Overview
- Police say officers tased and wrestled 38-year-old Corey Ruiz and that one officer fired three times after Ruiz produced a fixed-blade knife, a sequence shown in bystander footage that analysts and officials have interpreted differently Wednesday.
- The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is leading an independent homicide probe and all four officers involved have been placed on administrative leave while the agency processes evidence and interviews witnesses.
- Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, retained by Ruiz’s family, is calling for criminal charges and has demanded public release of squad, body and bystander video that his office says show Ruiz subdued when he was shot.
- Hundreds of protesters have marched to police headquarters and disrupted nearby events, and organizers postponed or canceled major summer gatherings including AtwoodFest and a public market opening as the city responds to safety and solidarity concerns.
- The shooting has reopened local tensions over race and policing in Madison after earlier fatal encounters in the same neighborhood and could prompt renewed scrutiny of department practices depending on the DCI’s findings and any charging decision.