Funeral service Friday for Corey Ruiz; man shot, killed by Madison police

MADISON, Wis. - On July 22, a Madison police officer shot and killed Cory Ruiz, whose funeral was held Friday, August 14 at Madison’s Fountain of Life Church. The police department said the 38-year-old Ruiz pulled out a knife and injured an officer.

Funeral service

What we know:

Reverend Al Sharpton and attorney Ben Crump spoke at the funeral service. Sharpton announced his National Action Network is donating $10,000 for funeral expenses.

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"This could be my brother. This could be my nephew, and the fact that my name is Sharpton and their name is Ruiz means nothing to a cop that will unload and shoot multiple times, when they could have talked to him and done a number of things," said Sharpton at a news conference before the funeral.

"There was nothing that I could see that justified the shooting of this man, and I'm here to join these young activists and let them know that they are right and that we stand with them and we stand with this man," added Sharpton.

A memorial still marks the spot at Baldwin and Williamson in Madison: candles, flowers and graffiti. An encampment at this spot lasted nearly two weeks after Ruiz’s death, until the city cleared it.

Ruiz had previous encounters with police, and was convicted eight times of resisting, obstructing, threatening or injuring officers. His family's lawyers, including Crump, said Ruiz didn’t deserve to die.

"We saw that video. We saw how unnecessary this execution was. We saw how unjustified this execution was. We saw how unconstitutional this execution was," said Crump at the news conference.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice is carrying out an independent investigation into whether the police officer’s use of deadly force was justified.

Madison police officers do not wear body cameras. The national leaders at the funeral criticized it. The city's mayor and common council president said after the death that they plan to include money for the cameras in next year's budget.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Jason Calvi and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

Shooting investigation

The backstory:

Madison Police Chief John Patterson said officers responded to calls about a man stealing bicycles and checking car doors and confronted him on July 22, but he rode away on a bicycle.

Police later encountered the man again, at Baldwin and Williamson, and the man "fell or was pulled off the bicycle." There was a struggle in the middle of the intersection, and police said the man pulled out a knife and injured an officer.

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Officers used a taser to try to take the man into custody before the injured officer shot the man, since identified as Corey Ruiz. Ruiz was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Madison police said the four officers involved were placed on administrative leave as the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation investigates the shooting as a homicide. 

Officer identified

What we know:

The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) on Monday, Aug. 10 released the name of the Madison Police Department officer who shot and killed Corey Ruiz. 

The Wisconsin Department of Justice identified the officer Monday as Kiel Baitinger-Peterson. Officer Kiel Baitinger-Peterson has 10 years and 10 months of law enforcement service. 

The four responding officers have been placed on administrative leave, per the agency’s policy.

MadisonNews