Wal-Mart 'Appalled' by Racial Announcement

(March 18) -- Authorities in southern New Jersey are trying to find the man who made an announcement in a Walmart store asking "all black people" to leave the store. The company said it was "appalled" by the incident.

The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office and the Washington Township Police Department are investigating the incident as a possible bias crime, Deputy Police Chief John Dalesandro said today.

"Once we were contacted by Walmart, we reviewed the store's surveillance tapes and interviewed staff members," Dalesandro told AOL News. "We have a couple of leads."

He declined to elaborate.

Virginia Tinsley talks about an annoucement for all black people to leave a NJ Wal-mart.

Mel Evans, AP

Virginia Tinsley talks Wednesday outside a Washington Township, N.J., Walmart, where she and others complained about an announcer who said "Attention Walmart customers: All black people leave the store now," over the store's public-address system last weekend.

It remains unclear whether the announcement was made by a Walmart employee or a prankster. Dalesandro said that while some of the store's public-address phones were password-protected, others would have been accessible to a customer. Those phones have since been restricted.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. expressed its concern over the incident.

"We're as appalled by this as anyone. Whoever did this is wrong and acted in an inappropriate manner," a statement said. "Clearly, this is unacceptable. We are currently reviewing our systems to prevent this from happening in the future."

The announcement was made Sunday at the Walmart in Turnersville.

"Some people just left their carts in disgust and said they couldn't believe it," shopper Victoria Arter told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

She said five minutes passed before store management came on the public-address system.

The South Jersey chapter of the NAACP called the incident "despicable."

Dalesandro said the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office is offering counseling through their victim and witness unit.

"Obviously I would assume people were shocked and dismayed by what they heard. ... I find it disturbing," he told AOL News. "You would have to think, 'Did I just hear that?' "