Madison Police Kill Corey Ruiz in a Street Struggle Caught on Video, Igniting Days of Protest

Officials in Madison, Wisconsin, on Thursday identified the man fatally shot by a police officer this week as Corey Ruiz, a homeless father in his 30s, as protests over the killing spread from a downtown concert to the police department's own news conference.

The shooting unfolded Wednesday afternoon in Madison's Marquette neighborhood after officers were dispatched to reports of someone stealing bicycles and pulling on car door handles, police said. Officers located Ruiz, who rode off through backyards. They found him again at the intersection of South Baldwin and Williamson streets, where he either fell or was pulled from the bicycle and a struggle with four officers began.

During that struggle, police said, Ruiz pulled out a fixed-blade knife and injured an officer. A stun gun was deployed and was ineffective, according to the department. The officer who had been cut with the knife then fired. Bystander video of the encounter, one clip of which was verified by NBC News, shows officers holding a man down as someone yells "Let go!" and others shout "He's got a knife!" Someone calls out "Taser!" and roughly three seconds later an officer standing over him fires three rounds.

None of the four officers involved were wearing body cameras. Police said only one officer, described as a veteran, fired his weapon; he has not been publicly named. Madison Police Chief John Patterson called the case "an open and active homicide investigation" and said the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Criminal Investigation Division is leading the inquiry and will release the officer's name.

Patterson's news conference was interrupted for about 20 minutes by two protesters, one of whom took over the microphone to condemn police brutality and demand the officer be jailed. It was the second day of demonstrations: on Wednesday evening, protesters carrying signs reading "no justice, no peace" confronted attendees of the city's Concerts on the Square series near the State Capitol.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway promised a rigorous investigation. "I want to be clear: 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. That should not happen," she said Thursday.

Wisconsin court records show Ruiz had 40 misdemeanor and felony convictions between 2009 and 2025, including robbery by force, strangulation, drug possession, vehicle theft and battery of a public safety worker. Jazzman Brown, a Madison community organizer who said she had known Ruiz for more than 20 years, described a man struggling with homelessness and mental illness who was also "the life of the party" and "filled the room with energy whenever he was in it."

"A father, a son, a friend, a loved one, and he's gone," Brown said. She organized a vigil held Thursday night. "He's more than just a case number."