US4 min(s) read
Published 10:56 16 Apr 2026 GMT
The parents of the child who was approached by a woman with a knife at a Walmart store have issued a heartbreaking statement.
Speaking to reporters earlier this week about the harrowing incident, the boy's parents admitted that police helped to save their son's life.
The harrowing incident took place on Tuesday (April 14), with officers from the Omaha Police Department responding to an emergency call at 9:13 AM at the superstore in Omaha, Nebraska.
It resulted in officers fatally shooting a woman who had attacked a toddler with a knife, with Walmart issuing a statement in the aftermath.
Police reported that Noemi Guzman had abducted the young child and slashed him with a knife, after walking into the store on an otherwise regular morning.
Police say that minutes after Guzman walked in, it became a life-threatening emergency as she was armed with a kitchen knife and slashed a three-year-old boy while he was in a shopping cart.
She reportedly moved through the store before picking up a kitchen knife from one of the shelves, with CCTV footage revealing that she approached a family with a young child, identified as Cyler Hillman.
Soon after, she confronted the child's parent and forced them to move through the aisles, using the knife to threaten them as she directed the adult while the child stayed in the cart.
Witnesses admitted that when they realized what was going on, the woman was exit-bound.
After she was confronted by officers, she refused to drop the knife, resulting in her being fatally shot.
The boy would be reunited with his guardian and taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
Cyler Hillman's parents said the family have been struggling to come to terms with what happened, as mom Sara said: "I think it's been rough, a lot of the what ifs of what if it could have gone a different way."
The boy's dad, Casey, admitted that if authorities "wouldn't have reacted when they did, we wouldn't still have him," adding: "And if she would have been any lower with the knife, we wouldn't have him either."
He said that it has been very "stressful" since the incident, though he noted that his son has been a "fighter" since being born premature.
The boy said he didn't want to go outside the following day as it was "scary," as Casey admitted: "That broke my heart,
"Then he asked me if I'd carry him if he went outside. 'Yeah, I ain't gonna let nothing happen to you.'"
Local police said in a press release: "Ms. Guzman was making multiple threats with the knife,
"Officers gave multiple verbal commands for Ms. Guzman to drop the knife. She refused to drop the weapon and cut the boy. The two patrol officers fired their service weapons striking Ms. Guzman."
Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer stated: "The responding officers acted with professionalism and direct action to intervene and save a child's life,
"The community can be reassured in knowing that Omaha police officers stand ready to act with courage and decisiveness in the most serious situations to protect the public."
While the incident remains under investigation, the case will be presented to a grand jury, as is required by US law when someone dies while being apprehended by law enforcement.
