A simple request for assistance took a trooper’s life on a quiet Monday morning in Fitchburg, Wis. A 28-year-old man, Kevin Price, called 911. He sounded out of breath. He filed reports of no-contact order violations. He said someone had tried to break his neck. Then, he hung up. That was followed by a series of events that led to tragedy. Police arrived. They broke into his house. Minutes later, shots rang out. Price lay wounded. He died days later. Questions linger. Was this justified? Or a preventable disaster? Experts say mistakes were made. Friends demand answers. It’s the tale of how a call for help turned to death.
Kevin Price was raised in Racine, Wisconsin. He graduated from high school in 2014. He paid his own way through UW-Madison. Friends described him as kindhearted. He had an infectious laugh. A beautiful smile. He loved unconditionally. But life was tough. Price had mental health problems. He dealt with substance use. Methamphetamine was involved that night. He lived in an apartment with his boyfriend, Javier DeLuna. They had a dog named Willard. A roommate lived there too. Domestic disputes from the past had left their mark on their relationship. No-contact orders were in effect for an incident from seven months before.
There was tension right from the outset on the morning of Aug. 12, 2024. Price and DeLuna argued. It was about borrowing a car. Things got physical. A neighbor saw it. She recorded a video. She felt scared. Price dialed 911 around 8 a.m. “We made eye contact. And was trying to break my neck,” he said. Less than a minute. Dispatch tried calling back. No real answer. Fitchburg police were sent. Officers Peter Johnston, Michael O’Dell, and Clint Dretske were the first to arrive.
They knocked. No one answered. They peered through windows. Nothing. “At the very beginning, they wanted to leave. They’d come back later. But Dretske spoke to the neighbor. She showed her video. She said the men went inside. Their car was still there. Officers returned. Blinds were now closed. They checked records. Confirmed no-contact orders. Determined that a welfare check was appropriate. They forced entry. No warrant required. It was your “community caretaker” task.
Two more officers joined. Lisa Heitman and Jean Pierre Contreras Johnston led. He assigned roles. Arrest team. Less-lethal options. Lethal force if needed. They entered the cluttered apartment. Boxes everywhere. Clothes piled up. A “hoarding situation,” one said. DeLuna appeared from a hallway. Hands up. Officers escorted him out. He announced to them on the radio: Price was hiding in a bedroom closet. He had a knife.
Officers searched. They cleared rooms. Announced themselves. “Fitchburg police. Kevin, come to the door.” No response. Paths were blocked in the cluttered bedroom. Johnston stood on the bed. Gun drawn. O’Dell used a foam baton launcher. Flashlight ready. Dretske and Contreras at the door. “Kevin, stand up right now with your hands up!” Johnston ordered. Price admitted to the knife. Clothes moved in the closet. Price stood. He moved forward. Knife in hand. Officers yelled. “Drop the knife!” He didn’t.
Shots fired. Three from Johnston’s Glock. Hit Price in the torso. O’Dell fired the baton. Non-lethal attempt. Price fell back. Into the closet. Officers dragged him out. He gasped. “I can’t breathe.” Life-saving measures started. EMS arrived. Brought him to SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison. He underwent surgeries. Never woke up. Died August 15, 2024. Cause: pulmonary embolism. From the wounds.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice investigated, with the assistance of local law enforcement. The Division of Criminal Investigation took the lead. Required by state law. For officer-involved deaths. They reviewed evidence. Body cam footage. Statements. Scene inspection. Reports consistent. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne ruled. No charges for the officer. The use of lethal force is permitted under the law. If to die or suffer a terrible injury. Knives are seen as dangerous. Price didn’t comply. Moved toward officers. “The officer discharged his weapon after being confronted by Price, who had an open knife,” the DA’s office said in its news release.
But not everyone agrees. Experts reviewed footage. At media request. They spotted errors. John Gross from UW-Madison. Studies police practices. Called it a tactical mistake. Officers entered the room. Put themselves in danger. No retreat possible. “They have made a tactical mistake,” Gross said. “Because what they’ve done is they’ve gotten themselves in a place where they can’t withdraw in a way that is safe.” He suggested staying outside. Talk from the doorway. De-escalate.
