Omaha, Nebraska — Omaha police on Tuesday shot and killed a woman, saying she stabbed a young boy with a knife outside a Walmart after taking him from another woman inside the store.
The suspect approached a female shopper and a 2- or 3-year-old boy, then displayed a large knife she had stolen from the store and “seized the child, basically kidnapped the child,” Chief Deputy Scott Gray said.
The suspect asked the woman to walk in front of the shopping cart, and she followed her with the child at knifepoint, Gray said. They exited the store and walked down an aisle where the two women exchanged “some verbal exchanges back and forth” for several minutes until officers arrived, Gray said.
After receiving the 911 call, police arrived outside the Walmart store and gave the suspect commands, at which point they began “swiping the knife at the child, cutting him in the face,” Gray said. At least one officer shot the suspect, and she died at the scene.
Body camera images released by police show the woman holding a knife over the young boy sitting in a shopping cart while the officer points a gun at her.
Gray said the child was being treated at the hospital for a large laceration on the left side of his face and hand. He is expected to survive.
It is unclear what triggered the suspect. Gray said the two women did not know each other. The relationship between the boy and his caregiver was not clear.
Police are reviewing video from the store. Gray said the event appears to be an isolated incident. The Walmart store was largely empty as police continued their investigation, he said.
He said the actions inside the store would not necessarily have drawn the attention of other shoppers.
“They walked out of the store intentionally but casually, so I don’t think anyone was looking at them as suspects of anything,” Gray said.
Omaha Police will investigate the police shooting with assistance from the Nebraska State Patrol and the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office.