The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has released the body camera footage of the officer-involved shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, who was fatally shot in a Walmart parking lot on June 14 during an alleged shoplifting pursuit.
The release of the video on Thursday came after the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office announced on Monday the findings of its investigation, concluding that the use of force by the Senatobia Police Department was “justified.”
The probe was conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI).
Members of Kohen’s family, who viewed the footage privately before its formal release, spoke out during a press conference on Thursday, criticizing the state attorney general’s decision not to press charges against police.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the family, said that after viewing the footage, the family continues to believe that the officer’s actions were “excessive” and “not justified.”
“After reviewing that footage, we have made these observations that this was excessive from the very start,” Crump said.
“We are just troubled in our souls that a 1-year-old little angel was taken from us in such a way as this. America, our society must have more empathy for human life,” he added. “Baby Kohen’s life mattered.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves defended the investigation and police during a press conference on Wednesday, saying that while he had not viewed the body camera video himself, he has “trust” in the MBI and the state attorney general’s office.
“Absolutely tragic, and anyone should be focused on praying for that loss of life, and the and the people who loved that young child, no question,” he said.
But Reeves added that investigators found that “it was very clear” that “the driver of the vehicle attempted to run over the policeman.”
Crump argued that the officer could have moved out of the way instead of shooting and called for a federal investigation into the incident.
What happened to Kohen Wiley
Officers who responded to a shoplifting call on June 14 at the Walmart in Senatobia encountered two adults allegedly fleeing from the store with a child and running into a vehicle, according to MBI.
MBI released a redacted report on Thursday outlining its investigation. In the report, the bureau said that as officers attempted to stop the vehicle from fleeing, one officer opened fire as the driver “sped toward the officers.”
The child was killed and an adult was critically injured, the report said.
According to Crump, the two adults who were accused of stealing diapers, whose names are redacted from the report, were Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley and a friend, but they were never charged in the incident.
“[Kohen] was killed over an allegation of shoplifting of diapers, and even if someone is charged, shoplifting diapers is a misdemeanor,” Crump said on Thursday. “I mean, it doesn’t warrant the death penalty. It certainly doesn’t warrant the death of 1-year-old baby Kohen.”
Veronica Roberson, Kohen’s maternal grandmother, said that she was “disgusted” while watching the body camera footage of the incident that killed her grandson.
“I watched the video this morning that disgusted me,” she said. “I feel like we have been done wrong,” she added. “I watched an officer come from the inside of Walmart, not knowing what’s going on, and run out with guns drawn. There’s no justification for that.”
What the videos show
The videos of the incident that were released by MBI on Thursday include multiple vantage points of the incident, including footage from several body-worn police cameras. The videos also include surveillance footage from the Walmart.
In the surveillance video, a man who appears to work at Walmart is seen confronting two women — one of them holding a baby — as they exited the Walmart. The women then walk past the man and start running in the parking lot towards a parked vehicle, the video shows.
In the body camera video, the man runs into what appears to be a security office in the Walmart with several law enforcement officers inside. The man points towards the front entrance and says, “two girls running.” Multiple officers are seen running out toward the parking lot.
In the surveillance video, the women are seen entering a vehicle in the parking lot. Police body camera footage then shows the officers racing into the parking lot. The vehicle then backs out of the parking spot, as an office who appears to have his hand on the car backs away. The vehicle then appeared to back into a parked vehicle, the video shows. As officers call for the driver to stop, the vehicle appears to drive toward the officers, who had their guns drawn, with the officer who fired the shots appearing to move out of the way.
As the car drives toward the officers, one officer appears to fire multiple shots — first toward the front of the vehicle and then another shot appears to hit the front passenger side of the car, breaking the window.
After the shots were fired, the car hit a parked vehicle in the parking lot before stopping for a moment and then driving off as officers chased the vehicle on foot.
The officer who fired his weapon in this case was placed on administrative leave pending the investigation, police told ABC News.
Asked about his employment status on Thursday, police did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked about the findings of the attorney general’s report that the shooting was “justified”, a spokesperson for the Senatobia police did not comment on the findings.
Senatobia interim police chief Angelica Maze thanked the public for patience during the investigation in a statement on Tuesday.
“We understand that people may have questions, concerns, and strong emotions, and we respect everyone’s right to express their views peacefully,” Maze said in her statement. “Open communication and cooperation between residents and law enforcement are essential as we move forward together.”
ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
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