Police kill man who took toddler hostage at a Midwest City Walmart

Authorities say a police officer shot and killed a man who'd taken a toddler hostage at a Walmart Market in suburban Oklahoma City.

Midwest City Police Assistant Chief Sid Porter says the child wasn't harmed in the incident Monday afternoon. Police say the man took the 2-year-old girl out of her mother's shopping cart and held a knife to the child. Porter says the store was evacuated within minutes and police began negotiating with the man.

Porter says an officer opened fire after the man began "counting down" on the girl's life.

Police have identified the suspect as 37-year-old Sammie Lamont Wallace.

The shot killed the man and no one else was hurt. Porter says the man apparently had no connection to the toddler or her mother.

Copyright The Associated Press