Wisconsin governor calls for transparency after Madison officer fatally shoots man with knife

Wisconsin governor calls for transparency after Madison officer fatally shoots man with knife 0 seconds of 1 minute, 29 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Austria home where Hitler was born reopens as police station 01:04 Subtitle Settings OffEnglish(US)_v Font Color White Font Opacity 100% Font Size 100% Font Family Arial Character Edge None Edge Color Black Background Color Black Background Opacity 50% Window Color Black Window Opacity 0% Reset WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25% 200%175%150%125%100%75%50% ArialCourierGeorgiaImpactLucida ConsoleTahomaTimes New RomanTrebuchet MSVerdana NoneRaisedDepressedUniformDrop Shadow WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% WhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyan 100%75%50%25%0% 00:00 01:29 01:29 More Videos 01:04 Austria home where Hitler was born reopens as police station 01:00 Attempt to save a struggling swimmer leaves 5 dead in an Ohio river 01:25 'The last picture': A passing boater's photograph may be the 5 adults who drowned in Ohio 01:09 Louvre reopens Apollo Gallery after brazen heist, but no jewels on display 00:57 Independent autopsy of Nolan Wells finds 'undetermined' cause of death 01:07 OpenAI says its AI technology acted on its own in an ‘unprecedented’ hack of another company 00:30 Italian border police celebrate seizure of massive haul of high-purity cocaine 01:19 Larry the cat to welcome another PM to Downing Street Close 1 of 6 | A Madison police officer shot and killed a man who had injured him with a knife while resisting arrest, the city’s police chief said Wednesday. 2 of 6 | Protesters march after a Madison police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf) 3 of 6 | Attendees gather at a candlelight vigil where a Madison police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf) 4 of 6 | Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong speaks alongside protesters near where a Madison police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf) 5 of 6 | Attendees gesture during a candlelight vigil where a Madison police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf) 6 of 6 | Attendees light candles at a candlelight vigil where a Madison police officer shot and killed a man Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf) By SCOTT BAUER Updated 4:11 PM MESZ, July 23, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Madison, Wis. (AP) — The police shooting death of a man who injured an officer with a knife while resisting arrest has roiled the city of Madison, Wisconsin, with Gov. Tony Evers calling for “transparency and accountability” in any investigation and community members gathering Thursday at a growing memorial for the man. Protesters marched Wednesday after the shooting and held a candlelight vigil for the man who died. Some even stayed at the growing memorial of candles, flowers and signs overnight, like Ben Weger. “I don’t plan to leave anytime soon because it’s important to hold this space,” said Weger, pastor of Stoughton United Methodist Church about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away. Sabrina Thompson, of Madison, was crying at the memorial site. “It’s really unbearable,” she said. “You can’t describe it.” Evers posted online saying, “We will continue to keep the loved ones and family of the individual who was killed in our hearts and prayers.” Cellphone video of the confrontation, where three gunshots could be heard, circulated on social media. Madison Police Chief John Patterson stressed at a news conference that the online footage was just one perspective of what happened. “I want to take a moment to honestly and sincerely offer my heartfelt sympathies to his family for this loss,” Patterson said. The man killed was in his 30s, Patterson said, but police did not release his name. Wisconsin police officer shoots, kills man on city street near state Capitol in Madison 3 MIN READ Off-duty employee arrested in shooting near ICE detention center in Colorado that injured a woman 3 MIN READ 72 Wisconsin governor candidate says her campaign has far less money than she thought 3 MIN READ 72 Patterson said police were responding to calls that someone was attempting to enter parked vehicles in the neighborhood. The suspect fled on a bike in an attempt to get away before officers contacted him in the street. The suspect either fell off his bike or was taken off his bike by officers, Patterson said. During the struggle, the suspect pulled out a knife and injured an officer. An officer deployed a taser but it was unsuccessful. The same officer who was injured by the knife fired his weapon and the man who was shot died later at the hospital. The chief described the officer who fired his weapon as a veteran officer, but did not reveal any other details. Another officer was injured, but it is not clear how, Patterson said. Two other officers who were involved were uninjured. The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation will investigate the shooting, and the four officers will be placed on administrative leave. “There are questions that must be answered,” Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway posted online. “It’s understandable that people want answers now.” The shooting happened on a city street in a popular neighborhood lined with restaurants, bars, shops and residential homes less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from the state Capitol. Footage shows numerous cars stopped in the intersection with people watching as it unfolded. A white police officer shot and killed Tony Robinson, who was biracial, on the same street in 2015. Large protests followed, but the district attorney did not file charges against police, determining the officer was justified. The race of the officer who fired his gun on Wednesday and that of the man killed were not released by police. But Black advocacy groups in Madison quickly spoke out against the crime and said they believed the man was Black. “Another Black man is dead on a Madison street, and our community watched him die before we even knew his name,” said Brandi Grayson, the head of the Madison-based Black community advocacy group Urban Triage. “That is the cruelty of state violence.” The shooting quickly infused itself into the Democratic race for governor, with one candidate addressing mourners at the site of the vigil Wednesday night and others calling for swift investigations. “I am horrified and devastated,” posted Francesca Hong, who showed up at the scene just a few blocks from her campaign office. Another candidate, County Executive David Crowley, said while details of what happened are still needed, “these reports are painfully reminiscent of the tragedies we have witnessed in Kenosha, Minneapolis, and far too many communities across our country.” A crowd had formed near where the shooting occurred on Wednesday with people chanting, “arrest the cops!” They placed flowers and candles where the man was shot. Protesters also marched to the state Capitol and took the stage at a summer concert series, demanding the name of the officer and that he be held accountable. The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra announced on social media the show was canceled. Editors: This story has been updated to correct a surname: it’s Sabrina Thompson, not Thompsen. SCOTT BAUER Bauer is the AP’s Statehouse reporter covering politics and state government in Madison, Wisconsin. He also writes music reviews. twitter mailto