- Police fatally shot a 1-year-old and critically wounded his aunt during a confrontation over alleged shoplifting.
- Community demands transparency and accountability, questioning why a shoplifting call escalated to deadly gunfire.
- Protests erupted, with police using tear gas on a peaceful gathering, drawing comparisons to protests in 2020.
Please be warned, this story is going to absolutely infuriate you and if today isn’t the day to read about it, don’t.
A Mississippi community is demanding answers after a police officer responding to a reported shoplifting call at a Walmart fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Kartier Wiley and critically wounded his aunt during a confrontation in the store’s parking lot. According to the Mississippi Free Press, the shooting occurred on June 14 and involved officers from the Senatobia Police Department and the Tate County Sheriff’s Department.
It’s important to point out that in the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s official public statement, they fully acknowledge that officers on the scene saw three people, Kohen Wiley, his mother, and his aunt. They knew that these women had a baby with them and decided to riddle the car with bullets anyway.
“Law enforcement officers responded to a shoplifting call at Walmart on U.S. 51. 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 statement read in part. “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.”
Kohen’s mother was unharmed in the gunfire, however, his aunt is now in critical condition as a result of her gunshot wound.
Photos of the vehicle published after the incident showed multiple bullet holes in the windshield, including damage on the passenger side where family members say the child was seated. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots in the Walmart parking lot and expressed shock that officers opened fire in such a public setting. A cellphone video obtained by local media reportedly shows the vehicle driving away from officers, though it does not capture the actual shooting.
Family members have questioned why a response to an alleged shoplifting incident escalated into deadly gunfire. Some relatives have also disputed speculation surrounding what items may have been taken from the store, saying their focus remains on the loss of a child. Kohen’s grandfather described him as a happy baby whose life was cut short before it had truly begun.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case and is conducting an independent review of the shooting. Community members organized protests and vigils in the aftermath of the incident, calling for transparency, accountability, and answers about the circumstances that led to the death of a 1-year-old child during a police response to a suspected shoplifting call.
One of those protests ended when the police presence staged in front of the Walmart unleashed tear gas on the peaceful gathering.
Between this case, Karmelo Anthony, and Cyrus Carmack-Belton case, this might just be another summer of protest similar to 2020.