Medical gloves and blue coolant still sat in the intersection of Eastpark Boulevard and American Parkway, where police shot Quadren Wilson one week ago.
It is also where protesters and Wilson’s family gathered today to demand answers.
Last Thursday, police surrounded Wilson’s car in the intersection, and reportedly shot anywhere from five to 20 bullets into the vehicle. Five shots hit Wilson in the back.
Street camera footage obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal show the events that took place immediately following the shooting, where Wilson can be seen taken out of his bullet-ridden car around 15 minutes after the shooting had taken place. Events from the video follow what Wilson had told family members about the shooting.
After the shooting took place, Wilson was brought to an area hospital to be treated and undergo surgery to remove the bullets. But over the weekend, Wilson was removed from that hospital and brought to the Dane County Jail.
Mane Morris, Quadren’s brother, spoke at a press conference earlier today. He says that, while Quadren’s mother has spoken with him, communication is still limited.
“My mom calls him daily, but he can only stay on the phone for two or three minutes because he is in pain and he can’t stand up. He says his bandages are bloody, he says they aren’t changing them. They have him in some kind of segregated unit; he’s not being treated right. He’s being treated worse than an animal,” Morris says.
Wilson is a relative of Tony Robinson, the 19-year-old shot and killed by Madison police in 2015.
As family and protesters held their press conference today, officials remain silent on almost all information regarding the shooting. As of broadcast, the Dane County Sheriff’s Department, who is leading the investigation into the shooting, have only released Quadren’s name, and no information on why the incident occurred. The Madison Police Department has issued a statement that their officers were not involved in the shooting, though a spokesperson says officers were present to assist the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
Today’s press conference, which was held in the intersection where police shot Wilson, was both a call for answers from law enforcement, , as well as a call to move Wilson back to a hospital. Morris says that conditions at the jail are not suitable to care for Quadren.
“The pain I see him in now I’ve never witnessed. He was literally crying, I couldn’t understand what he was saying over the phone. He’s not asking to be released to the community, he’s just asking to go back to the hospital for now, that’s all he’s asking. And that’s all we’re asking,” Morris says.
Another issue brought up at today’s press conference was the recently released camera footage. They say that they do not understand why the camera did not record the incident itself, and only the aftermath.
“We don’t understand, the camera’s right there. I’m pretty sure they’re going to record everything we’re doing, they got in on bullet (holes), the camera got everything. Why was there footage not there, why was the camera turned?” Morris says
Steven Eisenberg, Wilson’s attorney, says that he was not able to speak with Wilson until just a few days ago.
“Finally I was able to see him on Monday, I had been trying to see him since Friday. Took me three days to locate him. I knew where he was, he was in the hospital under a John Doe which didn’t allow me to find him. I had to go through channels through the police to locate him and then found out he was being discharged Sunday night from the hospital. I located him in the jail on Monday,” Eisenberg says.
Eisenberg says that Wilson is currently in a stable condition, and has been told that the jail will move him to a hospital if his condition deteriorates.
Both the family and Eisenberg say that the worst part of the incident is the lack of information. Eisenberg says that he is still trying to find out why the incident took place in the first place.
“He was scheduled to see his parole (officer) on Wednesday, the day before the shooting. He’s got a GPS on, everyone knows where he’s been for the last seven months. So he’s scheduled to see his parole officer Wednesday, but on Tuesday his parole officer calls to reschedule to Friday. So he’s going on Friday to get a pass to go on Valentine’s Day with his girlfriend to Chicago, you need permission to leave the state when you’re on supervision. So they knew he was coming in on Friday, I don’t know why in the world this happened on Thursday, everybody knew he was coming the next day,” Eisenberg says.
The Dane County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to WORTs request for comment by airtime.
Photos courtesy: Nate Wegehaupt / WORT News Team
