Video shows moments leading up to police fatally shooting toddler

Read the original at CBS News ↗
Cite

Osborne, M. (2026, October 21). Video shows moments leading up to police fatally shooting toddler. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/video-police-officer-fatally-shooting-toddler-mississippi-walmart/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-10-21 · by Mark Osborne

Quick Summary

The video from a fatal shooting incident at a Walmart in Senatobia, Mississippi, shows five officers chasing and surrounding a car driven by Wiley's mother’s friend after being informed of shoplifting. The driver then tries to leave, nearly hitting an officer, prompting one officer to shoot, killing 1-year-old Kohen Wiley inside the vehicle. Attorney General Lynn Fitch has since announced that no charges will be filed against the involved officer, stating the use of force was justified. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Wiley’s family have criticized this decision and called for full transparency, including releasing body camera footage.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-21, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

In July 2026, 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was fatally shot by a Mississippi police officer outside a Walmart in Senatobia while the child's mother and her friend were allegedly fleeing from shoplifting. On October 19, 2026, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch declared the shooting "justified," concluding an investigation conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI). The family has been protesting for justice since June, but received no immediate response following the attorney general's announcement. According to MBI, two subjects and a juvenile were seen fleeing from Walmart into a vehicle; when officers tried to stop it, the driver allegedly drove towards them nearly hitting one officer before shots were fired. Surveillance footage shows five officers surrounding the car and shouting for it to stop before an officer opened fire after the car moved forward. The case has sparked national backlash over claims of racial bias and misuse of force.

Written for “Mississippi Police Shooting Of Toddler” on 2026-10-21, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.45, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 96985: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-21

Story

📰 Mississippi Police Shooting Of Toddler
Crime & Law · 4 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
NBC News · 0.89 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 23 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe the exact same police shooting incident that occurred on June 14, 2026, in Senatobia, Mississippi, involving a 1-year-old boy named Kohen Wiley.”
Reason · 0.86 cosine similarity
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 5 of 30 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe the fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley by police officers outside a Walmart in Mississippi, stemming from an investigation into shoplifting diapers. The events and timing are identical.”
The Intercept
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 6 of 95 📰 publisher trust 97
“Article A discusses the lack of response from investigators and calls for accountability regarding an incident, while Article B focuses on video footage released after the incident showing moments leading up to the shooting. They describe related but distinct phases of the event.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
29
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
4 of 29 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 3447 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Mark Osborne
16 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced this week that no charges would be filed against the officer who opened fire on the car, striking and killing Kohen Wiley in the June 14 incident.
🔮 Tommy Li, a Cornell student who spoke with CBS News outside the meeting, said he hoped the resolution would pass and described Kotlikoff's response to Jane Doe's allegations as a "horrible mishandling." The Faculty Senate will hold another hearing on Oct. 28 before its members vote on the resolution.
🔮 Andrews said Birchmore shared with her that she was pregnant, and saw no signs Birchmore would hurt herself when she was at her house for the last time.
🔮 She is continuing to receive medical care at the prison, and we will continue to track her recovery.
🔮 He said another 500,000 tons of diesel would be released in November, followed by 1 million tons in December.
🔮 When Nidal Hasan is put to death by firing squad during , he will become the first person to be publicly executed in the United States in nearly a century.
🔮 We will address these issues through the appropriate legal process."
🔮 The plane had been set to land at Boston's Logan International Airport at about 1:30 a.m. local time.
🔮 Two of the accused in the case were expelled, two suspended for at least two semesters, one had already graduated before any punishment could be handed down, and two were found not to be responsible for sexual misconduct
🔮 I had become extremely uncomfortable with how this night was turning out, so my thought was, if I do ketamine again, maybe I will pass out.
Also by Mark Osborne
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 16 articles by Mark Osborne →

Topics

Mississippi Senatobia Walmart the Office of the Attorney General the Senatobia Police Department

