City of Kenosha police shoot man Sunday evening; video circulating social media appears to show officer firing several shots into man’s back
Kenosha #Kenosha
Kenosha police shot a man Sunday evening.
Police had been called to a domestic incident in the 2800 block of 40th Street at 5:11 p.m. where the shooting later occurred.
Officers provided immediate aid to the shooting victim, who was taken by Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Kenosha police reported.
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The man was in serious condition at Froedtert.
State Sen. Chris Larson of Milwaukee tweeted that the man’s name is Jacob Blake.
The Kenosha News reported that neighbors said the shooting victim was trying to break up a fight between two women. Bystanders said the man was Tased and then shot several times.
A video circulating on social media shows a man in a white shirt and black shorts walking to a gray van, followed by two male police officers with weapons drawn. The video does not show what happened before the man walked away from the officers, nor what was said, if anything.
As the man opens the door to get in, an officer grabs his shirt to hold him still, then appears to shoot him in the back at close range. Seven shots are heard, followed by a car horn, presumably from the man’s head falling forward. A woman who followed behind the police can be seen screaming and jumping up and down.
Kenosha police requested Wisconsin State Patrol and Kenosha County Sheriff’s deputies come to the scene because the shooting involved an officer.
A dispatcher referred media calls Sunday night to the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation. A message left with DOJ was not immediately returned.
Large crowds soon gathered at the scene of the shooting. A livestream from podcaster Koerri Elijah showed small fires in the street and a person, possibly an officer, lying prone on the ground, surrounded by officers.
The crowds began moving away from the scene, and the video showed people walking down the sidewalk and street, some on bicycles with some vehicles accompanying them, occasionally chanting. The video showed people kicking at police vehicles and later it appeared some fireworks were set off.
“Things have been very heated, tons of damage to cop cars, an officer was actually knocked out,” the person taking video said.
A crowd of about 100 had reached the Kenosha County Public Safety Building by 10:15 p.m. and were chanting “no justice, no peace.”
This story will be updated.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Crowds gather in Kenosha after police shoot man; video circulating social media appears to show officer firing several shots into man’s back