Sheboygan, Wisconsin — The Sheboygan County district attorney has determined that the use of deadly force was reasonable and no charges will be filed in the officer-involved death of Kevan Ruffin Jr. on July 2. At 5:50:32 AM, the Sheboygan County Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting a disturbance involving weapons near S. 15th Street and Illinois Avenue in the City of Sheboygan. Video surveillance from the nearby business showed that prior to Officer Pray's arrival there appeared to have been a disturbance between two people to the west of S. 15th Street between Illinois Avenue and Indiana Avenue. The disturbance was at approximately 5:50 AM according to the video. There was some pushing before one person ran towards a building and the other person, later identified as Kevan Ruffin, walked eastbound down an alley while holding onto something in each of his hands. At 5:52 AM, a Sheboygan Police Department squad car operated by Officer Pray pulled up next to a silver car at the intersection of Indiana Avenue and S. 15th Street. As soon as the squad car traveled down S. 15th Street, Ruffin started to walk towards the squad car, although he was on the opposite side of the road. Officer Pray's body camera recorded him exiting his squad car and then saying, "How you doin' Ruffin?" and "Are you fine this morning?" He later said, "Can you just have a seat for me?" Ruffin was looking at Officer Pray but walking along the curb line on the opposite side of the road. Officer Pray took approximately 2 to 3 steps toward Ruffin. Ruffin began to walk towards Officer Pray. Officer Pray said, "Ah, ah, ah can you just have a seat for me?" He drew his Electronic Control Device (ECD), commonly referred to as a taser, and activated it. Video surveillance from the business showed Officer Pray exit his squad car, hold his hand out and begin to quickly walk backwards.The video surveillance showed Ruffin begin to walk at a faster pace toward Officer Pray. Officer Pray, as seen on the video surveillance, drew his taser as he was backing up. Ruffin began to run quickly at Officer Pray. Officer Pray was retreating backwards, away from Ruffin. The body camera footage showed Ruffin advanced toward Officer Pray at a faster pace. Ruffin was mumbling something that was inaudible. He was also holding a Sai in his right hand, which was pointed towards Officer Pray, and another Sai in his left hand, which was pointed away from Officer Pray. Based on body camera footage, it appeared that Ruffin began to advance quicker towards Officer Pray. Officer Pray deployed his taser and began sprinting away from Ruffin. Ruffin was running at a fast pace towards Officer Pray. Evidence of the taser being deployed was found at the scene. Officer Pray's body camera showed that he sprinted to the opposite side of the street and turned to see Ruffin sprinting towards him. Ruffin was still holding a Sai in each hand. Five seconds after deploying his taser, Officer Pray drew his duty weapon and pointed it at Ruffin. Within Officer Pray's body camera he is heard yelling, "Step back, you will get shot." Ruffin continued to run towards Officer Pray. The body camera footage showed that Officer Pray continued to run backwards and fired 3 rounds toward Ruffin, who was still running towards Officer Pray with a Sai in each hand. Officer Pray began to sprint back toward the opposite side of the road and fired 3 more rounds while running away and 1 additional shot as he turned back around. After the 6 shots were fired, Ruffin was still running at Officer Pray, which is when the seventh round was fired. Officer Pray radioed dispatch, "shots fired, shots fired" and "send all units." The video surveillance showed the same interaction. Specifically, it showed Officer Pray begin to run in a circular motion toward the opposite side of the road. At 5:53 AM in the surveillance video, Officer Pray threw his taser to the ground and drew his hand gun. Officer Pray turned facing Ruffin, still moving backwards as Ruffin advanced. Officer Pray fired his hand gun. Officer Pray continued to run in a circular motion to the opposite side of the road while Ruffin followed. As Ruffin came back around towards the west side of the road he fell to the ground. Video surveillance showed a second officer arrive on scene at what video surveillance showed to be 5:54 AM. Officer Pray and the backup officer approached Ruffin at 5:55 AM. Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) was attempted, but Ruffin was later declared deceased at the scene.
Category: Police Activity Recommended