Wisconsin officials identify officer in Jacob Blake shooting

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) on Wednesday evening announced more details regarding the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, including the identity of the officer who fired their weapon on him.

Authorities said that Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey fired his weapon seven times toward Blake while holding on to his shirt as he leaned into his car.

Officials said that law enforcement had deployed a Taser while attempting to arrest Blake on Sunday, but it was unsuccessful. They said Blake then walked around his car and opened the driver’s side door and leaned forward.

Blake admitted to having a knife on him, the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) said, and one was recovered during a later search of his SUV.

The Wisconsin DOJ’s description of the events leading up to the shooting is the first official account of the incident by law enforcement amid days of unrest and violence in the city over the shooting.

Officials said Sheskey is a seven-year veteran of the police department. The Kenosha Police Department does not have body cameras, Kaul said, so body camera footage of the incident is not available.

Kaul said additional details, including the identity of the other officers at the scene, would be released at a later date.

Officials previously said that the officers involved were put on administrative leave, though they didn’t specify how many there were.

Blake, 29, was critically wounded Sunday afternoon after police shot him several times in the back at close range in response to a reported domestic incident.

Officials responded to a call from a woman who said her boyfriend showed up at her house when he wasn’t supposed to be there, though Kaul did not specify if Blake was the man police were looking for. Blake’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, has said that Blake was trying to de-escalate the situation before he was accosted by police.

Per Wisconsin law, an independent investigation of the officer-involved shooting is underway.

This breaking news report will be updated.