Madison police officer fatally shoots man during arrest struggle

A Madison, Wisconsin, police officer fatally shot a man Wednesday after police said he produced a fixed-blade knife during a struggle with officers responding to a report that someone was checking parked car doors.

The shooting, captured on cellphone video and circulated online, drew protesters to the city’s Marquette neighborhood Wednesday evening and prompted an independent state investigation.

Madison Police Chief John Patterson said officers were called to the neighborhood at about 1 p.m. after a report of someone “checking vehicle doors.” The man fled on a bicycle, Patterson said, and officers encountered him again around 1:35 p.m.

The man “either fell off or was taken off of the bicycle by officers,” Patterson said at a news conference. A struggle followed in an intersection.

“During the struggle, the man, we’re told, pulled out a knife or produced a knife, a fixed-blade knife, and an officer was injured by this while attempting to arrest him,” Patterson said.

Police released a photo showing a knife on the ground. Patterson said officers used a stun gun during the confrontation, but it was not effective. He said the officer injured by the knife was the officer who fired his gun. Another officer was also injured, though Patterson said it was not clear how. Two other officers were uninjured.

The man who was killed was described by police as being in his 30s. His name was not released Wednesday. The officer who fired was also not identified; Patterson described him as a male “veteran officer.” Police did not release the race of the officer or the man who was killed, but The Guardian reported that Black community advocates in Madison said the man was Black.

“I want to take a moment to honestly and sincerely offer my heartfelt sympathies to his family for this loss,” Patterson said.

Cellphone footage reviewed by news outlets shows officers holding the man as bystanders watch from stopped cars in the intersection. In one video verified by NBC News, someone can be heard yelling, “Let go!” and multiple shouts of “He’s got a knife!” are audible. The video also appears to show an officer yelling “Taser!” before a male officer standing over the man fires three rounds while the man is on the ground.

The Guardian described one circulating video as showing three officers trying to hold the man down before he freed his arms and tried to rise from his knees. A female officer runs toward the group shouting, “Taser! Taser!” according to the outlet. After the man falls, another officer rises, draws his pistol, leans toward him and fires three shots at close range.

Patterson said he had seen some videos but cautioned that they do not show the full encounter. “I caution everyone — this is one perspective,” he said. “It is not a full overview of everything that was visible from different angles, certainly visible from the officers.”

The shooting was not recorded on police body cameras. “We do not have body cameras on any of the officers involved,” Patterson said.

Michael Doubek, who recorded one of the videos, told NBC News he was returning from a co-op grocery store on Williamson Street when he saw police cruisers “flying by.” He said officers were struggling to restrain the man on the ground when one officer fired. After the shooting, Doubek said, he saw police toss a knife to the side as officers surrounded the man.

A crowd gathered near the scene Wednesday, with people chanting, “Arrest the cops!” according to The Guardian. Brandi Grayson, head of the Madison-based Black community advocacy group Urban Triage, said, “Another Black man is dead on a Madison street, and our community watched him die before we even knew his name.”

Madison City Council President Sabrina Madison called the videos “both disturbing and painful” and said she expected “a full, comprehensive, and transparent independent investigation.” Alder Davy Mayer, who represents the district, said his priority was keeping the community safe and ensuring the public receives details “as soon as possible.”

All four officers at the scene will be placed on administrative leave, which Patterson said is routine after a police shooting. The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation will conduct an independent investigation, and the district attorney will review the case, police said.

The Guardian reported that a white police officer fatally shot Tony Robinson, who was biracial, on the same street in 2015, a shooting that led to large protests. The district attorney did not file charges in that case, finding the officer had been justified.