SENATOBIA, Miss.—Protests occurred in a Walmart parking lot on June 16, 2026, as law enforcement officers deployed tear gas to disperse a crowd protesting the police shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley. The child was killed and his aunt injured when a Senatobia police officer fired into a moving car while responding to a report of alleged shoplifting. The officer claimed the vehicle was approaching him, a statement disputed by some witnesses.
Following the incident, the mayor and the Senatobia Board of Aldermen placed the officer on administrative leave, though his identity has not been disclosed. Approximately 200 protesters gathered near City Hall, expressing their anger and calling for an end to police violence. Leon White, a resident, highlighted longstanding tensions between the community and the police, attributing them to inadequate safety training.
Senatobia, with a population of around 8,500, has a crime rate below the national average, and its police force consists of about 30 officers. Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell addressed the crowd, promising transparency in the investigation by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI) and stating that video evidence would not be released until the investigation concludes to protect witness testimony.
Community members, including Shirley Hardin and Bettersten Wade, voiced their frustrations over the police's handling of the situation and historical grievances regarding police-community relations. Wade, who has personal experiences with police violence, emphasized the need for change, stating, "We are in the 21st Century, not the 1960s, and we are still dealing with unjustified police violence."