Mississippi officer Hunter Foster resigns after justified shooting of infant

Mississippi police officer Hunter Foster resigned after the state attorney general said his June shooting of a 1‑year‑old outside a Walmart was justified. Mayor Greg Graves of Senatobia confirmed Foster’s resignation to CBS News on Friday. The shooting occurred when officers and Tate County sheriff’s deputies, responding to an unrelated call, confronted a moving car in the Walmart parking lot over an alleged shop‑lifting. When the driver did not stop, Foster fired into the vehicle. Body‑camera footage shows the car backing into a parked car, then moving forward while Foster steps aside, places a hand on the hood and discharges his weapon, shattering the front‑passenger window. One‑year‑old Kohen Wiley, seated in the car, was killed. Foster’s attorney Martin Zummach argued his client had no choice because the car was coming at him and blamed the driver, who has not been charged, for trying to kill the officers. “Hunter Foster had no choice but to discharge his weapon. We are very sad for the loss of life,” Zummach said. Civil‑rights lawyer Ben Crump, representing the Wiley family, said he is urging the U.S. Department of Justice to open an investigation. “Accountability can’t end here. Body‑camera footage shows how quickly this escalated over an alleged shop‑lifting call,” Crump posted on social media.

Context

The attorney general’s finding of justified force contrasts with calls for a federal probe, highlighting ongoing debate over police use‑of‑force policies in Mississippi.