In Omaha, Nebraska, police shot and killed a woman who was accused of abducting and injuring a young boy with a knife in a Walmart parking lot, as per statements from Deputy Chief Scott Gray.
OMAHA, Neb. — On Tuesday, law enforcement officials in Omaha reported an incident where a woman was fatally shot after she allegedly kidnapped and attacked a toddler with a knife outside a Walmart store.
The woman allegedly approached a shopper accompanied by a child, estimated to be around 2 or 3 years old, brandishing a large knife similar to a kitchen knife. She reportedly seized the child, effectively kidnapping him, according to Deputy Chief Scott Gray.
She instructed the child’s guardian to walk ahead of the shopping cart while she kept the child at knifepoint, Gray detailed. Once outside the store, the women engaged in a verbal confrontation until police officers arrived on the scene.
Responding to a 911 call, officers reached the Walmart located at 1606 S. 72nd St., where they attempted to communicate with the woman. During this encounter, she allegedly began to attack the child with the knife, injuring his face, as explained by Gray.
The situation escalated, prompting two officers to discharge their weapons, leading to the suspect’s death at the scene, according to police reports.
Body-worn camera images police released show the woman raising a knife over the young boy sitting in a shopping cart as the officer aims a gun at her.
After the shooting, the child’s guardian and a bystander removed the child from the cart and rendered aid. The child was being treated at a hospital for a large laceration across the left side of his face and to a hand, Gray said. He is expected to survive.
It’s unclear what provoked the suspect. Gray said the two women did not know each other. The relationship between the boy and his caretaker wasn’t clear.
Police identified the suspect as 31-year-old Noemi Guzman.
Investigators determined through store surveillance video that Guzman shoplifted the knife from inside the store, then approached the woman and child in a shopping aisle and brandished the knife.
The event appears to be an isolated incident, Gray said. The Walmart was largely empty as police continued their investigation, he said.
The actions inside the store wouldn’t necessarily have drawn attention from other shoppers, he said.
“They kind of just purposely but casually walk out of the store, so I don’t think anybody was actually looking at them as being a suspect of anything,” Gray said.
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