An incident which led to a fatal officer-involved shooting on Madison’s West Side over the weekend began with a call that reported a man had cut his wife in the stomach, police said on Sunday.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports that police were called Saturday to a domestic dispute, and the 911 dispatcher said a husband cut his wife in the stomach with a knife. Officers were told the man was outside, was suicidal and was armed with a knife, according to Assistant Chief John Davenport. Officers confronted the man and used a Taser, but that was unsuccessful, Davenport said. The man ignored their commands and moved toward the officers, who then “deployed deadly force.”
Police later discovered the wife was not injured. Davenport said the officers involved are veteran officers of the department and were placed on paid leave, a standard departmental procedure following a critical incident. None of the officers involved was injured. The department would not disclose information about how many times the man was shot or in what part or parts of his body.
Saturday’s shooting is the third incident in nine months in which a Madison police officer on active duty has shot and killed someone.