A man was fatally shot by Madison, Wisconsin police officers on Wednesday as they attempted to take him into custody, with bystander video of the confrontation spreading quickly across the internet and igniting protests throughout the city.
According to police, the officer who discharged his weapon had been wounded by a knife the man drew during the struggle.
Video of the incident circulating on social media and in news coverage appeared to show the man who was killed was a person of color, while all four officers involved appeared to be white. As has been the case in numerous deadly police encounters across the country in recent years, questions about race intensified the debate over whether the use of lethal force was warranted.
An African-American community advocacy group identified the man as Black. “Madison Police shot another black man. We need all eyes on Madison police. We keep us safe,” the group Urban Triage wrote in a social media post.
At a press conference, Madison Police Chief John Patterson identified the man who died only as a male in his 30s, declining to disclose his race or the race of any of the four officers involved — three men and one woman.
Patterson explained that the situation began when officers responded to a report of someone suspected of “checking parked vehicles” in Madison’s Marquette neighborhood. When officers approached the man, he fled on a bicycle. About 30 minutes later, officers caught up with him, and a physical struggle broke out after the man “either fell off or was taken off the bicycle by officers,” the chief said.
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION ORDERED
Patterson announced that an “independent” investigation would be carried out by the criminal division of the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and that all four officers would be placed on administrative leave pending the outcome.
The chief said he had personally reviewed two bystander video clips that had been widely shared online, but noted that additional footage existed that had not yet been publicly seen. He urged the public to withhold judgment until a full investigation is completed.
When asked whether the shooting appeared to be an excessive use of force, Patterson responded, “I can’t determine that.” He added that the viral video represents “one perspective” of the event and “is not a full overview of everything that was visible from different angles.”
The footage circulating online shows the four uniformed officers struggling with the man while voices can be heard shouting “Let go” and “he’s got a knife.” In one clip, an officer is heard calling out “Taser” as police attempt to restrain the man. Moments later, the man is taken to the ground, one officer stomps on his legs, and another draws a firearm and fires three shots. That officer then appears to re-holster the weapon and kneel beside the man, who is no longer moving.
Patterson confirmed it appeared to him that three shots were fired, all by a single officer whom he described as a department “veteran.”
The chief said that officer fired after sustaining injuries from a “large, fixed-blade knife” that the man had “pulled out or produced” while officers were working to subdue him as he resisted arrest. A second officer also suffered an unspecified injury during the confrontation.
Patterson said that between the moment the knife appeared and the gunshots, another officer attempted to use a Taser on the man, but the device failed to work for reasons that remain unclear. He said it was not yet known exactly how much time passed between the knife being drawn and the shots being fired. An object that may have been the knife is visible on the ground at the start of the video clip, which did not capture the very beginning of the altercation.
Following the shooting, news media images showed large crowds gathering and marching near the state Capitol building in protest.
