Boy, one, shot and killed by police responding to ‘shoplifting’ incident | News US

A little boy in a car with his mum and aunt was killed by a police officer who opened fire on their vehicle.

Kohen Kartier Wiley, 1, was shot and killed by a Mississippi police officer who was responding to an alleged shoplifting incident at Walmart.

Officers from the Senatobia Police Department said the boy’s mum and aunt had been driving ‘in the direction of officers’ before they opened fire.

A statement from the police department appears to show that officers knew that a child was in the car when they responded to the scene.

‘Upon arrival, officers encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one,’ the department said.

‘An officer then discharged their weapon, and the vehicle fled the scene. The subjects arrived at a local hospital, where one juvenile child in the vehicle was pronounced deceased, and another subject had critical injuries. No law enforcement officers received any serious physical injury.’

One witness said he saw the police waiting in the parking lot as the two women left Walmart, one holding a box of diapers and the other holding baby Kohen.

Another witness said: ‘I saw the officers take off running, not in the car, I’m talking about on foot, and these are the Sheriffs and the police.

‘They’re running through the parking lot, and I see the car take off, you know, so in my head, I’m like, I know they’re not chasing the car, they don’t think they’re going to catch the car.

‘Then I hear gunshots, and I’m like, I know they’re not shooting at a car that’s leaving in a public place, this is Walmart.’

Carolyn Stokes, baby Kohen’s great-grandmother, told WREG: ‘Senatobia Police Department get away with too much stuff.

‘I hear about it all the time, it’s in the news all the time, y’all probably down here all the time, recording this stuff, but it’s just too much.’

Last year, local media reported that a woman was tasered and tackled after police officers saw her ‘illegally park in a handicapped spot’. The woman said she was dropping off her grandmother.

The Senatobia Police Department released a statement reading: ‘We are committed to full transparency.

‘As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible.”

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