Jacob Blake Shooting: Witnesses Say 'Kids Were Screaming' As He Was Being Shot

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul on Wednesday evening for the first time revealed the identity of the Kenosha Police Department (KPD) officer who shot at 29 year-old Jacob Blake multiple times during a confrontation on Aug. 23. He also gave the police's version of the tragic and confusing event for the first time.

Kaul identified the officer shooter as Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran with the KPD. He said none of the other KPD officers on the scene at 2800-block of 40th Street where the incident occurred fired their pistols. The Attorney General's Office is the lead investigator into Blake's shooting and will decide if charges are to be brought against Sheskey.

Before Kaul's revelations Wednesday, confusing eyewitness accounts made it difficult to accurately piece together the events leading-up to Blake's shooting, he said. Lost in this confusion, however, is the effect Blake's shooting had on his three young sons, the youngest of whom is only 3 years old.

One of the eyewitnesses, Arlene Archilla, said Blake's three children were distraught after their father was shot.

"I [saw] one of the children laying down in the grass and [having] a panic attack," said Archilla to Business Insider.

Eyewitness Dan Stone, who lives across the street from Blake and has known him for five years, said Blake's sons "were screaming in the backseat, like any normal little kids would be. They sense that."

"Knowing Jacob, that's what he was doing," referring to Blake going back to his car after pulling away from the police officers. "His kids are his priority. He wanted to make his kids safe."

Kaul revealed KPD officers responded to a 911 call from a female who complained her boyfriend was intruding into her home. Kaul said police tried to arrest the suspect during the incident. He refused to comment when asked by reporters if Blake was that person.

Blake allegedly resisted and one of the police officers fired his Taser at Blake. The Taser failed to subdue Blake and a scuffle ensued.

Blake broke free from the officers and headed for the driver's side of his SUV with Sheskey hanging on to Blake's shirt before firing seven shots, as can be seen in one of two viral videos of the event.

Kaul also said Blake told police he had a knife in his possession. A knife was later found on the SUV's driver's side floorboard, according to Kaul. No other weapons were discovered in Blake's car.

Before Kaul's revelation, it was widely reported Blake was in the neighborhood breaking up a fight between two female neighbors. The lawyer retained by the Blake family, Benjamin Crump, said Blake "was attempting to de-escalate a fight between two other people when officers arrived at the scene."

Crump said Blake tried to enter his vehicle to check on his three sons inside, which is why he broke away from the officers. He said four of the seven bullets struck Blake, with some of the rounds severing his spinal cord. Blake is now paralyzed from the waist down, Crump said.