, whether the 10 responsible employees should face legal repercussions, was pretty even until the audio clip of the actual show was found. The audio clip showed a lack of health concern or overall responsibility by the DJs and made the blood boil of many Gizmodoites (including myself).

I didn't pass the bar, but I know a little bit—so wouldn't this situation depend on what specifically was stated in the required waivers for the criminal investigation? Or would it even matter what the waivers said? –Travis Hudson

Criminal Investigation Into Radio Wii Death [Kotaku]

Update: And the plot thickens. Commenter Auger282 found this live recording of the actual show where the DJs joked about water intoxication, and emphasized the fact that release forms were needed to be signed. Just go take a listen for yourself and prepare to be shocked.

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

–Travis Hudson

Ten Sacked over U.S. Water Wii Contest [Metro]