Mississippi Officer Fatally Shoots Toddler in Walmart Parking Lot; Bodycam Footage Released

Mississippi authorities have released body camera footage showing the fatal shooting of a one-year-old boy by a police officer responding to a shoplifting report. The incident occurred on June 14 in the Walmart parking lot in Senatobia.

Kohen Wiley was in a vehicle with his mother and another woman when officers surrounded the car. The state's attorney general later determined that the officer, Hunter Foster, was justified in using force. Foster's attorney stated that the driver was attempting to kill law enforcement officers, leaving Foster with no choice but to discharge his weapon. The child's family and their lawyer, Ben Crump, dispute this account, with Crump calling the police response "excessive from the very start" and arguing that a shoplifting allegation does not warrant the death of a child.

The bodycam footage shows five officers approaching the vehicle with guns drawn. The car is seen reversing, hitting a parked car, and then moving forward. As the vehicle passes the officer wearing the body camera, he fires his weapon, striking the car and fatally wounding Kohen Wiley, who was on his mother's lap. Four gunshots are audible in the footage, while police command the driver to stop. The vehicle continued to drive away slowly.

CCTV video from the storefront appears to show another officer positioned near the front of the vehicle at the moment the shooting occurred. The child's mother denied that she and her companion had stolen items from the store, and no charges have been filed against them.

Officer Hunter Foster has since resigned. The Senatobia Police Department has not immediately responded to requests for confirmation. The death of Kohen Wiley has prompted protests and vigils in Mississippi, with relatives demanding accountability. "After what I've seen today, I'm having a difficult time understanding the word, 'justified,'" said LaSandra Williams, Kohen Wiley's grandmother.