Nineteen-year-old Katoine Richardson, who was arrested following a confrontation outside of Mondays Bar where a Madison Police Department officer sustained a gunshot wound, did not fire a weapon at officers according to his attorney, Stanley Woodard.
During the incident in question, Madison police officers confronted Richardson, who was violating a 10 p.m. curfew imposed on him by the terms of his probation related to a different incident.
According to accounts provided by MPD, Richardson ran from officers as they were moving to arrest him and allegedly drew a handgun, at which point an officer physically struggled with Richardson before being non-fatally struck by a single bullet.
Following the initial incident, it was widely believed that Richardson was responsible for the injuries the officer sustained during the confrontation.The MPD announced that it was the “first time in over 20 years that a Madison Police officer has been shot in the line of duty.” However, Richardson’s attorney has since claimed his client did not fire at the officer.
“He [Richardson] didn’t shoot anyone and the gun he had was not fired, but yet we see in the paper without any clarification by the police department that Mr. Richardson did not shoot a police officer and it’s based on my discussion with my client, it may have been an inadvertent accident by an officer on the scene who did that,” Woodard said.
During his arraignment this past Tuesday, Richardson was not charged with shooting an officer and instead was accused of possession of a firearm by adjudicated delinquent, resisting an officer, causing a soft tissue injury to the officer and carrying a concealed weapon. Richardson was additionally charged with three counts of felony bail jumping.
It has also been revealed by a Dane County court that the criminal complaint filed by a Madison police sergeant regarding the incident does not specify that Richardson fired the shot that injured an officer.
Woodard has since gone on to claim that officials at MPD intentionally withheld information regarding the details of the incident.
“The police department just didn’t give the information in total that should have been given out,” Woodard said. “I think they really muffed this. Why didn’t the police department personnel or those who are in supervisory positions … indicate that, ‘Wait a minute, we’re not saying this young man shot anyone, let alone one of our officers. We don’t have any proof of that.'”
The Madison District attorney and Wisconsin Department of Justice have declined to release any additional information regarding the shooting at this time.
Richardson has entered a not guilty plea to the misdemeanor charges and his bond has been set at $15,000 for the felony charges. His next court date for a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 21, 2021.
