Kohen Wiley killed in Senatobia Walmart shooting, police say

kohen wiley, 1, was killed on June 14 when a Mississippi police officer fired during a shoplifting response at a Walmart in Senatobia. An adult in the vehicle was critically wounded, and the case has been turned over to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

State police said officers responded to Walmart on U.S. 51 after a shoplifting call and encountered two subjects and a juvenile child fleeing into a silver sedan. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety said the driver moved toward officers and almost struck one before an officer fired.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety

The department said the vehicle then left the scene and the people inside were taken to a local hospital. One juvenile child was pronounced dead there, and another subject had critical injuries. The department said no law enforcement officers were seriously hurt.

The shooting involved officers from the Senatobia Police Department and the Tate County Sheriff’s Department, but the officer who fired has not been identified. Senatobia police said the matter is now being handled by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which leaves the agency’s account and the family’s account as the two competing versions tied to the same stop.

Senatobia City Hall

Kohen’s family denied that any shoplifting took place. Carolyn Stokes, his great-grandmother, said, “Senatobia Police Department get away with too much stuff.” She also said, “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.”

WREG reported that one witness saw two women leave the store, one carrying a box of diapers and one carrying the infant child. Family told the station that Kohen’s mother was in the passenger seat holding him when he was shot, and that his aunt, who was driving, was in critical condition. No arrests had been announced.

Community members planned to gather at Senatobia City Hall at 5 p.m. on Tuesday to call for accountability, putting the next public pressure point at city hall rather than inside the police departments now handling the investigation.