When more details come to light about the shooting of Jacob Blake police, who remains hospitalized, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul refuses to answer questions about whether officers knew in advance that Blake had a knife.
“We are not commenting on that detail at this point in the investigation. Mr Blake told investigators he had a knife in his possession and there was one that was found on the driver’s sideboard,” he said. told Kaul Cecila of ABC News. Vega in an interview Friday on “Good Morning America.”
When pressed for why he refused to work out, Kaul doubled down.
“This is an ongoing investigation and we do not comment on facts that may be disputed as this case progresses,” he said. “Finally, after a full and thorough investigation, this case will be presented to a prosecutor who will make a decision on charging. And if a charge or charges have been filed in this case, this will be tried in a court of law and it is our top priority to ensure that we protect the integrity of this research. “
Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot dead Sunday morning in police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. Cello video made by a witness shows three police officers following Blake around his SUV, and at least one of them is seen blaking several times in the back when he opened the driver’s driver’s door and into the car arrived, where his three young children were still inside.
The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation, which is conducting the probe into the incident, released new details in a statement Friday morning, identifying the officers involved and revealing that they twice tried to use a stun gun on Blake while trying to to stop and arrest him but that those efforts failed.
According to the statement, Kenosha police officials were sent to a residence Sunday after a female caller reported that her friend was there and “should not have been on the scene.” After the first attempt to arrest Blake, Officer Rusten Sheskey inserted a stun gun to stop him. When that attempt failed, Officer Vincent Arenas also deployed a stun gun, but “that taser was also unsuccessful in stopping Mr. Blake,” the statement said.
Blake then walked around his car, opened the driver’s side door and “leaned forward,” according to the statement. Sheskey, who has been with the Kenosha police department for seven years, shot his gun seven times in the back of Blake while holding on to his shirt, according to the statement. No other officer has released her weapon, the statement said.
Officers “immediately provided medical assistance” to Blake, who was then flown to a Milwaukee hospital, according to the statement. Blake’s family told ABC News that he is currently paralyzed from the hips, but that doctors hope the paralysis is temporary.
While taking questions from reporters at a news conference Wednesday night, Wisconsin Department of Justice officials would not say whether Blake was the person the female caller said was at her home.
During the investigation into the first incident, Blake “admitted that he had a knife in his possession,” according to the statement. Investigators recovered a knife from the sideboard of the driver of Blake’s car. According to the statement, no additional weapons were found.
The officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave. The Kenosha Police Department has no body cameras, according to the statement.
The officer deploying the second stun gun, Arenas, has been with the Kenosha Police Department since February 2019, with previous service with the United States Capitol Police. A third officer was also present at the scene, Officer Brittany Meronek, who joined the force in January, according to the statement.
Prominent civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who is one of the lawyers representing Blake’s family, said Blake was trying to de-escalate a domestic incident when police pulled out their pistols and stun stun guns at him. He said Blake left to check on his children when police shot him.
Crump told ABC News that Blake’s family is calling for the officers involved in the shooting to be terminated by police and charged with attempted murder.
Blake is in handcuffs to his hospital bed, his father, Jacob Blake Sr., told ABC News. An order was issued on July 7 for Blake’s arrest on sexual assault and charges of domestic abuse, yet it is unclear at this time why he is in handcuffs.
In an interview Friday on CNN’s “New Day,” Blake’s father said his son was “fighting for his life” and that he was stunned because he was “in so much pain.”
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. The civil unrest in Kenosha allowed cars and buildings to be set on fire. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.
Blake’s family has called for peaceful protests several times.
A man shot dead three people near a gas station in Kenosha late Tuesday, amid a third night of protests. Two of the victims died from their injuries, while a third was taken to a hospital with “serious but not life-threatening injuries,” according to the Kenosha Police Department.
The violence prompted President Donald Trump and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers to mobilize additional members of the National Guard to Kenosha.
Mobile video of Tuesday night’s protests shows a white man, swinging with a semi-automatic rifle, running past police and being chased by protesters. The gunman trips and falls, and he appears to have opened fire on Protestants. He is then seen running away.
The alleged gunman, identified as 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, turned himself in to authorities in Antioch, Illinois, by Wednesday morning, according to Antioch interim police chief Geoff Guttschow. Rittenhouse was arrested on the basis of an order issued by authorities in Wisconsin’s Kenosha County, and charged with premeditated first-degree murder. He is also being held on a charge of “refugee for justice,” for purposes of extradition to Wisconsin, Guttschow said.
Charges against Rittenhouse were officially filed Thursday in Wisconsin, including two murder counts and one attempted murder. He was also accused of two counts of reckless threat to security and possession of a dangerous weapon by a youth.
John Pierce, one of the attorneys retained to represent Rittenhouse, told ABC News that they “will get justice for Kyle.”
Rittenhouse, who is facing five crimes, was not physically present for his first appearance in court in Illinois on Friday morning, when his lawyers asked to delay a decision on whether he should be returned to Wisconsin to be charged. . The judge agreed to postpone Rittenhouse’s proposed rent to Sept. 25.
ABC News’ Andy Fies, Fergal Gallagher, Sabina Ghebremedhin, Will Gretsky, Ahmad Hemingway, Joshua Hoyos, Whitney Lloyd, Josh Margolin and Alex Perez contributed to this report.
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