KENNER – Police arrested a mother after she allegedly left her two children in a hot car, then attacked the people who rescued them.
According to the Kenner Police Department, officers were called to the 2500 block of Williams Boulevard around 1:23 p.m. on Aug. 5 after someone found an 11-month-old and a 3-year-old locked in a hot car.
According to police, the children had been in the car for more than an hour and temperatures were in the 90s.
The caller and other witnesses were able to remove the children from the car before officers arrived. The mother, 22-year-old Shawnise Sherman, arrived before officers and started yelling at the 911 caller and other witnesses when she learned they called police.
The confrontation escalated and Sherman physically attacked the 911 caller, according to police.
When officers arrived on scene, they arrested Sherman for Child Desertion and Simple Battery.
Both children were treated by EMS at the scene and released into the care of a family member.
Police Chief Michael Glaser said the person who called 911 and rescued the children did the right thing.
“Taking into consideration the temperature and the amount of time the children were left in the vehicle, had it not been for the citizens actions we very well could have been dealing with a very tragic situation,” a release from Kenner Police said.