Court records and follow-up police updates show the suspect was under supervision and had been at a hospital hours before the attack.
OMAHA, Neb. — Omaha police shot and killed a 31-year-old woman Tuesday after, investigators said, she seized a 3-year-old boy at knifepoint inside a Walmart, forced him into the parking lot and slashed him as officers moved in to stop her.
The attack turned an ordinary shopping trip into a public hostage crisis and opened overlapping questions about police response, court supervision and the events that led the woman to target a child she did not know. By Wednesday, the boy’s family said he had undergone surgery and was expected to survive, while police identified the officers who fired and said the shooting would be reviewed by a grand jury under Nebraska law.
Police said store video shows Noemi Guzman entering the Walmart near South 72nd and Pine streets on Tuesday morning, taking a large kitchen knife and approaching a woman caring for a 3-year-old boy. Deputy Chief Scott Gray said Guzman then “took possession of the child” and ordered the caretaker to walk ahead of the shopping cart while Guzman followed behind with the knife. The group moved out of the store and toward the parking lot entrance, where police said the two women argued for several minutes. One caller asked for police help without fully explaining what was happening, and another reported a woman with a large kitchen knife and a child. Officers arrived within minutes, found the boy still seated in the cart and ordered Guzman to drop the weapon. Gray said she began “swiping the knife at the child,” cutting the left side of his face and one hand, and at least one officer fired.
Police later identified Guzman as the woman killed at the scene and said the child’s injuries, though serious, were not life-threatening. Family members told Omaha television stations that the boy underwent surgery at Children’s Nebraska and is expected to recover. Police also released body camera still images showing Guzman raising the knife over the child as officers aimed their guns, giving the public its first visual record of the encounter. Those images, along with store surveillance footage, have become central evidence in the official account. Important questions remain unanswered. Police have not publicly explained why Guzman chose that child, whether she said anything that pointed to a motive, or whether anyone inside the store realized a kidnapping was underway before the group reached the parking lot. Investigators have said Guzman and the caretaker did not know each other, and officials have continued to describe the case as an isolated attack rather than part of any wider threat.
By Wednesday, the story had widened beyond the shooting itself to the systems that had contact with Guzman before the attack. Court records cited by Omaha television stations show that she had been found not responsible by reason of insanity in a 2024 case in which she was accused of stabbing her father, trying to set his home on fire and damaging a Catholic church rectory. A judge later ruled that Guzman continued to suffer from schizophrenia and should remain under court supervision, with an annual review scheduled for June 12. Local reporting said there was no indication in the court file that she had fallen out of compliance with her treatment plan before Tuesday. A Douglas County prosecutor also told local station KMTV that Guzman had no bond restrictions that would have barred her from entering a store. Those details have intensified questions about how a woman under supervision was able to walk into a large retailer, take a knife from a shelf and reach a small child before anyone intervened.
The police shooting now moves onto a separate procedural track. Omaha police on Wednesday identified the officers who fired as Roger Oseka and Brian Seaton, both patrol officers with 22 years of experience. The department said both men were placed on paid critical incident leave, as required by policy, and will be interviewed later. Officials also said the case will be submitted to a grand jury. The officer-involved shooting investigation is being handled by Omaha police with help from the Nebraska State Patrol and the Douglas and Sarpy county sheriff’s offices. Another local follow-up added a new layer to the timeline. WOWT reported that officers had contact with Guzman twice before the Walmart attack: once early Monday at a QuikTrip after a domestic disturbance call, when she declined hospital care, and again Tuesday morning at an apartment complex, when police took her to Bergan Mercy. The station reported that Guzman told staff she was dealing with mental health issues, then left because she had arrived for a medical issue rather than a psychiatric hold.
Witnesses described a fast, bewildering scene in a parking lot where people had been doing ordinary errands minutes earlier. Becky Bissell told WOWT she was driving away when she noticed the caretaker crying and the boy looking frightened. When she stopped, Bissell said, the other woman was holding what looked like a large kitchen chef’s knife. Inside the store, an employee told the same station that workers were sent to the back after an intercom announcement said the building was in lockdown. By Wednesday, the store had reopened, but the effects of the attack were still showing in the family’s public comments. The boy’s father told local television that his son was afraid to go outside the next day, a change he had never seen before. The boy’s parents praised the officers who intervened while also criticizing Walmart’s response after the attack. Walmart, in comments carried by local television, called the violence unacceptable.
As of Wednesday evening, the child was recovering, the officers were on leave and investigators were still trying to explain what led Guzman to seize a stranger’s son in a Walmart aisle. The next public steps are the grand jury review, officer interviews and any fuller release of video or records that clarify the hours before the attack.
Author note: Last updated April 15, 2026.