A Mississippi family is demanding answers after a 1-year-old child was killed when police responding to a shoplifting call at a Walmart shot at their vehicle.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The shooting occurred Sunday afternoon in the parking lot of a Walmart in Senatobia, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
Marquell Bridges, a community advocate who is assisting the family with finding an attorney, told The Associated Press that 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was killed in the shooting and a friend of the boy’s mother was seriously injured.The mother was not injured, Bridges said.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting, said that when Senatobia police officers arrived at the scene, they “encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing from the store into a vehicle,” a news release states.The agency said police tried to stop the vehicle, “but the driver drove in the direction of the officers, almost striking one.” An officer then discharged their weapon, firing at the vehicle.
The driver then drove to a nearby hospital, where the child was pronounced dead, the bureau said.No law enforcement officers were seriously injured, the news release states.The Senatobia Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the department said it was “committed to full transparency.”“As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible,” the police department said.The Tate County Sheriff’s Office was also on scene for the shooting.The office said in a news release that deputies had been responding to an unrelated incident when their assistance was requested.
“Please keep the family of the deceased in your thoughts and prayers,” the sheriff’s office said.In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Bridges said the boy’s mother did not st...