A tense situation at a Mississippi Walmart ended violently when police fatally shot a woman who was holding one of the store’s employees hostage at gunpoint.
The shocking incident went down Wednesday evening at a Walmart superstore in the Jackson suburb of Richland as a terrified worker was thrust into a life-or-death situation when she suddenly found herself with a gun pointed at her back with her assailant making bizarre demands.
In a video of the ordeal, the woman who has been identified as 21-year-old Corlunda McGinister of West Helena, Arkansas demanded to speak to the media as horrified customers watched the scene play out.
“Hey, give me a news anchor down here right now,” McGinister said as she held the weapon with one hand and used the other to hold onto her victim as she danced around in the video that went viral after being posted to social media.
Viral video posted to TikTok showed an apparent hostage situation unfold at a Walmart in Richland, Mississippi. A woman held a Walmart employee at gunpoint. News reports indicate the suspect was shot dead by police. No other injuries were reported. 📹: 504bigmama pic.twitter.com/KZKYPTn0jC
— Malik Earnest (@MalikEarnest) December 22, 2022
“I need help, I need help,” she said. “Give me a news anchor down here.”
“I’m not trying to hurt anybody,” the woman said.
“Give me a news anchor,” she added, denying that she had any intention to execute the hostage.
The disturbing incident was first reported at 5:45 pm by Richland Police on social media.
“RPD is working an incident at Walmart involving a weapon the scene is secure and we will provide updates when they become available,” the department wrote on Facebook. “We ask to avoid the area at and around Walmart at this time.”
(Image: Screengrab/Facebook)
In another Facebook post, the police announced an officer-involved shooting, “RPD had an officer involved shooting this evening at Walmart, all of our officers are safe! Walmart is secure and closed at this time. MBI will be conducting an independent investigation.”
(Image: Screengrab/Facebook)
After the hostage taker had been taken out, Richland Police Chief Nick McLendon said that the situation was “devastating” for everyone involved, especially during the holiday season.
“It’s devastating for all parties involved — the officers, everybody that was involved in this situation,” he told Jackson, MS ABC affiliate WAPT. “You know, with the Christmas season coming, mental health is a big deal because of the stress involved in the Christmas season.”
(Video: YouTube/WAPT)
One witness recounted the harrowing experience to WAPT, “Barely got in, people were running out and people were screaming ‘get out’ to me and my cousin so of course we ran out and it was just horrifying and then we heard the gunshots and of course, there’s fifteen police cars here, I just counted them, and it’s just terrifying.”
There were no other injuries in the incident and Walmart reopened for business on Thursday after briefly being closed down.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which will be conducting an independent review which is standard procedure for all officer-involved shootings, declined to provide any comment on the terrifying incident.
“This is an ongoing investigation; no further comment will be made by MBI at this time,” the agency told Fox News Digital.
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