On the evening of February 2, 2020, Alvin Cole, a 17-year-old black male, was fatally shot by a Wauwatosa, Wisconsin black male police officer Joseph Mensah, outside Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa. The shooting occurred after Cole refused a command from the police to drop the stolen gun he was holding and Cole fired a bullet as he tried to flee. Two shots were fired when Cole was on his hands and knees, and the remaining three shots were fired by Mensah while Cole was face down on the ground. Mensah was the only officer among the five other officers at the scene who fired his weapon.

The demonstrations played out against a backdrop of protests worldwide over the murder of George Floyd.

Black Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah shot 17-year-old Cole outside Mayfair Mall on February 2 after police responded to a call of a reported disturbance at the shopping center. Police said Cole fled from the scene carrying a stolen 9 mm handgun. They cited squad car audio evidence, along with testimony from Mensah and two police officers, that Cole had fired a shot at the police while fleeing and refused commands from the officers to drop the gun. It was determined that Mensah fired his weapon five times.

Cole was the third person Mensah had fatally shot in the five years since he became a police officer, and his death sparked protests in Wauwatosa. Mensah is the only officer who has shot and killed anyone since 2010 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. The teenager's death sparked protests throughout the summer in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a city located west of Milwaukee.

Cole's family is being represented by the prominent attorney Kimberley Motley. Motley is also representing the families of the two other men shot and killed by Mensah: 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr. on June 23, 2016; and 29-year-old Antonio Gonzales on July 16, 2015. The lawsuits were consolidated in September 2022, but a judge dismissed the claims related to Anderson and Gonzales on March 14, 2024.

There is video of the shooting. Police videos and video evidence from the nearby businesses seem to show police shouting "drop the gun," before shots are fired.

On October 7, 2020 Milwaukee County District Attorney John T. Chisholm announced that Officer Mensah would not be charged because he had reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary. Governor Tony Evers announced earlier on October 7 that he had activated Wisconsin National Guard members as a precaution, which were later confirmed to be "hundreds" of troops. Wauwatosa Police Chief announced on social media that his police department agreed with the decision not to charge Officer Joseph Mensah with a crime.

Also on October 7, 2020, an independent investigator, Steven M. Biskupic, a former federal prosecutor, released an 81-page report that stated officer Mensah should be fired. One of the reasons the report recommended termination: the investigator concluded that Mensah made less than truthful statements. The report went on to say that keeping Mensah on as a police officer would be "an extraordinary, unwarranted and unnecessary risk".