By Maya Boddie
(Source: National News)
The Mississippi police officer who fatally shot 1-year-old Kohen Wiley has resigned as newly released body camera footage shows the moments leading up to the child’s death in a Walmart parking lot.
According to Action News 5, attorneys for Wiley’s family confirmed that Officer Hunter Foster resigned from the Senatobia Police Department. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety released Foster’s body camera footage Thursday (October 22), documenting the June shooting.
The footage shows Foster running out of Walmart with other officers after an employee reported that suspected shoplifters were fleeing. Within 13 seconds, Foster had his gun aimed at the vehicle carrying Wiley.
Officers can be heard shouting, “Stop the car. Stop. Stop.” Gunfire, breaking glass and screeching brakes follow as the vehicle continues moving. Foster fired three shots, striking and injuring the driver and killing Wiley, who was in his mother’s arms in the front passenger seat.
On October 19, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch determined the shooting was “justified,” concluding that Foster’s use of deadly force was legally permissible under the circumstances described in the state’s investigation.
He was the only officer who fired his weapon.
Wiley’s family disputes the ruling. His grandmother, LaSandra Williams, told Action News 5 she had difficulty understanding how investigators deemed the shooting justified.
The family’s legal team is calling for Foster to be decertified and plans to petition the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the shooting.
“We’re going to petition the Department of Justice to open an investigation to make sure that we get justice for this baby,” attorney Van Turner said, according to Action News 5.
