The Wisconsin Department of Justice Wednesday evening named the officer who shot Jacob Blake and provided additional information about the shooting.
Blake had a knife on the driver's side floorboard and had no other weapons, the DOJ said in a news release.
The officer who shot Blake seven times is Rusten Sheskey, on the Kenosha police force for seven years. He has been placed on administrative leave.
More: Less than 3 minutes passed between when Kenosha police arrived and when Jacob Blake was shot, according to dispatch audio
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According to the release:
A woman called police to report that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises.
Officers tried to arrest Blake. One of the officers deployed a Taser to try to stop him, but it did not work.
Blake walked around to the driver's side of his vehicle, opened the door, and "leaned forward."
"While holding onto Mr. Blake’s shirt, Officer Rusten Sheskey fired his service weapon 7 times. Officer Sheskey fired the weapon into Mr. Blake’s back," the news release reads.
No other officers fired their guns.
Blake told police he had a knife in an interview following the shooting. It is unclear whether responding officers knew Blake had a knife. Attorney General Josh Kaul in a news conference was asked repeatedly about it and declined to be more specific.
All involved officers have been placed on administrative leave. It is unclear how many officers were involved.
The Kenosha News did a Q&A last year with Sheskey about patrolling Kenosha as part of the city police department’s bike unit. He said being on a bike made it easier for people to approach him and talked about how he liked trying to help people.
“We’re in a public service job, a customer service job, and the public is our customer. I think that, especially with the officers that we have here, everybody strives to make sure that the public feels served and happy with the services they receive,” he told the Kenosha News last year.
Kaul and Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley asked for the public's patience as the investigation into the shooting progressed.
Graveley acknowledged broad issues including systemic racism and how modern policing should serve the community were at play, but reminded people of the constraints of his office.
"We will only decide whether any Kenosha police officer is going to be charged with a crime and that can only occur if we believe that that crime can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt," he said, calling on witnesses to cooperate.
Community leaders call for peace and healing
Community leaders called for peace, healing and patience Wednesday.
"We're in the process of trying to mourn through this, but the path that has been taken by some individuals has not been appreciated," said Anthony Davis, president of the Kenosha NAACP.
James Hall, president and CEO of the Urban League of Racine and Kenosha, asked community members to respect the curfew set by leaders.
"We cannot continue to meet force with force," Hall said.
He said emotions were running high due to years of division and inequality.
"This eruption in our city is based on years and years and years of oppression," Hall said. "What you see is a lot of pain, a lot of fear, and a lot of trauma. Both sides are afraid of both sides, because no one communicates to each other."
Kaul called out the people who were coming to Kenosha to commit violence and arson, many of whom he said were not Kenosha residents.
"If they think they are serving some agenda, they are wrong," Kaul said. "All they are doing is creating chaos."
Leaders said Kenosha deserves the chance to heal itself. Hall called specifically on those showing up to protests with guns seeking to protect property.
Hall said as a Black man, he feels pain, fear and trauma everyday and every time he sees a police car behind him.
"The property can be rebuilt," Hall said. "The lives cannot be rebuilt. Once a life is taken or destroyed, it cannot be given back."
Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.
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Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said Jacob Blake had knife in car but would not clarify if responding officers knew about it - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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