Mississippi officer put on leave after killing baby in car outside Walmart

A Mississippi police officer has been placed on administrative leave after a shooting while responding to an alleged shoplifting complaint killed a one-year-old child – and prompted local protests.

Demonstrations erupted in Senatobia after the police killing on Sunday of Kohen Wiley. That included Tuesday evening, when protesters gathered outside Senatobia city hall while municipal officials held a meeting inside.

As tensions escalated, law enforcement officers wearing gas masks formed a line in front of the Walmart where protests also took place on Tuesday – and deployed an irritant colloquially referred to as teargas toward demonstrators, forcing people at the scene to disperse.

Police had on Sunday responded to a report alleging someone attempted to steal a box of diapers from the Senatobia Walmart. An officer fired a gun at a vehicle before it left the scene, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI).

Authorities maintained the vehicle involved was driving toward an officer at the time of the shooting, although some witnesses have challenged that account, according to the Mississippi Free Press.

Kohen was inside that vehicle, which arrived at a nearby hospital soon after. The boy was pronounced dead. And another person in the vehicle – reportedly a friend of Kohen’s mother – was listed in critical condition.

The MBI said none of the officers at the scene of the shooting on Sunday suffered serious injuries.

Authorities said the case involved officers from the Senatobia police department and deputies with the local Tate county sheriff’s office. The MBI continues to investigate the shooting and has not publicly identified any of the officers involved.

Meanwhile, Kohen’s family is demanding the release of the officers’ body camera footage as well as Walmart surveillance video.

By Tuesday, Kohen’s family had retained well-known civil rights attorney Ben Crump to represent them. Crump addressed the child’s death in a statement, saying: “A one-year-old child is dead because police officers in Mississippi opened fire on a car in a crowded Walmart parking lot.