Noose Discovered Inside Local Home Depot Store

EAST LIBERTY (KDKA) - Officials are investigating after a noose was discovered inside a Home Depot store on East Liberty.

An employee said he found the noose last Friday in the rope aisle, and then filed a complaint.

The employee, who did not want to be identified, told KDKA he was shocked and immediately told his manager.

"If you look at the rope you can tell it took more than just the 15 minutes or 20 minutes to put it together," the employee said. " We were wondering, it couldn't have been a customer.  But my main concern is there any type of threat against the customers the employees or what."

Officials with Home Depot say they have "no idea" who would have tied the noose and left it hanging in the store.

"We're appalled that someone would do this and we're investigating thoroughly. This flies in the face of our values and the atmosphere we maintain for our customers and associates,"said Stephen Holmes, the Director of Corporate Communications for Home Depot.

"This has to stop and nobody wants to work in this type of environment," the employee who discovered the noose said. "Everyone needs to stand up and say enough is enough."

He added, "as far as corporate they're going to have to go back and do some serious training."

It's not known who tied the noose or when it was tied, and this isn't the first time a noose has been found in a Home Depot store. Similar stories have been reported at Home Depot stores in New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and Texas.

"This is 2016 and we're still back in the 50s and 40s, Jim Crow type thing, this has got to stop."

The employee who found the noose is taking some time off. He says he needs a few days away from his job, after this incident.

This is a developing story, stay with KDKA and KDKA.com for more information.

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