Mississippi police fatally shot a woman who was holding a Walmart employee in the megastore hostage after she refused to back down.
Cellphone footage of the incident shows Corlunda McGinister, 21, holding onto a woman wearing a Walmart vest with her left hand and waving a gun in her right hand demanding to see a news anchor Wednesday in Richland, Mississippi.
“Get a news anchor here, now!” she yells. “Get a news anchor here now.”
McGinister then pulls the hostage to another section of the store.
“Hey, I ain’t trying to hurt nobody,” she proclaims.
“Then, why don’t you let her go?” A man who seems to be recording asks.
McGinister, who was from Arkansas, also shakes and taps her foot and mumbles inaudible words to herself.
According to WLBT, Richland Police and Rankin County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the chaotic scene around 5:45 p.m. McGinister reportedly got into a confrontation with an employee in the customer service department and held the woman hostage.
A second video shows the moment police officers rush into the store and approach the woman holding the gun. At least three officers surround McGinister.
“Put the gun down,” one officer demands. “Put both of your hands up, now!
“Walk out here so we can see you. Drop the gun!” another officer yells.
“Give me a news anchor now,” she yells back. “I just need a news anchor. Give me a news anchor, and I will put my gun down.”
The police and others in the store all chime in unison to tell the woman to drop the weapon, but she insists on getting a reporter to the store.
“They’re trying to kill me,” she says.
“No, we’re not,” one officer yells back. “Put your gun down!”
“No, send me a news anchor,” McGinister says.
“Step out here and we will,” the officer says.
McGinister was subsequently shot by police at some point after the cellphone videos ended.
People looking to complete last-minute shopping for the holidays waited in line to get back into the store after it closed temporarily because of the shooting
Shopper Malik Nguyen said, “everybody is frustrated, in a panic.”
“You never know what she was going through. Respect to her and her family,” Nguyen told WLBT. “But you know everything has consequences.”
No one else was injured in the shooting, according to police.
“It’s devastating for all parties involved — the officers, everybody that was involved in this situation,” Richland police Chief Nick McLendon said. “You know, with the Christmas season coming, mental health is a big deal because of the stress involved in the Christmas season.”
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the shooting.
