Moments before a Mississippi police officer fired at a car this summer, killing a toddler inside, five officers rushed out to a Walmart parking lot in pursuit of two women who were accused of stealing diapers and baby clothes.
Newly released videos show a gray sedan, carrying 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, his mother and another woman, reversing and slamming into a parked vehicle as police officers run toward the car and order the driver to stop.
As the car stops, the officers approach and surround the vehicle before the driver accelerates and lurches left, appearing to travel toward at least one of the officers before passing between two of them. At least one officer shoots into the vehicle.
The chaotic scene in Senatobia, Miss., captured on body cameras worn by two of the five officers and by surveillance cameras, provides the first glimpse of a shooting that has rocked the tiny city and raised questions about whether the officer was justified in opening fire at the vehicle.
The Mississippi attorney general’s office, which declined to comment on the video, announced on Monday that it would not bring criminal charges against the officer who fatally shot Kohen.
The compilation of several body-cam and surveillance clips was first published by a local news outlet, Darkhorse Press. A law enforcement official confirmed its authenticity on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to provide information about sensitive matters. A video analysis by The New York Times, Mississippi Today and Verite News showed the footage matched portions of video of the shooting captured by a bystander.
The body-cam footage released Tuesday is from the perspective of two of the law enforcement officers who responded to the scene in June, but not from the officer who fired. It does not show the entirety of the police response, nor does it clearly show Kohen, his mother and the other woman driving the vehicle.
The body-cam footage begins from the perspective of one of the officers, whose identity is unknown. It shows him rushing toward the gray sedan.
The footage then shows the vehicle move in reverse and hit a parked S.U.V. as officers approach, yelling at the driver to stop. When the sedan moves forward, at least one officer appears to be in front of it on the passenger’s side; a second officer also stands near the vehicle, closer to the driver’s side. Both have their guns drawn. As the vehicle approaches them, at least one of the officers opens fire. The officer appears to fire three more times while standing to the side of the vehicle.
Grainy surveillance footage included in the compilation published by Darkhorse Press also captures the moments from more of a bird’s-eye view. In that footage, two women — one holding a child — are seen running toward a vehicle and reversing in it as law enforcement officers chase them.
More video of the incident has yet to be seen by the public. Kohen’s family is scheduled to view it Thursday morning. Veronica Roberson, the toddler’s grandmother, said state officials had informed the family that the footage included surveillance videos from Walmart, along with five body-worn cameras.
Hunter Foster, an officer with the Senatobia Police Department, was placed on leave while state authorities investigated his actions at the Walmart. Although he has not been named as the one who opened fire, Officer Foster is the only officer among those present that day who was placed on leave.
The shooting death touched off weeks of protests and calls for transparency in Senatobia, a city of roughly 8,400 located roughly 40 miles south of Memphis. Activists and Kohen’s family had been calling on the authorities to release police body-camera or dashcam footage.
Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said she had been holding her son in her arms in the front passenger seat when the driver, Latoya Ferrell, tried to back out of a space and then drive forward. Ms. Ferrell was seriously injured.
In the hours after the shooting, the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation issued a statement saying the police had fired at a vehicle when it drove toward an officer, “almost striking” one.
Jerry Mitchell, Julie Lee, Aric Toler and Alexander Cardia contributed reporting.
The post New Video Shows Chaotic Moments Before Mississippi Police Shot Toddler appeared first on New York Times.
