(AllHipHop News) The Air Jordan XI Retro Concords were officially released today (December 23), to a frenzy of anxious sneaker enthusiasts looking to purchase the heavily anticipated sneakers.
Despite the positive attention the shoes have garnered from fans of the Air Jordan series of shoes, there have also been several instances of fighting and even death over the shoes.
According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, in Tukwila, Washington just outside of Seattle, approximately 20 people were sprayed by police during a fight that ensued, as customers were waiting for the new shoes.
Police have also been called to shopping malls in Florida, Indiana, Texas and Virginia to control the crowds, ABC News reported.
“I don’t remember anything like this in the recent past at all, definitely not with the iPhone or anything like that,” Linda Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, explained to ABCNews.com.
In New Jersey, one shopper told MyFoxPhilly that a fellow shopper had threatened gunfire if he didn’t get the shoes.
The Air Jordan XI Retro Concord hype reached its height with reports about the death of an 18-year-old named Tyreek Amir Jacobs.
The report is allegedly a hoax according to the Baltimore Sun, although a memorial page dedicated to Jacobs claims the death is real.