Omaha Walmart knife incident underscores mental-health crisis and justice-system gaps

An Omaha woman wielding a kitchen knife taken from a Walmart threatened and injured a 3-year-old in front of the store before police shot and killed her; authorities note Guzman’s long history of mental illness and prior violent acts, including arson and breaking into a priest’s home, for which she was found not responsible by insanity and released in 2024 under outpatient treatment with GPS monitoring. The case highlights mental-health system challenges in the criminal-justice process, with a grand jury reviewing the shooting and Gov. Pillen calling for reforms.