Fatal police shooting of man with knife roils Madison, Wisconsin
[July 24, 2026]
By SCOTT BAUER
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The police shooting death of a homeless man who
wounded an officer with a knife while resisting arrest has roiled
Wisconsin's capital city, with protesters and community groups demanding
accountability and an end to racial injustice.
Corey Durell Ruiz, 38, was shot and killed on a city street Wednesday,
the moments of his death captured in bystander videos that were later
posted online. The race of the officer who fired his gun has not been
released by police. Ruiz is identified as Black or Latino in Wisconsin
court records.
“It does not matter who you are or what your past is, you should not
lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement,”
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said during a news conference Thursday
afternoon.
Wisconsin court records show Ruiz had been in and out of jail over the
past decade for mostly misdemeanor offenses including disorderly
conduct, drug possession, auto theft, battery and invasion of privacy.
He was also convicted of felonies including possession of cocaine and
marijuana, robbery, strangulation, resisting an officer and causing
bodily harm.
“He’s a human being. He had a family. He has parents who loved him who
brought him home, who cared for him,” Common Council President Sabrina
Madison said, adding that she’s struggling to understand what she’s seen
in videos of the shooting that have circulated on social media.
“My first thought is, when the officer’s walking away, why isn’t he
walking away in cuffs,” Madison said. “I’m angry, there’s no way around
it.”
Ruiz's family has retained Ben Crump, an attorney who has represented
the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, who were
all shot and killed by the police. Crump said the case must be examined
for excessive force.
Shooting sparks turmoil in a fed-up community
Frustrated residents marched, and a memorial of flowers and signs grew
near the place where Ruiz died. It was just blocks from where two other
police killings happened in 2015 and 2012.
A group of about 20 protesters burst into Thursday's news conference,
taking the microphone from police Chief John Patterson and arguing with
some attendees who said they wanted to hear more about the
investigation.
One protester held a sign saying “Corrupt cops deserve to die too!!!”
Moments earlier, the mayor said the shooting would be “rigorously
investigated.”
Once the protesters quieted down, the chief resumed his presentation,
promising his department's full cooperation with the state
investigation.
Police have released few details
None of the four officers who were detaining Ruiz wore body cameras, but
passersby recorded the confrontation on video, and accused the officers
of overreacting.
“I thought, ‘Holy cow — what could have warranted that?’ It looked to me
like they had him under control,” David Ortiz-Whittingham, who saw
officers swarming and heard the gunshots, said Thursday. “Even now,
knowing about the knife, did he have to die for it? Could this have been
de-escalated?”
The police chief released few details Thursday, saying a Wisconsin
Division of Criminal Investigation probe of the officer-involved
shooting must run its course.
Earlier Thursday, Madison's independent police monitor, Aeiramique
Glass, said police had not yet shared evidence or the officer's identity
with her office, which will review the case and can recommend to the
district attorney that charges be filed if warranted. She said the
department and city are “obstructing what the community and the public”
want.
“Let me do my job,” she said.
Patterson said the police were committed to cooperating with Glass.
The chief urges people not to draw conclusions
Patterson has urged caution in reading too much from the cellphone
videos. He said none show the perspective of the officers, and
additional video that hasn't been released is being reviewed.
The officer who fired his weapon is an 11-year veteran of the force, the
chief said. He and the three other responding officers will be placed on
administrative leave pending the investigation by the Wisconsin Division
of Criminal Investigation, as required under state law.
[to top of second column]
|
Family members react as they gather at a memorial Thursday, July 23,
2026, in Madison, Wis., where a Madison police officer shot and
killed Corey Durell Ruiz on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Patterson said police were responding to calls that someone was
attempting to enter parked vehicles, and the suspect fled on a bike
before the officers surrounded him. One deployed a taser, but
Patterson said the effort failed to control the man.
In the videos circulating online, the man can be seen standing
before he's brought to his knees as the officers struggle to force
him into a prone position. Then he falls quickly to the pavement
after what sounds like three gunshots, and seems motionless as the
officers handcuff him behind his back. Arriving officers then escort
one of the officers a short distance away.
Patterson said he did not know the extent of the knife injuries
sustained by the officer.
“This situation was clearly dangerous," Patterson said before adding
he was saddened by the loss of life.
A neighborhood now accustomed to police shootings
The shooting happened in the middle of an intersection in the
popular Marquette neighborhood, less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers)
from the state Capitol. Bystander videos show numerous cars at the
scene, with people watching as it unfolds.
“I saw everything! I saw everything! You did not need to kill him!
... We watched it all!” a woman yells in the video recorded by
Ortiz-Whittingham. Three loud shots can be heard among the sirens,
followed by screams.
Residents who dealt with two other police killings expressed
frustration Thursday.
In 2015, a white police officer shot and killed Tony Robinson, who
was biracial, on the same street. Large protests followed, but the
district attorney filed no charges, determining the officer was
justified. In 2012, Paul Heenan, a white musician, was fatally shot
after he had been drinking and mistakenly entered his neighbor's
house. That officer was exonerated as well.
The chief acknowledged that the neighborhood “has experienced a lot
of trauma” and urged people to support one another.
“I want transparency. I want accountability,” Patterson said.
Questions about race and technology emerge
Black advocacy groups, protesters and politicians are speaking out
against the shooting, which has also focused attention on the
Madison Police Department’s lack of body-worn cameras. The force of
around 500 is among the largest in the Midwest that doesn’t use the
devices.
Madison said Thursday that she expects a police request for $400,000
to be approved, enabling the cameras to be phased in over the next
three years. Others lamented that cameras weren't already being
used.
The mayor said her budget, which has not yet been released, will
include funding for body-worn cameras. She said the city needs to
put together a policy for their use before the budget takes effect
in January.
And now it's a talking point in the governor's race
The shooting has quickly infused itself into the race to succeed
Evers as governor, with voting already underway in the Aug. 11
primary.
Democratic socialist candidate Francesca Hong called the shooting
“state sanctioned violence” and Democrat Milwaukee County Executive
David Crowley said the reports are "painfully reminiscent of the
tragedies we have witnessed in Kenosha, Minneapolis, and far too
many communities.”
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany called on his rivals to let the
state investigation “establish the facts without politicians rushing
to judgment.”
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
