A knife fight early Friday at the entrance of the Butler Commons Wal-Mart raises questions about the discount store’s commitment to a shopping community that has faithfully supported it.

According to Butler Township and state police, Justin D. Woods, 20, of Butler stabbed Alex Dorenkamp, 19, of Chicora in the abdomen after Dorenkamp is alleged to have confronted and punched Woods over a traffic incident that happened earlier. The stabbing happened around 1 a.m. inside the entrance to the grocery side of Wal-Mart, the entrance that is open 24 hours a day.

The incident raises these questions, among others:

- What was the response by Wal-Mart’s security to this incident? None was evident. When asked later for comment, a local manager said it’s Wal-Mart policy not to speak with local media.

- Our public school entrances have metal detectors and security guards. So do our courthouses. But other busy areas do not. Are they any less prone to violence?

- Are we perpetuating false notions about security at the suburban “big box” in comparison with downtown and other shopping districts?

- Right or wrong, do our assumptions about security put smaller merchants at an unfair disadvantage?

In other words, do we avoid Main Street perceiving it as unsafe, and shop Wal-Mart perceiving it as safer?

Wal-Mart certainly does display hefty security, but the strategy is loss-prevention — controlling retail theft with ovewhelming evidence. A phalanx of video cameras, electronic tags, two-way mirrors and undercover stop-loss agents focus on gathering evidence to convict shoplifters, not to deter them — or, for that matter, to deter confrontations with other shoppers or employees. The strategy is akin to the commercial that makes us snicker: “Oh, I’m not a security guard, I’m a security monitor. I only tell you if there’s a robbery ... there’s a robbery.”

That might sound incredible, but consider the case of Joshua McBride. The 25-year-old Butler man was arraigned in February on a slurry of felony retail theft charges, including three separate incidents over eight days, all at Wal-Mart. McBride was accused to stealing a $698 flat screen television on Jan. 4; another TV worth $378 on Jan. 14; and two electric heaters and clothing valued at $169.63 on Jan. 17.

At what point does a merchant stop an accused serial thief at the door and refuse him entry?

It was the alleged stabber, Woods, who called 911 and identified himself, describing what he was wearing so police would recognize him and ease his surrender.

Nobody stopped Woods. Nobody stopped McBride.

During 2016, Wal-Mart called Butler Township police 321 times for incidents. In the first four months of 2017, they called police 102 times, according to township data. Police emphasize these calls included everything from mutual aid responses such as ambulance calls, to retail theft and other incidents.

Each response takes time and effort for township police to process.

This is not just a local phenomenon. Bloomberg BusinessWeek report in August about Wal-Mart stores nationwide soaking up local police resources, with some suburban stores logging 1,000 or more calls a year.

“Police reports from dozens of stores suggest the number of petty crimes committed on Wal-Mart properties nationwide this year will be in the hundreds of thousands. But people dashing out the door with merchandise is the least troubling part of Wal-Mart’s crime problem,” BusinessWeek reported. “More than 200 violent crimes, including attempted kidnappings and multiple stabbings, shootings, and murders, have occurred at the nation’s 4,500 Wal-Marts this year, or about one a day, according to an analysis of media reports.”

Township police have not indicated that it’s any particular problem responding to Wal-Mart’s calls. Police are there to serve wherever and whenever there are large gatherings of people, they say.

And they probably won’t either — assuming Friday’s violent encounter remains the rare exception.

But it is a situation that should be watched — for a number of reasons, including that the police don’t become regarded as a publicly funded security detail for the monolithic discount store, or that the store is not carrying the burden of its own security costs.

This is a legitimate question, particularly in municipal campaign season when an issue in neighboring Butler is the affordabiity of police foot patrols to enhance security in the city’s downtown business district.

Twenty five years ago when the first Wal-Mart stores arrived on the scene, some predicted the concept would supplant the village square as hub of our communities. Let’s call that one a miss. Both have their good points. Both have their bad points too. Neither one is immune to predators.