Law enforcement officers in Omaha, Nebraska fatally shot a woman Tuesday after she kidnapped a toddler and attacked him with a knife in a Walmart parking lot.
According to Deputy Chief Scott Gray, the woman confronted a female shopper and a young child between 2 and 3 years old inside the store. After stealing a large knife from the retail location, she brandished the weapon and “took possession of the child, essentially kidnapping the child,” Gray explained.
The attacker forced the woman to walk ahead of the shopping cart while she followed behind, holding the child at knifepoint, Gray reported. The group moved outside the store and into the parking area, where the two women engaged in “some verbal back and forth” for several minutes before police responded.
When officers arrived after receiving an emergency call, they issued commands to the suspect. She then started “swiping the knife at the child, cutting him across the face,” Gray stated. One or more officers opened fire on the woman, killing her at the scene.
Police body camera footage that was made public shows the suspect holding a knife above the small boy who was seated in a shopping cart while an officer points his weapon at her.
Medical personnel transported the child to a local hospital where he received treatment for a significant cut on the left side of his face and an injury to his hand, Gray said. Doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
Authorities have not determined what motivated the attack. Gray confirmed the two women were strangers to each other. Officials have not clarified the relationship between the boy and the woman who was shopping with him.
Investigators are examining surveillance footage from inside the store. Gray described the incident as appearing to be isolated. The Walmart remained mostly empty while police conducted their investigation, he noted.
The suspect’s behavior inside the store would not have seemed suspicious to other customers, Gray observed.
“They kind of just purposely but casually walk out of the store, so I don’t think anybody was actually looking at them as being a suspect of anything,” Gray commented.
The officer-involved shooting will undergo investigation by Omaha police working alongside the Nebraska State Patrol and Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office.
