The Kenosha, Wisconsin police department, which shot Jacob Blake, a black man paralyzed from the waist down, after the shooting in August, has returned to work and will not receive discipline, the department announced Tuesday.
Officer Rusten Sheskey returned from administrative leave at the end of March. According to him, a statement from Kenosha police chief Daniel Miskinis said on Tuesday that he had acted within the policy and would not be subject to discipline.
The decision was made after an external investigation and independent expert review, the statement said.
“Although this incident has been reviewed on several levels, I understand that some will not be satisfied with the outcome; given the facts, however, it was the only legal and appropriate decision that had to be made, ‘Miskinis said.
Sheskey was not charged in the shooting. Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley told reporters in January that Sheskey and other officials would have a strong case for self-defense.
“If you do not believe you can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, you have an ethical obligation not to issue charges,” Graveley said at the time.
Blake filed a federal lawsuit against Sheskey, the sole defendant, last month, claiming unspecified damages.
Police initially released few details about the Blake shooting and said officers responded to a domestic incident. But the bystander video of the incident was posted online and enjoyed national attention.
In the video, it looked like Blake was running away from officers and opening the front driver’s door when he was shot from behind. Authorities said both Sheskey and another officer tried to try their shotguns at Blake, but were unable to stop them.
According to state prosecutors, Blake was near a knife when he was shot, and a blade was found in the footwell of the vehicle. Raysean White, the bystander who recorded the video, said he heard police shout “drop the knife!” but he never saw Blake armed with a blade.
Kenosha police officers were not equipped with body cameras at the time of the shooting.
While it was previously believed that Blake was shot seven times in the back, further investigation of Blake’s medical records found that he had three entrance wounds to his left side and four shots to his back, Graveley said in January following the announcement. that there are no charges against the officers.
He said that while it was “absolutely appropriate” to ask if seven shots were excessive, Sheskey said he continued firing until the “threat” ceased as part of his training.
Blake’s shooting came just months after George Floyd was killed while officers tried to arrest him in Minneapolis last summer. Four officers have been charged in connection with Floyd’s death, and one is currently facing charges of murder and manslaughter.
Blake’s shooting incident renewed a spate of protests in Kenosha and across the country, demanding that police be reformed following many published cases of black people being seriously injured or killed by police.
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