A two-year-old child has been filmed walking towards armed officers with her arms up after her parents were stopped on suspicion of shoplifting. Suspects Chad M. Bom and James W. McMullen were detained by Tallahassee Police officers holding pistols and rifles in Florida outside a busy department store. A shocking video shared online then shows a toddler clamber out of their black pickup truck with no shoes or socks on and approach the police.
Officers keep their guns raised and the little girl lifts her arms into the air, so as to mimic the adults earlier removed from the vehicle. Those filming the action from across the road make voice their disbelief before the child is picked up by a woman, reported to be her mother.
‘She’s trying to get out but she can’t because she’s little,’ says a voice behind the camera ‘She is out. Oh, she’s holding her hands up. Oh my God, look at that. Oh my God.’ ‘They’re still holding the gun at the baby,’ says one view, before the other disputes: ‘No, they’re holding the gun at the car.’ Tallahassee police said they were heavily armed as staff at the store reported that the suspects had a weapon with them. Police found a pellet gun in the back of the pick up truck.
Footage from body cameras worn by the officers present was later reviewed said TPD Chief Michael DeLeo, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. They had asked one detainee who else was in the vehicle, to which he could be heard responding: ‘Just my two-year-old daughter and one-year-old son.’
The mother later retrieved the second child from the truck. ‘The body camera footage shows the officers’ concern for the children and their compassion as they permitted the mother to care for the children,’ DeLeo said. ‘The mom, who is a suspect, asks an officer to hold her 2-year-old as she retrieves the infant from a car seat. ‘I am proud of how officers handled the situation, how they adapted when they became aware of the children, the level of concern and compassion they showed to the family.’ apted when they became aware of the children, the level of concern and compassion they showed to the family.’