Overview
- On July 22, police say officers confronted 38-year-old Corey Ruiz in the Marquette neighborhood, a struggle followed in which Ruiz showed a fixed-blade knife, an officer was injured, shots were fired, and Ruiz was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
- The Wisconsin DOJ’s Division of Criminal Investigation publicly identified Officer Kiel Baitinger-Peterson as the officer who fired the shots and Madison’s police chief released the officer’s personnel background.
- Bystander cellphone video shows parts of the encounter but Madison officers do not wear body cameras, and investigators recovered a knife after two officers’ Tasers reportedly failed to stop the confrontation.
- DCI is leading a multi-agency probe and will forward its investigative reports to Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne for a charging decision, and the four officers involved remain on paid administrative leave.
- The shooting prompted days of protests, the Ruiz family retained civil-rights attorney Ben Crump and scheduled public services, and the case has renewed local debate over body-worn cameras and police accountability while the police union raised safety and privacy concerns after the officer was named.