Madison, United States. Police officers fatally shot a man during an arrest attempt in Madison, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, prompting protests after bystander video of the confrontation circulated online.
Police said an officer was injured by a knife the man produced during a struggle with four officers.
Incident details
Madison Police Chief John Patterson said officers responded to a report of a person suspected of checking parked vehicles in the city’s Marquette neighborhood.
When officers located the man and attempted to contact him, he fled on a bicycle, Patterson said. Officers caught up with him about 30 minutes later, and a struggle followed after the man either fell from or was taken off the bicycle by officers.
Patterson described the man as being in his 30s. He declined to identify his race or the races of the four officers involved, who included three men and one woman.
Video and community response
Video recorded by bystanders and shared online appeared to show that the man who was shot was a person of color and that the officers involved were white.
Urban Triage, an African-American community advocacy group, said in a social media post that the man was Black and called for attention on the Madison Police Department.
The shooting sparked protests in the Wisconsin capital, where questions about race and the justification for deadly force added to tensions.
Investigation
Patterson said the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s criminal division would conduct an independent investigation into the shooting.
All four officers involved will be placed on administrative leave, he said. Patterson said he had reviewed two bystander videos circulating online but that additional footage had not been widely seen, urging the public not to draw conclusions before the investigation is completed.
