A fatal Madison police shooting captured on cellphone video has sparked protests and renewed demands for transparency and accountability in Wisconsin’s capital.
The shooting occurred Wednesday afternoon near Williamson and South Baldwin streets in Madison’s Marquette neighborhood. Officers were responding to reports that someone was checking vehicle doors and stealing bicycles in Madison’s Marquette neighborhood, The Washington Post reported.
Madison Police Chief John Patterson said officers located the man, but he rode away on a bicycle and traveled through nearby backyards. Officers confronted him again about 30 minutes later.
Police said the man either fell from the bicycle or was pulled from it before a struggle began in the intersection.
Police Say Man Injured Officer With Knife
According to Patterson, the man produced a large fixed-blade knife during the confrontation and injured an officer. A second officer was also hurt, although police said it remained unclear how that injury occurred.
Another officer attempted to use a Taser, but police said it was unsuccessful. The officer who was allegedly injured by the knife then fired three shots.
Officers provided emergency medical assistance before the man was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police described the man only as being in his 30s. His name and race had not been officially released as of Thursday.
Patterson described the officer who fired the shots as a veteran of the department. The names and races of the four officers involved also had not been released.
All four officers were placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
Viral Video Draws Demands for Answers
Cellphone footage circulating online shows officers struggling with the man as witnesses watch from stopped vehicles. Someone can be heard warning that the man has a knife before an officer announces that a Taser is being used.
Seconds later, three gunshots can be heard.
Patterson cautioned that the widely shared recordings show only one angle and do not capture the beginning of the confrontation. He said investigators are reviewing additional footage that has not been publicly released.
Urban Triage, a Madison-based African American community advocacy organization, said it believed the man killed was Black and called on the public to focus attention on the shooting.
“Another Black man is dead on a Madison street, and our community watched him die before we even knew his name,” Urban Triage founder Brandi Grayson said. “That is the cruelty of state violence.”
Police had not independently confirmed the man’s race.
Protesters gathered near the scene, marched to the Wisconsin State Capitol and interrupted an outdoor concert while demanding the officer’s name and a full account of the shooting. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra canceled the remainder of the performance.
Community members also held a candlelight vigil and created a memorial of flowers, signs and candles near the intersection.
Protesters Interrupt Police Press Conference
Tensions intensified Thursday when more than a dozen protesters interrupted a city press conference where officials identified the man killed as 38-year-old Corey Durell Ruiz.
Demonstrators entered the City-County Building as Madison Police Chief John Patterson discussed the shooting and the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation. Several protesters carried signs and recorded the confrontation on their phones.
View on Threads
“We have the power. Not that badge. Not that weapon,” a demonstrator who identified himself as Carlos Nixon said after taking over the microphone.
Nixon accused city officials and police of failing the community and rejected calls to wait for the outside investigation before demanding accountability. Protesters also called for the officer who shot Ruiz to be arrested and publicly identified.
Patterson stepped away from the microphone while the protesters spoke. After the disruption, he acknowledged the anger and mistrust surrounding the case but said the independent investigation must be allowed to proceed.
“Everyone in this room can feel the thinness of trust in this city right now,” Patterson said.
Officials have not released the names of the officer who fired the shots or the three other officers involved in the attempted arrest. Patterson said the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is responsible for releasing their identities.
Wisconsin Officials Call for Transparency
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the shooting had caused anger, grief and fear throughout the city.
“I am angered and saddened by what happened today,” Rhodes-Conway said. “It’s an absolute tragedy when a member of our community is killed by anyone, but especially by the police.”
The mayor said there were questions that must be answered while acknowledging that residents wanted those answers immediately.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers called for transparency and accountability throughout the investigation.
“His life mattered,” Evers said.
The shooting occurred on the same street where Madison police fatally shot 19-year-old Tony Robinson in 2015. Robinson was biracial, and his death also sparked protests. Prosecutors later declined to charge the officer, finding the shooting legally justified.
The latest case has also drawn comparisons to the 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which triggered nationwide demonstrations over police violence and racial injustice.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation remains active.
