The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Wednesday identified the officer who shot Jacob Blake as Officer Rusten Sheskey. Hours later, the Department of Justice announced that the shooting, which led to three nights of violence in the state, is now under federal federal civil rights investigation.
The state DOJ said in a press release that Kenosha police officers were dispatched to the area Sunday after a caller reported that their friend, who was not supposed to be on the scene, was present.
The release did not specify what role Blake played in the original incident, but family lawyer Benjamin Crump said he was trying to break a domestic dispute. Officers tried to arrest Blake during the incident and used a Taser in a failed attempt to subdue him, the DOJ said.
As pictured in a video of the interaction that went viral on social media, Blake drove to his SUV and opened the driver’s door. Sheskey, 31, grabbed Blake’s shirt and shot his service weapon in Blake’s back seven times, the release said.
The release found that no other officer fired their weapon, and that none of the officers had body cameras because the department did not have one. All officers involved in the incident have been suspended.
Sheskey has worked with the department for seven years, the release said. It has not worked out its record within the department.
The release said that “during the investigation into the first incident,” Blake “admitted that he had a knife in his possession.” The release did not specify what type of knife, when Blake officials would have informed him he had a knife, or in what context.
“[Department of Criminal Investigation] agents recovered a knife from the sideboard of the driver of Mr Blake’s car, “added the release.” A search of the car did not include any additional weapons. ”
The Wisconsin DOJ’s Criminal Investigation Department is leading the investigation into Blake’s shooting, with the help of the FBI, the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office. The release said it expects to provide a full report to the prosecutor within 30 days.
Blake remains in the hospital in stable but serious condition. Lawyers for his family said Tuesday that he is now paralyzed, and that bullets ripped through his back wall, leaving holes in his stomach, causing damage to his kidney and liver and demanding that “almost his entire colon and large intestine” be removed.
Blake’s shooting caused protests throughout Wisconsin that began on Sunday night and continued throughout the week. Those protests turned deadly Tuesday night, when two people were killed and another was injured. A 17-year-old accused of the murder was arrested in Illinois on Wednesday.
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