Madison police shoot and kill armed man during attempted arrest

A Madison police officer shot and killed a man armed with a knife on the city's near east side July 22, Madison Police Chief John Patterson said.

The shooting occurred after authorities converged on and attempted to arrest him. The man drew a knife and injured one officer, who then shot and killed the man, Patterson said at a press conference. The shooting took place around 1:35 p.m. at the intersection of Williamson and South Baldwin streets.

Police said the man shot and killed was in his 30s, but did not specify his age.

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Police initially responded to the area just before 1 p.m., after receiving calls about a person checking parked vehicles and stealing bicycles. When officers located the man, he fled on a bicycle, and officers later attempted to arrest him on Williamson Street, Patterson said.

There, a struggled occurred in the middle of the street as officers attempted to restrain the man. Police attempted to use a stun gun on the man, but it was unsuccessful, he said.

Once the man drew the knife, the situation escalated and it narrowed the “scope of options and possible outcomes,” Patterson said. He said the department would release an image of the knife to the public, which he described as a "large, fixed blade knife."

“This was clearly a dangerous situation,” he said.

The officer who fired and killed the man was a man and considered a "veteran officer." Patterson declined to characterize the shooting to reporters.

Four officers were involved in the incident, but only the man injured by the knife fired. A second officer was injured in the arrest, but it's not clear how, he said. All officers involved were placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

No police bodycam footage exists of the incident, as no frontline officers have body cameras, Patterson said. It's possible dashcam footage may exist of the incident, but he was unable to confirm that in his immediate review of the incident.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting.

"We don't have all the information right now, [we] have to allow investigators to piece things together," Patterson said.

Video of Willy Street shooting spreads quickly

Patterson said he was aware of social media videos circulating showing the incident.

The Journal Sentinel reviewed and verified one video that showed the attempted arrest and shooting, which was taken from within a car at the intersection it occurred. The video showed four officers struggling with the man, before another police vehicle drives in front and three gunshots can be heard. Two officers subseuqently can be seen attempting CPR on the man.

One woman can be heard on the video screaming at officers.

"I saw everything. You did not need to kill him," the witness said. "You think we haven't seen enough of this [expletive] on Williamson Street?"

Social media posts including videos of the shooting drew intense scrutiny of the shooting and people drew comparison to the 2015 shooting of 19-year-old Tony Robinson Jr. A Madison police officer, who is White, shot and killed Robinson, a biracial man, on Williamson Street. It prompted large, peaceful protests throughout the city.

Patterson referenced community trauma in the area the shooting took place, seeming to reference to that shooting. He said additional officers would be sent to Williamson Street.

In a statement posted to social media, Dane County Executive Melissa Agard said the public deserves a full accounting of what happened and that an investigation be done independently and transparently.

"Today, our community is once again confronting the profound consequences that follow when a life is lost in an encounter with law enforcement," she said. "Every officer-involved death shakes public trust and leaves our community searching for answers."

Protesters gather in response to shooting, march to the Wisconsin Capitol

Around 200 people had gathered near the scene in the hours after the shooting, creating a charged environment. Some people yelled at officers who stood nearby, while others cried or appeared visibly distraught. Some chanted "we don't want no killer cops."

Protesters began to march on East Washington Street toward the Wisconsin Capitol and filled both sides of the street around 6:30 p.m. Around an hour later, hundreds of protesters reached Capitol square. They interrupted a popular concert series with many attendees and took over the microphone of the event, speaking to those in the crowd.

This story was updated to add new information.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison police shoot and kill armed man during attempted arrest