Walmart removes images of violence in stores after shooting

In this Dec. 15, 2010 file photo, a view of the entertainment section of a Wal-Mart store is seen in Alexandria, Va. Walmart is taking down all signs and displays from its stores that depict violence, following a mass shooting at its El Paso, Texas location that left 22 people dead. The retailer, according to an internal memo, instructed employees to turn off or unplug any video game consoles that show violent games, as well as ensure that no movies depicting violence are playing in its electronics departments. (AP Photo, File)

MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer

Originally Published: August 9, 2019 7:22 a.m.

Springfield police respond to a Walmart in Springfield, Mo., Thursday afternoon, Aug. 8, 2019, after reports of a man with a weapon in the store. Police in Springfield, Missouri, say they have arrested an armed man who showed up the Walmart store wearing body armor, sending panicked shoppers fleeing the store. (Harrison Keegan/The Springfield News-Leader via AP)

Walmart is removing from all of its stores signs, displays or videos that depict violence following a mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, store that killed 22 people.

The retailer instructed employees in an internal memo to remove any marketing material, turn off or unplug video game consoles that show violent games — specifically Xbox and PlayStation units, and to make sure that no violence is depicted on screens in its electronics departments.

Employees were also ordered to turn off hunting season videos in the sporting goods department.

"We've taken this action out of respect for the incidents of the past week," said spokeswoman Tara House on Friday.

The company's policy on video games that depict violence has not changed, nor has its policy on gun sales.

There is no known link between violent video games and violent acts.

Patrick Markey, a psychology professor at Villanova University who focuses on video games, found in his research that men who commit severe acts of violence actually play violent video games less than the average male. About 20% were interested in violent video games, compared with 70% of the general population, he explained in his 2017 book "Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong."

Authorities believe Patrick Crusius, 21, wrote a racist, rambling screed that railed against mass immigration before opening fire last weekend at the El Paso Walmart. Crusius lived near Dallas, and El Paso police say he drove more than 10 hours to the largely Latino border city in Texas to carry out the shooting that killed 22 people and wounded about two dozen others. He's been charged with capital murder.

Chris Ayres, a Dallas-based attorney for Crusius' family, told The Associated Press in an email they never heard Crusius express the kind of racist and anti-immigrant views that he allegedly posted online.