Report: Man killed by Madison officer was high on mushrooms

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne announced Tuesday that Madison police Officer Matt Kenny would not be charged in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Tony Robinson Jr.

The state Department of Justice, which investigated the shooting, released its reports after Ozanne announced his decision. Here’s a look at the last few hours of Robinson’s life, compiled from witness accounts detailed in the reports:

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— Robinson, who had been staying at an apartment with friends for a few days, smokes marijuana on the morning of March 6. He tells one friend that he wants to get high on hallucinogenic mushrooms and later buys 7 grams of mushrooms from an acquaintance.

— That evening, Robinson tells the girlfriend of one of the apartment tenants that he’s “freaking out” after taking mushrooms. He begins shouting expletives at his father, who wasn’t there. He grabs the crotch of one friend and tries to punch another person.

— Robinson chases a friend and his girlfriend outside. They drive off in the girl’s car, and Robinson goes after them, running in front of cars. His friend calls 911 at 6:28 p.m. and says Robinson is punching holes in the apartment walls and “going crazy.”

— At 6:31 p.m., a man calls police to say he was punched by Robinson while walking to a restaurant.

— A minute later, police get a call from another man who says Robinson had just tried to strangle him as he was fueling his car at a gas station. The man tells police, “He looked like he was trying to kill me.” He says he saw Robinson throw a punch at a couple passing by on the sidewalk.

— Kenny is dispatched to a call of a man who had hit a friend and was running in traffic. Dispatchers warn Kenny that the man is believed to be under the influence of some mind-altering substance.

— As Kenny is driving into the area, a man waves at him and tells him Robinson is in the apartment house. The apartment house door is open and Kenny said he could hear yelling and a sound like a fist hitting something.

— Kenny told investigators that based on the last radio transmissions he had heard indicating the suspect was acting erratically and was strangling someone, he believed the suspect was assaulting someone. Kenny enters the apartment house through the open door, his weapon drawn, and climbs the stairs to the upstairs apartment.

— As he nears the top of the stairs, he announces himself as a police officer. Kenny hears someone say, “Well, the police is here.” Robinson then appears and punches Kenny in the head. Kenny told investigators he thought Robinson hit him more than once and that he was afraid he would fall down the stairs and end up incapacitated. He said he feared Robinson would then take his gun and kill him and whoever was in the apartment.

— Kenny fires his gun seven times, telling investigators that Robinson kept coming toward him. An autopsy found Robinson was shot in the lip, left front shoulder, left chest and right index finger. Kenny said “space and time considerations” prevented him from using non-lethal force.

— Kenny said he immediately began giving aid to Robinson as another officer searched the apartment. That officer finds no one inside.

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