A bizarre and violent scene outside an Omaha Walmart store Tuesday morning. OPD Deputy Chief Scott Gray says officers shot and killed a woman who attacked a child during a kidnapping attempt around 9:20 at the store near 72nd and Pacific.
“She was holding a knife to a three-year old child that was in a shopping cart,” Gray says. “There is video that shows the suspect swiping the knife at the child, cutting him across the face.” He says at least one officer fired their weapon and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The child is being treated at the hospital for a large cut across the left side of the face and to a hand.” Gray says the woman killed had taken the child from their caretaker inside the store and forced the child to walk outside while the suspect followed with a shopping cart.
“There was some verbal back and forth, it appears, between the caretaker and the suspect for several minutes, until officers arrived,” Gray says. He says the suspect and the caregiver did not know each other.
The investigation is ongoing.