SENATOBIA, Miss. — The fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old boy during a response to a reported shoplifting incident at a Walmart in northern Mississippi has heightened tensions between law enforcement and residents, prompting protests, calls for accountability and an ongoing state investigation, officials and community leaders said this week.
The child, identified by family members and community advocates as Kohen Wiley, was killed on June 14 after a police officer fired at a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, a city about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), officers were responding to a shoplifting complaint when they attempted to stop a vehicle carrying two adults and the child. The bureau said the driver drove toward officers and nearly struck one of them, prompting an officer to open fire.
The vehicle left the scene and later arrived at a hospital, where the child was pronounced dead, authorities said. An adult passenger was seriously injured. The child’s mother was not physically harmed, according to community advocate Marquell Bridges.
Family members and witnesses have disputed parts of the official account. The child’s mother and relatives have questioned whether the vehicle posed a threat to officers and have called for the release of body-camera and surveillance footage. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the family, said authorities should provide greater transparency regarding the circumstances of the shooting.
“Somebody needs to be held accountable for it,” the child’s grandfather, Carlos Haynes, said in comments reported by multiple media outlets. “Someone ended it all before it could even start.”
The shooting has drawn national attention and renewed scrutiny of relations between police and Black residents in Senatobia. Demonstrators gathered outside City Hall and the Walmart store in the days following the incident, demanding answers from local authorities. During one protest, officers used a chemical irritant to disperse a crowd, according to witnesses and media reports.
Senatobia police said the officer involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. “As the investigation progresses and facts are verified, we will share as much information as possible,” the department said in a public statement.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is leading the inquiry and will present its findings to the state attorney general’s office when completed. As of June 20, no officer had been publicly identified, and authorities had not announced whether any charges would be filed. Details surrounding the shooting remain under investigation.
