$50 laptop sale led to stampede and chaos in Henrico—viral moment turns 20
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Twenty years ago this month, Henrico County Public Schools had what seemed like a generous idea: sell used Apple iBook laptops to county residents for just $50 each at Richmond International Raceway.
What happened next became a cautionary tale that made national headlines and late-night television jokes.
More than 5,000 people showed up for the sale, with some arriving as early as 1:30 a.m. — six hours before the gates opened. The county had only 1,000 iBooks available.
When the gates finally opened, hundreds of people sprinted toward the building where the laptops were being sold, creating a dangerous stampede that left some people injured.
"There was hundreds of these hoodlums just standing there that wouldn't get in line. They just stormed on through like a flood," one witness told CBS 6.
"Everybody was screaming. I was like, everybody, 'Get off, get off.' And nobody cared. Nobody was paying attention. They were just pushing through," another witness said. "It's definitely not worth a $50 iBook."
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