How Wisconsin Governor Hopefuls Say They’d Handle Police Shootings

Madison Police officers block the intersection of Williamson Street and S. Baldwin Street in Madison, Wis. after police shot and killed a man on July 22, 2026. Alyssa Allemand/WPR

Democrats running to be Wisconsin’s next governor and Republican frontrunner Tom Tiffany are calling for a swift, transparent and independent investigation into the Madison police shooting of 38-year-old Corey Ruiz.

The shooting on Williamson Street in Madison has sparked protests at the state Capitol and renewed anger toward police. In the same neighborhood, Madison officers fatally shot unarmed Black teenager Tony Robinson in 2015 and 30-year-old white musician Paul Heenan in 2012.

Madison Police Chief John Patterson has said police were trying to apprehend Ruiz, who pulled a knife and injured an officer. That officer then shot Ruiz. Court records show Ruiz has a history of criminal convictions and had pleaded guilty in 2021 to a felony charge of resisting arrest in a way that caused bodily harm to police.

Democrats said they felt sorrow for Ruiz’s family. On Wednesday, Madison Rep. Francesca Hong, who has been leading in the Democratic primary race, said she was horrified when she saw video of the incident and called the shooting an “execution.”

“In responding to a mental health crisis where clearly the individual did not need to be apprehended, I think the video speaks for itself,” Hong told WPR Thursday. “That was an incorrect response, and no one should be dead right now. Again, another Black man is dead.”

Hong said there should be multiple reviews and an examination of training and body cameras. Madison police don’t currently have department-wide body cameras, but Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a Thursday press conference that she would request funding for body cameras in her next budget.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who reentered the Democratic primary July 18 after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out, told WPR that the investigation should be allowed to play out.

Crowley said he’s curious to hear the officer’s reasons for shooting Ruiz and police accounts of the incident, adding that he wanted to ensure people’s rights to protest are respected. He said such situations can bring up trauma for residents and referenced the murder of George Floyd by Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer. He also mentioned the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey.

“A governor’s role in a moment like this is to bring people together, to recognize that, you know, this is not only a loss to Madison, but this is a loss to the entire state,” Crowley said. “We got to figure out ways that we put policies, procedures, and standard operating procedures in place that, you know, stops these things from happening in the future.”

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes called the shooting distressing and disturbing. He highlighted people’s concerns about the lack of body cameras among Madison police, demanding accountability.

“The video is bad, but I do want to make sure that, you know, we are also being very thorough in the way that it is investigated. Accountability on the other end means if there was wrongdoing, actual nefarious actions, then there should be prosecution,” Barnes said Thursday. “One of the problems is typically it has been too easy for officers to get away with that sort of behavior. Six years ago, with the wave of resistance to violence, if anything that we learned from that is that this is not acceptable.”

Former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan said Thursday there needs to be “sober judgment” in times like these while echoing the call to protect people’s rights to exercise free speech.

Brennan added there needs to be an appropriate level of training with an emphasis on de-escalation in such incidents. He also said most money for law enforcement comes through state aid known as shared revenue, but funding for police and fire and emergency services largely stems from raising property taxes.

“There needs to be appropriate accountability, but there also needs to be the appropriate level of investment there…. There should be more funding for state shared revenue for local units of government all around the state,” Brennan said. “Madison is, I think, one of the lower recipients of state shared revenue in the state. But, no matter what, those resources are important to ensuring that everything can be done in the right way at the local level.”

Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys said it’s impossible to imagine any justification for how the shooting occurred, saying that Ruiz and his loved ones deserve justice. She said the nation has seen a pattern and “level of police violence that is intolerable,” citing an unwillingness to tackle illegal guns and gun safety as one of the reasons.“If you don a badge and carry a gun at your job, then you should be meeting the highest standard. And so, you know, education and training is part of it, but culture is also a part of it,” Roys said. “And making sure that law enforcement officers are both safe on their job, which they absolutely have a right to be, but we also have a right to be safe in our community.”

In a statement on social media, Tiffany said any loss of life is tragic and offered prayers for all involved in the shooting. During his time in the Legislature, he said Wisconsin established the nation’s first statewide law requiring independent investigators for police-involved deaths, saying politicians shouldn’t rush to judgment.

“Too many politicians rush to the cameras before the facts are even known. Francesca Hong chose to do that (Wednesday), declaring to a crowd, ‘This state sanctioned violence was an execution,’” Tiffany wrote. “As governor, I will lead Wisconsin with a steady hand, let the facts guide accountability, and work to end revolving-door criminal justice policies.”

Andy Manske, the other Republican running for governor, said in a statement to WPR that all life lost is a great lost, and that many questions remained, including why Madison had resisted body cameras.

“It is indisputable that body cameras have been opposed by the local government,” Manske said.

Manske also criticized Hong for her remarks, saying they had made the situation “far more risky to citizens.”

The names of the officer who fired shots and other officers involved in Wednesday’s shooting have not yet been released.

Editor’s note: Anya van Wagtendonk contributed reporting.

Candidates for Wisconsin governor react to Madison shooting was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.