Police say the boy survived after a stranger took him from a store aisle at knifepoint.

OMAHA, Neb. — Two Omaha police officers fatally shot a 31-year-old woman Tuesday morning after authorities say she took a 3-year-old boy from a Walmart aisle, pushed him outside in a cart and cut him with a kitchen knife.

The shooting ended a fast-moving call that began as an unclear request for help and became a reported child abduction inside the Walmart at 1606 S. 72nd St. Police identified the woman as Noemi Guzman. The boy, later identified by his family as Cyler Hillman, was taken to Children’s Hospital with serious cuts that officials said were not expected to kill him.

Police said the first 911 call came in at 9:13 a.m. from a woman asking for police assistance. The caller then stopped giving details, leaving dispatchers with a vague emergency at the store near South 72nd and Pine streets. A second caller soon reported that a woman with a large kitchen knife was with a young child. Deputy Chief Scott Gray said Guzman had taken the knife from the store before approaching the boy and his caretaker in an aisle. Gray said she displayed the weapon and “took possession of the child, essentially kidnapping the child.”

Investigators said Guzman forced the caretaker to move through the store while the child remained in a shopping cart. Gray said the movement did not appear to draw clear attention from shoppers or workers because the group seemed to walk out in a deliberate but casual way. Police said the caretaker was ordered to walk ahead while Guzman followed with the cart and child. They moved out of the store and toward the south parking lot entry, where Gray said the two women had a verbal exchange that lasted several minutes before patrol officers arrived.

At about 9:20 a.m., a two-officer patrol unit reached the scene. Officials said the officers got out of their cruiser and immediately approached Guzman, who was near the parking lot entry with the child seated in the cart. Police said she had the knife, was making threats and refused repeated orders to drop it. Gray said officers saw her begin “swiping the knife at the child,” cutting him across the face. Police said both officers fired their service weapons and struck Guzman. She died at the scene despite life-saving efforts.

The boy’s caretaker and a bystander pulled the child from the cart after the shooting and moved him away from the danger, police said. Gray said the child had a large cut across the left side of his face and a cut to one hand. His family later said he had surgery and was recovering. Sara Hillman, the boy’s mother, said the family was still trying to process the attack. “I think it’s been rough, a lot of the what ifs of what if it could have gone a different way,” she said. Casey Hillman, his father, said the officers’ timing mattered. “If they wouldn’t have reacted when they did, we wouldn’t still have him,” he said.

Police released still images from body-worn cameras that officials said showed Guzman holding the knife near the child moments before officers fired. The images showed the boy seated in a shopping cart and an officer aiming a firearm. Officials also said surveillance video from inside the store was being reviewed. Gray said investigators believed the knife had been shoplifted from the store before the encounter with the child and caretaker began. Police said the two women did not know each other, and investigators had not identified a motive.

The case drew a public response from Omaha officials because it involved both an injured child and a fatal police shooting. Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said the officers intervened to save the child’s life. “The responding officers acted with professionalism and direct action to intervene and save a child’s life,” Schmaderer said. Mayor John Ewing Jr. also thanked the officers for their response and said he was grateful for the department’s professionalism and transparency. Police said no officers were injured.

The two officers who fired were placed on paid critical incident leave under department policy. The Omaha Police Department’s Officer-Involved Investigations Team is reviewing the shooting, with help from the Nebraska State Patrol and the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office. Police also said moments from the encounter were captured by officer cameras and store cameras. Officials asked witnesses who saw or recorded Guzman’s actions before the shooting to contact investigators. The case is expected to be presented to a grand jury because a person died while being apprehended by law enforcement.

Authorities also said they were reviewing Guzman’s earlier contacts with police and court records. Omaha police confirmed she was the same woman accused in 2024 of attacking her father with a knife and breaking into St. Francis Cabrini Church. In that case, investigators said a priest barricaded himself as police responded. Guzman later was found not responsible by reason of insanity in connection with those allegations, according to local reports. Police have not said whether those past cases explain the Walmart attack.

By Tuesday afternoon, the Walmart parking lot had become a police scene with investigators collecting evidence, reviewing video and interviewing people who had been inside or near the store. Officials said the attack appeared isolated, and they had found no known relationship between Guzman, the child or his caretaker. The boy remained with family after treatment, and the investigation continued.

Author note: Last updated May 6, 2026.