Jacob Blake was in possession of a knife when he was shot by Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey, Attorney General Josh Kaul said today.
But repeatedly quizzed if police knew Blake was in possession of a knife when he was shot, Kaul declined to provide details.
The AG said he was leaving the decision to release information up to the Division of Criminal Investigation, the branch of the Department of Justice overseeing the investigation. He said DCI doesn’t want to release details gleaned by the probe that could affect the outcome of the investigation.
Kaul during a Kenosha news conference said police were called to the location to break up a dispute after a female caller reported that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises.
Officers attempted to arrest Blake, including using a taser on him, but were not able to stop him as he walked to his car. Blake then opened his driver-side door and leaned forward, at which point Sheskey grabbed his shirt and fired his weapon seven times.
During the investigation after the shooting, Blake told the DCI he was in possession of a knife. DCI recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Blake’s car but did not find any additional weapons.
Sheskey, a seven-year Kenosha PD veteran, and the officers involved with the incident have been placed on administrative leave.
Kaul during the press conference at the Kenosha County Detention Center also slammed the shooting last night that left two dead and one wounded as “despicable.” He said the last two nights of protests had been marked destruction and violence perpetrated by those who do not live in Wisconsin.
“If they think they are serving some agenda, they are wrong. All they are doing is creating chaos,” Kaul said.
“This community has been through some extremely traumatic events in the last few days, the people of this community deserve to have the opportunity to grieve. They deserve to have the opportunity to come together, to protest peacefully, to call for the change that they would like to see and ultimately to work to heal this community.”
