Mississippi releases bodycam video of toddler killed in police shooting at Walmart parking lot
Mississippi officials released body-camera footage of the June 14 shooting that killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley, while the state attorney general deemed the officer's use of force justified and the family’s lawyer called the response excessive.
Mississippi authorities released body-camera footage showing the moments leading up to the fatal shooting of one-year-old Kohen Wiley in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia on June 14. The toddler was seated on his mother’s lap when five officers, alerted to a suspected shoplifting incident, ran toward the moving vehicle with guns drawn. The officer wearing the camera raised his weapon, shouted "Stop!" and fired four shots as the car continued slowly through the lot.
The state attorney general concluded that the officer’s use of force was justified. The officer’s lawyer, Martin Zummach, told the BBC that the driver was attempting to kill the five officers and that his client "had no choice but to discharge his weapon," adding that the investigation’s outcome was "overdue."
Family attorney Ben Crump disputed the justification, describing the police response as "excessive from the very start" and stating that an allegation of shoplifting "does not warrant the death" of a child. Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves confirmed to CBS that Officer Hunter Foster, who fired the shots, had resigned. The Senatobia Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.