A Routine Walmart Trip Turned Into a Nightmare for One Family

She Walked Into Walmart and Shoplifted a Knife. Then She Used It on a Toddler.

On the morning of April 14, 2026, Noemi Guzman, 31, walked into a Walmart on South 72nd Street in Omaha, Nebraska, and stole a kitchen knife from the shelves. She then moved through the store until she found a 3-year-old boy sitting in a shopping cart with his guardian.

She approached them in the aisle, brandished the knife, and ordered the guardian to walk ahead. The child stayed in the cart.

Guzman then directed both of them through the store and out into the parking lot.

Officers arrived as they emerged. Before police could intervene, Guzman slashed the toddler in the face.

What Happened in the Parking Lot

According to the Omaha Police Department, officers gave Guzman commands to drop the weapon. She did not comply. Police fatally shot her outside the store. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The child’s guardian, along with a bystander, immediately removed the toddler from the cart and rendered aid. The boy was transported to a hospital with a laceration to his face. His injuries were not life-threatening, according to police.

‘The responding officers acted with professionalism and direct action to intervene and save a child’s life,’ Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said in a statement to Newsweek.

Omaha Mayor John W. Ewing Jr. praised the officers’ response, saying their swift action helped prevent a larger tragedy. The officers involved were placed on paid critical incident leave per department policy.

A Walmart spokesperson told Newsweek: ‘Violence like this is unacceptable.’

A Prior History That Raised Questions

The attack did not come without warning signs in Guzman’s past.

According to Fox News, Guzman had been arrested in 2024 after allegedly stabbing her own father with a knife and attempting to set fire to his home. She reportedly doused him in a flammable liquid before fleeing. After leaving her father’s residence, she allegedly barricaded herself inside St. Frances Cabrini Church in Omaha while still armed before police took her into custody.

She was released. Less than two years later, she was inside a Walmart with a stolen knife and a toddler in a cart.

Fox News reported that critics questioned why Guzman had been freed given her prior violent history. Authorities have not publicly addressed those questions.

Body Camera Footage Released

In the days following the incident, the Omaha Police Department released body camera footage of the confrontation. The footage showed the response as officers arrived on scene and encountered Guzman in the parking lot.

The department said investigators also reviewed store surveillance footage, which captured the sequence of events from inside the store - including Guzman taking the knife from the shelves and approaching the child’s guardian in the aisle.

The complete investigative review was ongoing as of the time of this report.

‘Violence Like This Is Unacceptable’

The incident added to a growing national pattern of violent incidents at major retail locations - events that researchers say are driven in part by rising rates of untreated mental illness and the particular vulnerability of crowded public spaces.

For the family of the 3-year-old boy, the morning began as an ordinary shopping trip. A woman they had never seen before walked up to them in an aisle, forced them outside at knifepoint, and left their child bleeding in a parking lot before police arrived.

The child survived. His guardian was not physically injured. The investigation continues.

References: Deadly Omaha Walmart Shooting: Child Taken to Hospital After Knife Attack | Maniac Who Stabbed Boy Outside Walmart Was Previously Freed After Attacking Dad, Church Rampage