Mississippi releases video of police officer shooting 1-year-old Kohen Wiley, no charges filed - VIDEO

Mississippi released a video on Thursday (October 22) showing the fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy by a police officer. However, the state officials have cleared the officer who shot the child of the charge of criminal wrongdoing. The boy, identified as Kohen Wiley, was killed in June when Senatobia Police Sgt. Hunter Foster fired his gun into a moving vehicle while reacting to a shoplifting call.

Over the incident, Kohen’s family says video of the fatal encounter indicates that the shooting was not justified. In response, the Mississippi attorney general’s office said this week that its month-long probe discovered that Foster’s use of force was appropriate. Foster’s attorney named Martin Zummach, stated that his client had “no option” but to shoot at the vehicle as it was about to hit him.

Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Kohen’s family, noted that Foster was not in danger when the cops opened fire on the 1-year-old boy, taking his life. Crump claimed that the video indicates Foster fired the shot from the passenger side of the car.

Multiple angles of the encounter in video

The video on social media was released by the Mississippi outlet Darkhorse Press, which covers crime and community news with a focus on law enforcement, and published portions of the video on its website Wednesday. The outlet’s founder, Therese Apel, previously served as the department’s communications director.

The footage shows two women, one carrying a baby, running across a parking lot and getting into a car. Five officers then approach the parked vehicle with their weapons drawn. As the car reverses, it collides with another parked vehicle nearby while officers shout at it to stop.

The vehicle then moves forward, with one officer positioned directly in its path, gun raised. The car’s wheels turn away from him as he places his hands on the hood and jumps clear. He then fires, shattering the front passenger window, before the car drives off and the footage ends.