Walmart is apologizing after a photo surfaced Wednesday that appeared to show a back-to-school sign placed above a gun display in one of its stores.
In the picture, a sign reading "Own the school year like a hero" is above a display case filled with several guns for sale.
The retail giant quickly apologized through its Twitter account, calling the placement "horrible" and said the sign had been removed.
Explain this @Walmart pic.twitter.com/Ir9pwg0MeF
— Anthony (@OMGItsBirdman) August 9, 2017
Walmart originally identified the store in question as one in Evansville, Indiana; however, a spokesperson later told CNN Money and Talking Points Memo they incorrectly identified that store and are trying to find where the picture was actually taken.
"There was some miscommunication between our social media team and the store," spokesman Charles Crowson told USA TODAY, explaining the errant tweet. "It was just a misunderstanding."
He explained to USA TODAY that the company has dispatched a team to find the display and is considering "every possible scenario," including the possibilities the photo was doctored or that the display was a customer prank.
Hi Jared. To add a bit, the manager at the location reported confirmed that there was no such sign posted. Still looking into it. -Dean
— Walmart (@Walmart) August 9, 2017
Since the photo surfaced Walmart has added that it would "never approve of signage being displayed in this manner" and are looking into "how this regrettable situation could have happened."
We'd never approve of signage being displayed in this manner in one of our stores and we're looking into this. -Scott
— Walmart (@Walmart) August 10, 2017
This is terrible and we’re looking into how this regrettable situation could have happened. -Scott
— Walmart (@Walmart) August 10, 2017
What’s in this photo would NEVER be okay in our stores. We're looking into how it could have happened. -Scott
— Walmart (@Walmart) August 10, 2017
