SENATOBIA, Miss. — A 1-year-old boy was fatally shot by a Mississippi police officer during a chaotic incident in a Walmart parking lot on Sunday, after officers responded to a reported shoplifting call.

Kohen Wiley, just 1 year old, was killed when an officer opened fire on a vehicle carrying the toddler, his mother, and his aunt. Another woman in the car was critically injured.

According to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, officers from the Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff’s Office were responding to a shoplifting incident at the Walmart. As the suspects’ vehicle attempted to flee, the driver allegedly sped toward officers, nearly striking one of them. An officer then fired shots at the vehicle.

Kohen’s family told local media that his mother was holding him in the front passenger seat while his aunt was driving. The family drove the wounded child to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Video footage from the scene showed bullet holes in the front windshield and severe damage to the passenger-side window of the vehicle.

The family has strongly disputed claims that the women were stealing diapers and is demanding answers about how a shoplifting call escalated into a deadly shooting.

“We don’t really know anything, why it happened or whatever. All we know is that car was shot up and a one-year-old baby was killed,” Kohen’s great-grandmother, Carolyn Stokes, told WREG. His grandfather, Carlos Haynes, added: “Somebody needs to be held accountable for it.”

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) has taken over the case. The Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff’s Office are also conducting internal reviews. It remains unclear whether any officers involved have been placed on leave.

This tragic incident has shaken the small North Mississippi community and sparked renewed debate over police tactics during vehicle pursuits involving potential bystanders, especially children.