MADISON, Wis. — A police officer’s shooting of a man here Wednesday afternoon is being investigated as a homicide, the city’s police chief said Thursday during a raucous news conference that was at times taken over by protesters.
“This is an open and active homicide investigation,” Police Chief John Patterson said.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway identified the shooting victim as Corey Ruiz.
Police said the shooting happened as officers were attempting to arrest a man who had tried to flee on a bicycle, then pulled out a knife as police struggled to subdue him. Parts of the encounter were recorded on video by a passerby, and appeared to show the shots were fired after the man was already being held on the ground.
The review of the shooting is being conducted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, which is overseen by state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D).
The incident is also being reviewed by Madison’s interim police monitor, Aeiramique Glass, who operates independently from the police department and reviews officer misconduct allegations.
Madison’s city council created a police oversight board and the monitor’s position after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and protests over it in Madison that included people smashing windows, setting fires and tearing down a statue on the grounds of the Wisconsin Capitol.
Glass said police have not provided her with the name of the officer who fired the shots.
At the news conference, Patterson declined to name that officer, who a department spokesperson said has been on the force for 11 years. He and other officers involved in the incident have been placed on paid leave.
Glass said she planned to issue a subpoena to the police department to get evidence it has gathered in the Wednesday shooting, an action she said she had not previously taken during her eight months on the job. She said she wanted all of the material police have provided to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
“I believe the [Madison Police Department] and the city is obstructing what the community and the public voted for, which is this office, for me to do my job,” Glass told reporters on Thursday at the site of the shooting. “Let me do my job.”
Patterson said he is “committed to working with the independent monitor” but must also provide material to the Division of Criminal Investigation under state law that trumps city ordinances.
Glass said she arrived on the scene soon after the shooting and has been gathering as much information as she can. She said a nearby grocery co-op provided her with video footage on Thursday that has not been released publicly.
The police chief’s news conference Thursday, which was held at a police station, was interrupted when protesters charged into the room. They were led by a man who said he wanted to stop the police chief from talking because he thought he had heard enough.
“We need those pigs in jail tonight,” the man said.
The police chief, mayor and other officials stood back as the news conference descended into an extended bout of yelling. One person held a large communist flag. Another carried a sign that read, “Corrupt cops deserve to die too!!!”
“I appreciate you,” Patterson said when he returned to the lectern and took questions from reporters and protesters.
At the site of the shooting, people chatted and hugged one another. A makeshift shrine was marked “sacred ground” in chalk and included flowers and signs that read, “Stop the murders” and “Black Lives Matter.”
Thirty or so people paid vigil through the night at the site, said James Webster, one of those who stayed overnight.
“I have my two daughters, and I want them to grow up in a world [where] our first instinct isn’t shooting somebody — killing somebody, at that — for simply resisting arrest,” said Webster, 27. “That’s something cops see every day and are trained to handle, especially when it’s one man against four officers.”
Westfall reported from Washington. Rachel Lerman contributed to this report.
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