A woman who was demanding to speak to a news anchor and was apparently holding a Walmart employee at gunpoint was fatally shot by Mississippi police during a tense hostage situation Wednesday.
Richland police responded to the report of an "incident at Walmart involving a weapon," the New York Post reports. In video footage captured by a bystander, Corlunda McGinister, 21, can be seen holding a store employee and demanding to talk to a news anchor. It appears that McGinister has a gun in one hand, but it's not clear in the video.
“Hey, give me a news anchor down here right now,” McGinister can be heard saying in the video, adding that she needs help.
In the video, officers are seen trying to de-escalate the situation and ordering her to drop her gun.
“I’m not trying to hurt anybody,” McGinister said in the video. “Give me a news anchor.”
Finally, officers opened fire, and McGinister was shot and killed. No one else was injured in the incident.
“It’s devastating for all parties involved—the officers, everybody that was involved in this situation,” Richland Police Chief Nick McLendon told WAPT-TV.
The shooting is being looked into by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation
