Police shooting on Madison’s Willy Street leaves 1 dead

The shooting, at the intersection of Williamson and South Baldwin streets occurred as several officers were wrestling a man to the ground, according to bystander videos of the incident. A bicycle could be seen lying on the street.

As video of the incident spread across social media, protesters began descending on the scene, which is less than two blocks from where Madison police officer Matt Kenny fatally shot 19-year-old Tony Robinson in 2015. Wednesday evening, a large group of protesters chanting “Arrest bad cops” marched to Capitol Square, where they took over the stage set out for that evening’s Concert on the Square and forced the event to be canceled.

"Let all of your people know we want the officer's name,” a demonstrator shouted into a microphone on stage. "If we don't get the officer’s name and get him arrested by tonight, there will be no band."

Officers were dispatched to the Marquette neighborhood just after 1 p.m. Wednesday on a report of a person trying to enter parked vehicles, Police Chief John Patterson said at a press conference later Wednesday. Police located and attempted to contact the man, but he fled on a bicycle, Patterson said.

Police found the man again at the intersection of South Baldwin and Williamson 30 minutes later, where he either fell or was taken off the bike, Patterson said. A struggle ensued, during which the man pulled out a fixed-blade knife, injuring a male officer, the chief said.

After a taser was deployed, which Patterson said was unsuccessful, the injured officer fired his weapon at the man.

Four officers were involved in the incident. A second officer was also injured, though it’s not clear how. The other two officers were unharmed.

The man, an adult male in his 30s, suffered life-threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital, Patterson said. He later died from his injuries.

The man’s identity had not been released as of late Wednesday afternoon.

The officer who fired his weapon is a veteran officer and sustained multiple injuries from the incident, Patterson said. His identity was not released. All four people involved will be placed on paid leave, as is customary in such situations.

The state Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation will investigate the incident, Patterson said.

Cellphone videos of the incident show three officers attempting to subdue the man, who appears to be resisting arrest. A fourth officer runs up and can be heard shouting "Taser, Taser" before two small popping sounds can be heard. The man is then lowered to the pavement.

The videos then show one of the officers appearing to fire his weapon at the man three times. After the shooting, one of the officers pulls what appears to be a knife away from the man and tosses it onto the pavement behind him. As bystanders shout at police, officers can later be seen giving the man chest compressions.

Patterson said he’s seen those videos but cautioned that they only offered “a perspective of what occurred.” He encouraged bystanders to share additional videos with the department.

“I will say that when a knife is produced during officers’ apprehensive arrests, the overall situation is clearly elevated,” he said. “It becomes incredibly dangerous, and it obviously increases risk for everyone there, for every officer, for the person.”

None of the officers were wearing body cameras, although it’s possible one of the police cars had functional dashcam video, the chief said.

Witnesses to the shooting

Madison resident David Ortiz-Whittingham, 25, said he was driving west on Williamson Street when he approached the intersection and saw a man on a bicycle jump down from the curb and immediately crash. Officers began surrounding and restraining the man, he said.

A few seconds later, he said, he heard three gunshots, followed by bystanders yelling at the police.

“I think it was something like, ‘You didn’t have to kill him,’” he said.

Jeanne Ross, who owns the Willy Street Treasure Shop, said she also heard several shots and then saw police doing CPR on what looked like a young man in the intersection.

Dane County Sup. Heidi Wegleitner, who arrived at the scene after the shooting, called the incident “horrifying.” She said she was glad to see Madison’s interim independent police monitor, Aeiramique “Meeka” Glass, on the scene to assess the situation.

“There’s really … a need for independent investigations, the independent monitor,” Wegleitner said.

In a statement late Wednesday, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said she understood the anger, grief and fear many are feeling, “because I am feeling that too."

"What decisions were made by officers that led to escalation instead of deescalation?" she said. "What different choices could have been made to prevent harm? What needs to change in police policy and training to prevent more deaths?"

While the state investigates the shooting, she said, City Council President Sabrina Madison will arrange community listening sessions. Details of those sessions have yet to be announced.

Blocks from 2015 shooting

Wednesday's shooting occurred a block and a half from where Officer Matt Kenny fatally shot Tony Robinson in the stairwell of an apartment at 1125 Williamson St. on March 6, 2015.

After a Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne cleared Kenny of any criminal wrongdoing. An internal Madison Police Department review found Kenny followed department policies. In February 2017, the city’s insurer agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit with Robinson’s family for $3.35 million. The city did not admit to any wrongdoing.

That shooting, of a Black teen by a white police officer, roiled the city for months and led to the creation of the Office of the Independent Monitor, overseen by civilians, and a crisis response program that would send other emergency personnel, not police, to calls involving nonviolent mental health emergencies.

Without naming Robinson, Patterson began his press conference by acknowledging Wednesday's incident happened "in a neighborhood that has experienced a lot of trauma."

"I've been here for almost 30 years, so I've certainly worked as a part of this agency through some of the previous incidents, and I'm fully aware of some protests and really challenging moments that we've experienced together with our community," Patterson said, adding that "we're going to do our darndest to communicate as proactively as we can again to engage with the neighborhood soon."

It wasn’t enough for Glass, who pointedly walked out of Patterson’s briefing.

"Eleven years ago, I walked down this very street for this very reason, and here we are again,” said protester Nunu Ghee, 29. “Eleven years ago, I was 17 years old, and they killed my friend. ... It felt like as soon as you let your guard down, the same thing come right back around."

In a statement, Brandi Grayson, CEO of the social justice organization Urban Triage, said the shootings aren’t isolated incidents but part of a system "that sees Black pain as a threat. Black mental illness as danger. Black addiction as criminality. Black poverty as failure. Black fear as aggression. It meets our most vulnerable moments with force instead of care, then writes its own reports, investigates itself, clears itself, and demands that we accept its version of how our people died."

Later Wednesday, Devon Snyder, a member of the Police Civilian Oversight Board, urged protesters to contact members of the City Council to fully fund the board.

"They're threatening our independence and threatening the office,” Snyder said. “The one that actually does these investigations that keeps people safe and that keeps these police officers accountable."

Concert on the Square canceled

Later Wednesday, protesters chanting “Arrest bad cops” descended on the scene of the shooting. At an impromptu press conference, Glass said she was not getting the information she needed to investigate the case.

"The police chief knew we were one incident away from a murder of another black man,” Glass said. “They knew it was coming. I told him it was coming, because these officers do not have the temperament, do not have the respect, do not have the love for black people in this community, for people that are living unhoused in this community, for people that are disadvantaged and disenfranchised in this community."

Hours after the shooting, protesters marched to Capitol Square, where they took over the stage set for Wednesday night’s Concert on the Square as members of the orchestra moved inside the state Capitol.

"We will not leave until we get an arrest and we get the officer's name. Then we can have a good time together,” protester Clyde Mayberry said through a megaphone. “We are here on business.”

Shortly afterward, protesters announced the name of the officer they believe fired his weapon. His identity could not be immediately confirmed.

While some concertgoers stayed to listen to the demonstrators, most packed up and headed away from the Square.

Addressing the crowd, Joe Loehnis, the chamber orchestra’s CEO, repeated the victim’s name, which the Wisconsin State Journal has not been able to confirm.

“A tragedy happened today here in Madison,” Loehnis said. “Corey was killed, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra stands with our Black community. Their suffering.

“We're going to cancel the concert tonight, but we'll be back. And may we all try to make our community better.”

State Journal reporter George Wiebe contributed to this report.