Omaha boy, 3, recovering from stabbing, kidnapping attempt at Walmart
April 16 (UPI) -- Omaha police have released more details about the kidnapping and assault suspect who was shot by police at a Walmart.
Noemi Guzman, 31, attempted to kidnap Cyler Hillman, 3, at an Omaha Walmart. She cut his face just before police shot and killed her.
The experience has been "hectic, to say the least; stressful, very stressful ... emotional, very," Cyler's dad, Casey Hillman, told WOWT Omaha.
When police arrived at the scene around 9:20 a.m. CDT, they found a woman outside the store "holding a knife to Cyler who was in a shopping cart," Omaha Deputy Police Chief Scott Gray said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Cyler was taken to a hospital with a cut on his face, but is OK, his parents said.
Guzman approached the caretaker in the store and showed the knife. She gave the caretaker commands to walk in front of the shopping cart, so the three of them walked into the lot. When Guzman raised the stolen knife to cut Cyler, police shot her.
Mom Sara Hillman, who was in Lincoln, Neb., said she found out about the attack through a questionnaire from the hospital. Cyler was with a caretaker that morning while Casey Hillman went to a job interview.
"If [police] wouldn't have reacted when they did, we wouldn't still have him. And if she had been any lower with the knife, we wouldn't have him either," Casey Hillman said.
The boy was nervous the day after the incident.
"His big thing this morning was, 'I don't want to go outside -- it's scary.' And I had to take a minute and go sit in the corner and pretty much bawl my eyes out, because that broke my heart," WOWT reported Casey Hillman said. "That's never been that kid; he always wants to go outside. And then he asked me if I'd carry him if he went outside. And yeah, I ain't gonna let nothing happen to you, so."
Guzman was under the supervision of the courts and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. She was accused in 2024 of setting her father's home on fire then breaking into a church armed with a kitchen knife, WOWT reported. After being charged with four felonies, the courts found Guzman "not responsible by reason of insanity."
Officers took lifesaving measures on Guzman but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The responding officers acted with professionalism and direct action to intervene and save a child's life," said Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer in a statement. "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."
Omaha Mayor John W. Ewing Jr. thanked police for quick action.
"I am grateful for the department's professionalism and transparency," he said.
Sara and Casey Hillman said they are frustrated with Walmart considering the company's actions to stop shoplifting.
"Yet someone was able to not only steal a knife but also (hold) two people at knife-point hostage from the back of the store to the front of the store," the Omaha World Herald reported Sara Hillman said. "If they would have responded like they do with most of their situations, cops would have been there before they even got to the door."
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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 4:25 PM.