A Mississippi police officer has shot and killed a 1-year-old Black child, and now the department is claiming the shooting came as a result of a shoplifting incident, in which the suspect fled into a vehicle, and that vehicle drove in the cop’s direction, forcing him to shoot to kill — a story that is all too familiar when it comes to police justifications for killing unarmed Black people.
According to the Mississippi Free Press, the shooting that killed 1-year-old Kohen Kartier Wiley took place on June 14 in Senatobia, Miss., and involved officers with the Senatobia Police Department and the Tate County Sheriff’s Department.
From the Free Press:
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety released a statement on June 14, alleging that the shooting happened in response to one of two subjects driving “in the direction of” officers. A clip of cellphone video obtained by Fox 13 Memphis shows a car driving away from officers, but it does not appear to show the shooting itself. A photo of the car shows multiple bullet holes in the windshield, including a bullet hole on the passenger side of the front windshield.
Notably, the DPS statement appears to acknowledge that police witnessed the presence of Kohen Wiley prior to the individuals entering their vehicle, and before the officer discharged the weapon. The officer has not been identified.
“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.”
According to WREG, Kohen’s family has claimed no shoplifting took place at all, and that the child’s mother was holding him while in the passenger seat of the car when the officer fired shots, and that his aunt, who was reportedly critically shot, was driving the car. WREG noted that, before the shooting, a witness saw two women exit the store, and that one of them was carrying a box of diapers, while the other was carrying the infant child. A separate witness reported seeing the car drive away with police officers chasing after it on foot just before gunshots rang out.
According to the Free Press, no arrests have been made so far, which is odd considering the allegations of shoplifting and the notion that an officer’s life was put in danger.
“Senatobia Police Department gets away with too much stuff,” Kohen’s great-grandmother, Carolyn Stokes, told WREG. “I hear about it all the time. It’s in the news all the time. Y’all probably down here all the time, recording this stuff, but it’s just too much.”
Shortly after the shooting, the Senatobia Police Department released a statement, saying the investigation into the fatal shooting had been turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. Meanwhile, members of the local community plan to gather at Senatobia City Hall at 5 p.m. on Tuesday to demand that the officer or officers involved in a 1-year-old’s death be held accountable.
