Every Parent’s Nightmare Inside Walmart Ends With A Split-Second Decision

Police in Omaha, Nebraska, shot and killed a woman who slashed the face of a 3-year-old boy during a kidnapping attempt at Walmart on Tuesday, authorities said.

The attacker, who authorities have not identified, was confronted by police just outside of the Walmart as she was holding a knife to the young child, who was sitting in a shopping cart, Omaha Police Deputy Chief Scott Gray said. The woman refused verbal commands from the officers and then slashed the 3-year-old boy across the face before at least one officer opened fire and killed her.

The toddler was taken to the hospital after suffering “a rather large laceration across the left side of the face,” according to the deputy police chief. Authorities believe the young boy will survive. No one else was injured in the kidnapping attempt or the shooting.

“The officers gave the suspect commands,” Gray said. “There is video that shows the suspect swiping the knife at the child, cutting him across the face.”

Police said the child’s “caretaker” was shopping at Walmart with the toddler seated in a shopping cart when she was confronted by the suspect, who was armed with a large knife, which investigators believe she stole from the store, ABC’s Omaha affiliate KETV reported. The perpetrator then allegedly snatched the child from the caretaker, “essentially kidnapping the child,” and ordered the caretaker to walk in front of the shopping cart as they exited the store. The woman held a knife up to the child as they walked.

After walking out of the store, the two women had a verbal “back and forth” before police arrived on the scene at around 9:20 a.m. local time, Gray said. Authorities do not believe that the attacker and the caretaker knew each other, adding that it remains unclear why the perpetrator targeted the woman and the young boy. It is also not known whether the caretaker was the child’s mother or someone else.