The cause remains undetermined as the Mississippi department faces continuing scrutiny over an officer’s fatal shooting of a 1-year-old boy.
SENATOBIA, Miss. — Federal and local authorities are investigating an early Saturday fire that damaged the Senatobia Police Department headquarters, months after the agency became the focus of protests and public anger over an officer’s fatal shooting of 1-year-old Kohen Wiley.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined local agencies in investigating the Oct. 31 blaze. The Senatobia Fire Department said firefighters were dispatched shortly before 5 a.m. after smoke was reported inside the building and quickly extinguished the fire. Authorities had not publicly determined what caused it or whether it was deliberately set.
Officials had not released a detailed assessment of the damage Saturday. Published accounts also did not establish a connection between the fire and the controversies that have surrounded the Police Department since Wiley’s death. Investigators had not publicly identified a suspect or announced a motive.
The department has faced intense scrutiny since June 14, when officers confronted two women in a Walmart parking lot while responding to a reported shoplifting incident. Wiley was in their vehicle with his mother and another woman when Senatobia police Sgt. Hunter Foster fired at the moving car. The toddler was killed, and another woman in the vehicle was seriously injured. Wiley’s mother was not injured.
State authorities said the vehicle moved toward officers during the encounter. Video released months later showed officers surrounding the car before it accelerated and moved between officers as Foster fired. The circumstances of the shooting prompted questions from Wiley’s family and others about whether deadly force was necessary.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office announced in October that Foster’s use of force was justified and that he would not face criminal charges. Foster later resigned from the Senatobia Police Department. Wiley’s family has disputed the state’s conclusion and has continued to seek further review of the shooting.
The two women in the vehicle denied stealing merchandise, and neither had been charged with shoplifting as of the latest published reports. Wiley’s death led to protests and repeated demands for the release of police video and greater transparency about the investigation. Body-camera and surveillance footage was eventually released in October.
The department also underwent leadership changes during the months after the shooting. Police Chief Harold Vanderford was fired in September after news organizations reported allegations that he had used racist slurs in private text messages. The developments added to public scrutiny of the department in Senatobia, a city of about 8,000 people roughly 40 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.
The investigation into Saturday’s fire remained active. ATF agents and local authorities had not announced a cause, provided a full damage estimate or established that the blaze was related to Wiley’s death, the protests or any other controversy involving the Police Department.
Author note: Last updated October 31, 2026.