A tragic incident unfolded in Nebraska earlier this week when police fatally shot a woman after she stabbed a 3-year-old boy. This woman had previously been arrested for allegedly attacking her father with a knife and causing a disturbance at a nearby Catholic church.

The Omaha Police Department reported that officers responded to a call at a Walmart just after 9 a.m. on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. The call was about a woman wielding a “kitchen knife” and a young child.

When officers arrived, they encountered 31-year-old Noemi Guzman in the store’s parking lot. She was standing by a shopping cart containing a 3-year-old boy and holding a knife.

According to police reports, Guzman was shot and killed by officers after allegedly attempting to kidnap the toddler and threatening him with a knife in the Walmart parking lot in Omaha, Nebraska.

Despite repeated commands from officers to drop the knife, Guzman did not comply and instead slashed the child’s face, authorities said.

In response, two officers discharged their firearms, resulting in Guzman’s death. The injured child was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover.

Authorities later revealed surveillance video showed Guzman shoplifting the weapon before approaching the child’s caretaker and forcing the pair outside at knifepoint. 

Noemi Guzman was previously arrested after allegedly cutting her father with a knife and attempting to light his house on fire before barricading herself inside St. Frances Cabrini Church in Omaha, Nebraska in 2024, according to reports. (Omaha Police Department)

The incident is not Guzman’s first run-in with the law, according to reports.

In 2024, Guzman was arrested after she allegedly stabbed her father and attempted to start a fire inside his home, KETV reported. 

Guzman reportedly doused her father in a flammable liquid and cut him with a knife before fleeing the home.

Noemi Guzman allegedly shoplifted a knife before attempting to kidnap a child at a Walmart in Omaha, Neb., on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, according to the Omaha Police Department. (Omaha Police Department)

She then broke into nearby St. Frances Cabrini Church and began destroying items inside the rectory while armed with a knife, according to KETV. 

A priest at the church reportedly called 911 and subsequently barricaded himself inside a room as Guzman continued her attack.

“Whatever room he was in, she busted through that room just as they were extracting [him] on that ladder truck,” Lt. Jake Ritonya said at the time of the incident, KETV reported. “And then she was armed with a knife. So obviously it could have gone very bad.” 

Guzman then proceeded to barricade herself inside the building and allegedly sprayed bear spray at authorities as they attempted to make contact, the outlet reported. ​​

“There was bear spray in the rectory that she sprayed at my officers when we tried to make contact,” Ritonya said. “So we tried multiple avenues to contact her with drones and negotiators, and it just wasn’t — she was in a mental health crisis.” 

She was subsequently taken into custody as she attempted to jump out of a window, but later released on her own recognizance while facing four felony charges, according to WOWT.

Prior to her arrest two years ago, Guzman reportedly had been convicted in 2018 on a third-degree assault charge. 

The Omaha Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.