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Police have released surveillance video from an Oklahoma Walmart of a man who allegedly took a 2-year-old girl from a mother’s shopping cart and held a knife to the child’s throat.
Surveillance cameras at the Midwest City, Okla., Walmart were rolling June 17 when police shot and killed the suspect, Sammie Wallace, in the head at point-blank range and safely returned the toddler to her mother.
In the dramatic video, Wallace, 37, takes the toddler hostage while her mother, Alicia Keating, had her back to the shopping cart. Keating began to scream and pleaded with the suspect to return her daughter.
Keating’s older daughter was also present as the incident unfolded in front of panicked shoppers.
Law enforcement quickly moved in and evacuated the store. Police began more than 30 minutes of negotiations with Wallace and, at one point, even offered him a chair.
“He had a weapon in his hand. A knife-type weapon holding up against the child, threatening the child’s life,” Midwest City Assistant Police Chief Sid Porter said.
Police say Wallace was uncooperative and the situation quickly deteriorated, with the suspect making odd demands. The tipping point came when Wallace started an ominous 60-second countdown with the knife still close to the toddler’s neck.
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