A man died after being shot by a Madison police officer while resisting arrest and injuring the officer with a knife, Madison Police Chief John Patterson said Wednesday. The shooting occurred on a city street less than two miles from the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Cellphone video of the incident circulated on social media, capturing three gunshots. Patterson stated at a news conference that the circulating footage represented only one perspective of the events. "I want to take a moment to honestly and sincerely offer my heartfelt sympathies to his family for this loss," Patterson said. The deceased was in his 30s, but police had not released his name as of Wednesday.
The incident has sparked protests in Madison, with demonstrators gathering near the scene chanting, "Arrest the cops!" Brandi Grayson, head of the local Black community advocacy group Urban Triage, commented, "Another Black man is dead on a Madison street, and our community watched him die before we even knew his name. That is the cruelty of state violence."
According to Patterson, officers responded to calls about someone attempting to enter parked vehicles. The suspect fled on a bicycle through nearby backyards before officers made contact in the street. During a struggle, the suspect either fell off the bike or was taken off it by officers, at which point he produced a knife and injured an officer. An attempted taser deployment by another officer was unsuccessful. The injured officer then discharged his weapon, and the man later died at the hospital. Patterson described the officer who fired as a veteran but provided no further details about him or the race of the individuals involved. Advocates for Madison's Black community stated the man killed was Black.
This shooting occurred on the same street where a white police officer fatally shot Tony Robinson, who was biracial, in 2015. That 2015 incident also led to significant protests, and the district attorney later determined the officer's actions were justified, declining to file charges.
The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation is investigating the current shooting because it involves law enforcement officers.
