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Police officer who shot and killed 1-year-old boy in Mississippi has resigned, mayor says
PBS • • general
Key Points:
- Sgt. Hunter Foster, the officer who fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley in a Walmart parking lot in Senatobia, Mississippi, has resigned following an investigation that cleared him of criminal wrongdoing.
- The shooting occurred during a response to a shoplifting call; videos released show Foster firing into a moving vehicle where Kohen was seated, with the family disputing claims that the vehicle threatened the officers.
- Kohen's family and their attorneys challenge the justification of the shooting, citing footage and an independent autopsy, and have called for federal investigation and Foster's decertification as a police officer.
- Foster has a history of controversy, including a 2021 lawsuit alleging civil rights violations during a 2019 arrest, which was settled by the Southaven police department; he had worked for multiple Mississippi law enforcement agencies since 2019.
- Senatobia's Police Chief Harold Vanderford was recently fired amid reports of racist text messages, adding to the scrutiny of the local police department involved in the incident.
