Evansville Walmart Misidentified for Questionable Sign on Gun Display [PHOTO]
The Walmart on Red Bank Road on Evansville's west side generated national attention for all the wrong reasons after a photo on Twitter went viral showing a firearm display with a sign above it reading, ""Own the School Year Like a Hero." As more information has become available, it appears the store was identified incorrectly.
Twitter user, @OMGItsBirdman tweeted the photo yesterday afternoon around 2:15.
Walmart responded to the tweet roughly 30 minutes later claiming the sign had been removed.
Since this is the internet, the photo went viral leading to several people questioning which store featured the display, which Walmart themselves said was store number 1341.
When you Google, "walmart store 1341," the west side location is what pops up.
After discussing this on the air this morning, we had a couple of callers say based on other evidence in the photo including what appears to be a low ceiling, this photo was not taken at the west side location. One caller went as far to say he was at that location recently in the sporting goods department and the only gun display was against the back wall, behind a counter.
CNN spoke to Walmart representative, Charles Crowson, about the photo and the location of the display, to which Crowson responded was listed incorrectly. He went on to say the company was still investigating the photo and the exact location where it was taken.
If you need further proof, Brett Allega, producer for WEHT-WTVW Eyewitness News tweeted this morning he has confirmed with Walmart the photo was NOT taken at the west side location.
Regardless of whether or not this is our Walmart, I think everyone needs to take a breath before jumping to conclusions. There could be multiple stories behind this photo regardless of whether or not it was taken here in Evansville. This easily could have been a rogue employee trying to make a joke which clearly wasn't funny, or a random customer who also took it upon themselves to try and make a joke or statement of some kind, or it could have been staged by the person who took the photo seeking their 15 minutes of fame (which clearly worked, for what that's worth). Whatever the case, it's my personal opinion this was done in extremely poor taste, and whoever is responsible should be punished in some way, shape, or form.