Police Fatally Shoot One-Year-Old Boy in Mississippi Walmart Parking Lot, Sparking Mass Protests
Officers in Senatobia, Mississippi opened fire on a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot, killing one-year-old Kohen Wiley who was sitting on his mother's lap. The shooting has triggered widespread protests against police violence.
Police Fatally Shoot One-Year-Old Boy in Mississippi Walmart Parking Lot, Sparking Mass Protests
Officers in Senatobia, Mississippi shot and killed a one-year-old boy who was sitting on his mother's lap inside a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot. The incident, which occurred on Sunday, June 14, has sparked mass protests against police violence, NBC NEWS reported.
The Senatobia Police Department received a report of an alleged theft attempt at a local Walmart supermarket on Sunday. When a patrol unit arrived at the scene, officers spotted a vehicle they believed was fleeing the area. The officers then fired multiple shots at the car, according to NBC NEWS.
At the time of the shooting, the vehicle contained the deceased child, his mother, and her friend. The mother had one-year-old Kohen on her lap when the gunfire erupted. The infant was struck and died while being transported to the hospital; the mother's friend, who was driving, had turned the vehicle toward the medical facility. The driver was also hit and her condition was reported as serious, The Sun stated.
"Kohen Wiley was just a baby. His mother, who has not been charged with any crime, said she tried to tell officers that a child was in the car," described civil rights attorney Ben Crump. According to Crump, this did not deter the officers from firing.
"Their actions led to the death of one-year-old Kohen Wiley. We will fight to achieve justice for this life cut short," Crump stated. According to a statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), which is examining how the incident unfolded, officers encountered two individuals and a minor child who were running from the store toward the vehicle upon arrival.
"The driver of the vehicle subsequently attempted to strike one of the officers, which prompted the patrol's response," the MBI stated. Additional details will reportedly be released only at a more advanced stage of the investigation; no officers were injured during the incident.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the store where the shooting occurred on Tuesday to protest against police violence. Present officers were forced to use tear gas to disperse the crowd, Mississippi today wrote. People also assembled in front of the local city hall; some believe the act was racially motivated.
Source: Google News CZ — Crime (cs)