A man in his 30s was shot and killed by a Madison, Wisconsin police officer following a physical struggle in which he allegedly pulled a fixed-blade knife and injured an officer.
The confrontation occurred in the Marquette neighborhood, a popular area lined with restaurants, bars, shops, and residential homes less than two miles from the state Capitol.
Officers were initially dispatched around 1 p.m. after reports of a person checking through parked vehicles in the neighborhood, according to Madison Police Department Chief John Patterson.
Patterson said the man rode away on his bicycle through nearby backyards when officers first attempted to speak with him, before being located again shortly afterward.
During the second encounter, Patterson said “a physical struggle ensued,” during which the man produced a fixed-blade knife and injured a veteran officer as police attempted to arrest him.
Officers unsuccessfully deployed a taser before the injured officer opened fire, and the man was transported to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he later died.
None of the four officers involved were wearing body cameras, a gap Patterson acknowledged by calling the devices an “essential tool” for modern policing, with funding cited as the obstacle to wider deployment.
Patterson urged restraint in public judgment, saying: “I ask the community to recognize that there is other video that they have not seen, that’s not circulating online, that will be reviewed as part of this investigation.”
All four officers have been placed on administrative leave while the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation leads an independent inquiry, as required under state law for officer-involved shootings.
Protests erupted near the scene Wednesday evening, with demonstrators chanting “Arrest the cops!” and demanding full funding of the Police Civilian Oversight Board, which will conduct its own parallel inquiry.
Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong was among those who gathered at the protest site throughout the night, adding political weight to the growing calls for transparency.
Brandi Grayson, head of 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.”
Police did not release the race of the man killed or the officer who fired, though Black advocacy groups in Madison stated their belief that the victim was Black.
The shooting occurred less than two blocks from where Madison police officer Matt Kenny fatally shot 19-year-old Tony Robinson in 2015, a case that also ended without charges and resulted in a $3.35 million settlement with Robinson’s family in 2017.
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said “I am angered and saddened by what happened today,” and confirmed that a full independent investigation would be conducted.
Governor Tony Evers, who said he had been briefed on the incident, wrote on X: “There must be transparency and accountability in any investigation moving forward. His life mattered.”