Subjects

Crump PERSON · 6× Wiley PERSON · 5× Mississippi GPE · 3× Senatobia GPE · 3× CBS News ORG · 2× Walmart ORG · 2× Kohen Wiley PERSON · 1× Lynn Fitch PERSON · 1× the Office of the Attorney General ORG · 1× the Senatobia Police Department ORG · 1×

Narrative

Body camera and surveillance footage from the fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old boy show the moments several police officers rush out of a Mississippi Walmart and open fire as a driver accused of shoplifting tries to pull out of the parking lot.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-21
🔮 Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced this week that no charges would be filed against the officer who opened fire on the car, striking and killing Kohen Wiley in the June 14 incident.
2026-10-21 · CBS News
Video shows moments leading up to police fatally shooting toddler · assertive framing

Claims (29 extracted, 4 hedged)

Body camera and surveillance footage from the fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old boy show the moments several police officers rush out of a Mississippi Walmart and open fire as a driver accused of shoplifting tries to pull out of the parking lot. asserted
driver → show → lot
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced this week that no charges would be filed against the officer who opened fire on the car, striking and killing Kohen Wiley in the June 14 incident. asserted
who → announce → incident
"Today, the Office of the Attorney General announced it has completed the review of a June 14, 2026 incident in Senatobia involving one officer with the Senatobia Police Department," Fitch said in a statement. asserted
Fitch → announce → statement
"In this incident, the Attorney General's Office found the use of force was justified. asserted
use → find → force
The video shows five law enforcement officers running out of the Walmart after being informed a shoplifter is attempting to drive away. asserted
shoplifter → show → Walmart
When they reach the silver-colored sedan, they surround it and shout repeatedly to "stop the car." asserted
they → reach → car
The woman driving the car, a friend of Wiley's mother, instead drives forward and nearly hits one of the officers. asserted
woman → drive → officers
It is at this point that one of the officers opens fire on the car. asserted
one → open → car
The video, which was posted online by Darkhorse Press, has been verified but not independently obtained by CBS News. asserted
which → post → News
Wiley was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police. uncertain
he → take → police
Wiley's mother and her friend reject accusations they were shoplifting, according to their lawyer, Ben Crump. uncertain
they → reject → lawyer
They have not been charged with any crime. asserted
They → charge → crime
The friend was driving the car, while his mother held Wiley in her lap in the vehicle, Crump said. asserted
Crump → drive → vehicle
"I watched my baby take his first breath and I watched my baby take his last breath," the boy's mother, Vellesiya Wiley, said at a press conference alongside Crump in June. asserted
mother → watch → June
She alleges she held up Kohen to show they had a child in the car and stop them from shooting, according to Crump. uncertain
they → allege → Crump
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation immediately launched an investigation into the incident, which then presented the findings to the attorney general. asserted
which → launch → general
"Before anything else, I want to acknowledge the tremendous pain our community is experiencing," Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves said in a statement after the shooting. asserted
Graves → want → shooting
"The child lost their life. asserted
child → lose → life
That heartbreaking loss has touched every corner of our community. asserted
loss → touch → community
My thoughts and prayers remain with all those involved. asserted
thoughts → remain → those
We are committed to transparency throughout this investigation. asserted
We → commit → investigation
Crump and Wiley's family called for body camera to be released after the attorney general decided Monday the officer would not be charged. " asserted
officer → call → ?
A 1-year-old baby was shot and killed by a police officer, and now the state of Mississippi says that use of force was justified. asserted
use → shoot → force
How can anyone accept that conclusion when Kohen's family and the public still have not been allowed to see the body-camera footage?" asserted
family → accept → footage
Crump said in a statement earlier this week, also noting the Senatobia police chief was recently fired for allegedly using racial slurs. uncertain
chief → say → slurs
"If the footage supports the state's decision, release it," he added. asserted
he → support → it
"We will not stop fighting until this family gets the truth." asserted
family → stop → truth
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety said it would officially release the video at the end of the week after the family views it. asserted
family → say → it
CBS News reached out to the family's lawyer, Crump, about the video and whether the family has seen it, but he hasn't responded. asserted
he → reach → it
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support