Walmart Hostage’s Mom Begged For Her Daughter’s Life

Alicia Keating’s recent trip to an Oklahoma Walmart nearly ended in tragedy after her two-year-old daughter was taken hostage by a crazed man with a knife.

In an interview with the Today Show, Alicia reveals, “I was literally begging for my daughter’s life.”

Alicia’s two-year-old daughter Zoey was plucked right out of the family’s shopping cart while her 12-year-old sister watched in shock.

Keating tells Today:

“Here’s this huge man standing there with my daughter in his arms and he has a knife pointing towards her side. He said really quietly, ‘Hey, little mamma. You see this knife?’”

Realizing the gravity of Walmart hostage situation, Alicia Keating said she didn’t remain calm:

“I did not maintain my composure. I was completely freaked out. I wanted to reach out and grab her but he had a knife. There was nothing I could do but stand there and beg for her life.”

Police were called by other Walmart customers, and, as officers arrived at the store, the man began a threatening countdown.

As a police negotiator spent 30 minutes talking to the deranged man, he continued to hold a knife to the toddler’s neck.

The man identified as Sammie Wallace told police officers that after 60 seconds he was going to kill the toddler. After he started the countdown, police Captain David Huff walked up to Wallace and shot him point-blank in the head.

Alicia Keating was outside when the shot was fired, and she says of her first thought following the gunshot:

“I heard the shot go off and I thought, ‘Oh my God, they just killed her.’ I thought, ‘she’s dead.'”

Thankfully, the Walmart hostage situation ended with a happy ending for Keating and her daughter.

Here is Keating’s full Today Show interview:

Do you think the officer acted correctly by taking swift action and killing man who was threatening to kill his two-year-old hostage?