Senatobia Walmart closes temporarily after shooting death of 1-year-old

SENATOBIA, Miss. (WMC) - The Walmart in Senatobia is temporarily closed following an investigation into the officer-involved shooting death of a 1-year-old boy.

A Walmart spokesperson confirmed the closure to Action News 5. It’s unclear how long the store will remain closed.

Activists protested in Senatobia calling for justice for Kohen Wiley and a boycott of the Walmart where the 1-year-old was killed after a law enforcement officer fired into the vehicle the boy was inside.

Members of the Israel United in Christ movement marched through Senatobia to Walmart Saturday with the family of Kohen Wiley, calling his shooting death outside the Walmart Sunday afternoon by a Senatobia police officer an act of racial injustice.

“We’re praying that the Most High brings judgement against all those that sit up there, that continue to do these atrocities to our people,” said Hoshaya Israel of Israel United in Christ.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was called in on June 14 to investigate after 1-year-old Kohen Wiley was killed in a shooting involving the Senatobia Police Department and Tate County Sheriff’s Office at the store.

According to MBI, officers were responding to a shoplifting call when an officer fired into a vehicle with Wiley and two women inside, after the car allegedly drove towards officers.

“We know that Walmart could release that video. Being a private entity, they don’t have to wait on the police and there’s nothing the police could do,” said Marquell Bridges of Building Bridges Foundation.

Bridges stood alongside Wiley’s father Saturday to call on the firing and arrest of the Senatobia officer who fired the shots.

“How did you already know that the baby was in the car, and yet you still chose to shoot in this car. What was a black baby’s life worth to you,” Bridges said.

Protest leaders said Wiley’s death is a breaking point in a history of tension between black residents in Senatobia and local law enforcement.

“This is a long history in this town of racism. You can speak about the 10-year-old. You’re locking up 10-year-olds for urinating by the side of their parents’ vehicle,” Bridges said. “The disproportionate sentencing, the disproportionate arrests, the overpolicing, the roadblocks. You know, these people are tired. They’ve been terrorized.”

Bridges said the family of Kohen Wiley is preparing to lay him to rest Sunday.

On Friday, community members in Minnesota held a vigil for Kohen, calling for solidarity with Mississippi and issuing a call to action.

Senatobia Mayor Greg Graves also spoke publicly for the first time since the shooting.

Action News 5 will provide updates as more information becomes available.

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