Along with expressing grief and anger, many Madison leaders are calling for transparency and accountability after the fatal police shooting of Corey Ruiz on Madison’s near east side on Wednesday.
It was the third police shooting in that neighborhood in recent years. Madison police killed Tony Robinson, an unarmed 19-year-old Black teenager, in 2015, on the same street. And in 2012, Paul Heenan, a 30-year-old white man, was killed by police.
“At this painful moment, we must ask a question that Black and Brown communities have been forced to ask far too many times across America: How long must we wait for justice to work for all of us?” the Urban League of Greater Madison said in a Thursday statement.
“We acknowledge that Madison is fortunate to have a police chief who has demonstrated a willingness to engage with community members and work toward stronger relationships. But relationship-building alone cannot be the measure of progress. Trust cannot survive if Black and Brown residents continue to lose their lives in encounters with law enforcement. Good intentions are not enough. Accountability, transparency, and change must follow.”
Said Urban Triage CEO and founder Brandi Grayson in a statement, “Another Black man is dead on a Madison street, and our community watched him die before we even knew his name. That is the cruelty of state violence.
“It takes a person’s life, strips away his humanity, and turns his final moments into a video before his family has the dignity of grieving him as a whole human being.”
Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement she was “angered and saddened by what happened.”
“My heart breaks for those who have lost a loved one, those who witnessed the shooting and everyone impacted.”
The Madison Metropolitan School District said in a statement it was “deeply saddened by the traumatic event that occurred in our community… involving an officer-involved shooting on Madison’s East Side.”
It urged those in need to reach out to local resources like 988 Lifeline, Dane County Crisis Line and 211 Wisconsin.
The State Department of Criminal Investigation is conducting an independent investigation of the incident, and the officers involved have been put on administrative leave until the investigation is concluded.
The city announced Thursday that Williamson Street between South Dickinson and South Few streets, the area of the fatal shooting, will remain closed until further notice.
