Wendy McDermott went to Wal-Mart to purchase a Playstation 2 — instead she got a bruised shoulder and was pushed into a clearance rack.

“My shoulder is black — I got slammed,” said McDermott, senior in liberal arts and sciences. “It was like an ocean of people.”

The Playstation 2 game systems were first sold at midnight Wednesday. Only 500,000 of the $300 systems were sold throughout the United States.

McDermott began standing in line at Wal-Mart, 3015 Grand Ave., about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to purchase a Playstation 2 for her 9-year-old son, Will. She said numerous people arrived at the store early, so she decided to write their names down so they could be assured a ticket to receive the system. McDermott said Wal-Mart was supposed to issue tickets to 21 people on a first-come, first-served basis.

“We started a list to try and make it not so chaotic,” she said. “Wal-Mart didn’t want to do that.”

After a few hours, more people started to show up, and the line branched off into the store.

“There were three times as many of the 20 waiting in line and we were kinda confused,” said Nick Healey, junior in computer science, who stood in line starting at 4 p.m. “They branched off between the 20 people and then the new assistant manager, Betsy [Culvin], showed up and she pointed at the people and said, ‘The line has to wrap around this way,’ to where we were standing.”

The line was organized and out of the way of customers until Wal-Mart employees made an announcement shortly after 11 p.m., directing the customers to the opposite corner of the store for tickets, Healey said. He said chaos erupted when 80 to 100 people ran through the store.

“There were people sprinting at full speed and knocking each other down,” said Adam Curtis, senior in computer engineering. “I’d love to get a hold of the security tape to see the results of the store.”

Curtis said he was planning on speaking to his lawyer Thursday afternoon to see if he could submit the tapes to television stations. He said Culvin should be held accountable for the mob eruption.

“I don’t think Wal-Mart deserves to be punished, but the manager deserves to be reprimanded,” he said. “She offered no apology and was smiling and laughing about the aftermath.”

Culvin was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Cory Adams, manager of the electronics department in Wal-Mart, said there is no easy way to control a crowd that size.

“It doesn’t matter where you’re at in the store. When something like that comes out, there would’ve been pushing and shoving no matter what,” he said Thursday. “Everyone knew there was going to be a mass shortage — there’s no better way of doing it.”

Officials at Wal-Mart called the Ames Police Department to assist with the crowd. Officer Jeff Brinkley of the police department said he and another officer arrived shortly after the mob tore through the store.

“They called at shift change, and when we got there, there was a bunch of people yelling at the manager,” he said. “We got there after they did everything — it was a mess. We kept the peace until after everything was done.”

McDermott said Wal-Mart had nothing planned to eliminate the chaos when the gaming system went on sale at midnight.

“They said not to form a line until 10 p.m. They had nothing planned,” she said. “It was the most irresponsible thing I have ever saw. They put everyone in danger.”

McDermott and Healey said a teen-ager named Joe Scott was first in line. He had been standing in line since he got out of school that afternoon, but after the “mob” scene, he went home empty handed. Healey said only three of the original 20 in line got tickets.

“The line was already there, organized and quiet, and then [Culvin], she had to do this ticket dash,” Healey said. “I had gotten [a ticket]; I was one of the first ones up there, and the kid who was before me — he can’t even drive — didn’t get one. … Wendy was going to buy one for her son, and she didn’t get a ticket, so I gave her mine. I figured I could wait.”

Healey said he didn’t want to give his ticket away at first, but he didn’t want Will to be upset.

“I was disappointed as a kid by people like this manager, and I didn’t want this manager to hurt this kid’s feelings,” Healey said. “I wasn’t there for the Furby or Tickle Me Elmo, but this is something they had planned, but decided not to think of implications of 80 people sprinting through a store — the liabilities are all over, right there.”

Healey said Culvin had given out six systems before midnight to alleviate complaints.

In the end, Healey said he went to Target, 320 S. Duff Ave., where there was an organized system for distributing their 36 systems. He said they collected names and wrote numbers on everyone’s hands so there wasn’t a line or a mad dash for their supply. He eventually bought a system when the store opened at 8 a.m. Thursday.