Ion Meyn, another UW professor. Focuses on the use of force. Said to remove DeLuna first. That eliminated any danger to others. “By the time officers brought DeLuna outside of the apartment, they had neutralized whatever danger Price might have represented to others,” Meyn said. “Kevin would be very much alive if they had left at that time. He criticized the focus. Not on welfare. But commands. The question should not be, ‘Get out of there.’ It’s supposed to be: ‘Are you O.K.’?” “
John Wallschlaeger studies crisis intervention. Former officer. Said slow down. Interview DeLuna more. Engage Price calmly. “They could’ve just talked instead of commanding, yelling at him,” he said. “It could have changed things for the whole room. He spoke highly of the training officers receive through Crisis Intervention Team programs. Role-playing. Listening. De-escalation. But it’s voluntary. Only a quarter of Fitchburg police officers carry it. Johnston didn’t.
Body cam footage tells more. Released December 9, 2024. Heavily redacted. Audio cuts in parts. But shows the chaos. Officers yell. Price responds little. Experts say to analyze fully. Context matters. Lighting. Distances. Mindsets. I think former Madison Police Chief Noble Wray gets it. Footage aids training. Improves safety. “It can help drive research, learning, and overall policing improvements,” Wray said.
Friends and family grieve. They question. PJ Chamberlain, Price’s friend since 2016. Called him loving. Creative. Helpful. “He didn’t deserve this,” Chamberlain wrote. “I don’t care about the circumstances he was going through; I think it should have never turned out that way, and that is the bottom line. In an editorial, Chamberlain attacked the police. Media too. For misleading narratives. It was initially reported as a disconnect. Ignored Price’s words. Portrayed him negatively. “Don’t allow them to rewrite his story,” Chamberlain said.
DeLuna shared the pain. Saw Price after. “He was like a beast being brought to slaughter,” he said. “It was very hard to see.” He added, “If Kevin’s calling for help, why the hell didn’t they give him help?” The family learned late. No visit to the hospital. Attorney Bill Foutris represents them. “Bottom line, the police took action that they should not have taken,” he said. No threat from Price. Potential lawsuit looms. Because previous cases in Dane County had settled big.
Police defend actions. Jim Palmer of the police association. “That’s something that officers everywhere deal with is making those split-second decisions.” Waiting risked harm. If Price required medical attention after the fight. Fitchburg reviews internally. Policy. Training. Equipment. “The assessment will include examination of the incident itself, relevant policy and adequacy of training equipment used,” spokesman Edward Hartwick said in an email. The mayor declined to comment. Review timeline unknown.
Broader issues emerge. Police handle crises. But lack tools. Mental health pros needed. Like Madison’s CARES team. Pairs officers with experts. Fitchburg has none. Training gaps. De-escalation annual. But CIT is spotty. Statewide, CIT doubled recently. Still voluntary. No mandate. Experts call for change. Uniform standards. More resources. “We know that if we spend a little time slowing the interaction down, asking more questions, then we get some information,” Wallschlaeger said.
Price’s history with the police. Sixteen contacts since 2020. Often a victim. Welfare checks. Not just an offender. But reports listed charges posthumously. Mudslinging, friends say. The media echoed early. WKOW. WMTV. State Journal. Errors spread. Mischaracterized calls. Chamberlain demands unredacted footage. Public release. Transparency. The unredacted body-camera footage should be released to the public so they can prove their statements accurate, she wrote.
The incident sparks reform calls. In Dane County. Past shootings fueled debate. Over-reliance on the police. For emotional distress. “The police aren’t built for something like this,” Meyn said. “We have an endemic kind of mode dealing with people who are in extremely distressed states emotionally.” “They are not properly equipped to deal with people who are in a mental health crisis,” Gross added. Change needed. Training. Teams. Accountability.
Kevin Price sought help. He got bullets instead. His story raises hard questions. About police tactics. De-escalation. Who responds to crises? Friends remember his light. His laugh. His love. They fight for justice. Wide-ranging. Training. Support. Prevention. “Justice is an incredibly broad array of things,” Chamberlain added. “The more things that can change because of what happened to Kevin, the better.” Now, as the investigations wind down, the push is on. For truth. For change. To prevent another needless death.
