Mississippi police kill woman holding hostage in Walmart

RICHLAND, Miss. (AP) — Police in Mississippi shot and killed a woman who was holding another person hostage in a Walmart store as she said she needed help and demanded to speak to a news anchor.

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety said in a news release that the shooting happened Wednesday evening in the Jackson suburb of Richland. The person killed was Corlunda McGinister, 21, of West Helena Arkansas, department spokeswoman Bailey Martin said Thursday.

A video posted to social media showed a woman holding a gun in one hand and using the other hand to hold onto a person wearing a Walmart employee vest. The woman with the gun yelled that she needed help and wanted to talk to a news anchor. Another video on social media showed police telling the armed woman to put her hands up. The woman yelled that she was not trying to hurt anybody.

Richland police Chief Nick McLendon told WAPT-TV that no one else was hurt in the shooting.

“It’s devastating for all parties involved — the officers, everybody that was involved in this situation,” 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 examining what happened, as it does with all shootings by or of law enforcement officers.