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Cops open fire on car with baby inside: What bodycam footage reveals
Newly released bodycam footage shows events before a police shooting in Mississippi that killed one-year-old Kohen Wiley and critically injured his mother. The incident followed an alleged shoplifting at Walmart and escalated when the woman tried to drive away, raising questions about the officers’ decisions and whether the shooting could have been prevented.
A frame-by-frame analysis examines the driver’s actions, the officers’ response and the tactical choices captured on camera. The analysis is presented by Ralph Cilento, a retired NYPD lieutenant commander who led homicide and major-case investigations and later worked as a district attorney’s chief investigator.
In short
- Bodycam footage shows events before a fatal Mississippi police shooting.
- One-year-old Kohen Wiley was killed and his mother critically injured.
- A former NYPD commander analyses the decisions captured on camera.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The officers may have believed the driver’s attempt to leave posed an immediate danger, particularly if the car was moving towards them, and may have had only moments to decide how to protect themselves and others. A careful review of the footage and the circumstances known to them at the time could help assess whether their actions were reasonable under pressure.
The case against
The presence of a one-year-old child and the possibility of stopping the car through less dangerous means make the officers’ decision to fire open to serious scrutiny. Critics may argue that creating distance, avoiding the vehicle’s path or allowing it to leave could have reduced the risk, and that tactical choices should be judged by whether they needlessly escalated a situation that ended in a child’s death and his mother’s critical injuries.