The police shooting death of a homeless man who wounded an officer with a knife while resisting arrest has roiled Wisconsin's capital city, with protesters and community groups demanding accountability and an end to racial injustice.

Corey Durell Ruiz, 38, was shot and killed on a city street Wednesday, the moments of his death captured in bystander videos that were later posted online. The race of the officer who fired his gun has not been released by police. Ruiz is identified as Black or Latino in Wisconsin court records.

 It does not matter who you are or what your past is, you should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement,  Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Wisconsin court records show Ruiz had been in and out of jail over the past decade for mostly misdemeanor offenses including disorderly conduct, drug possession, auto theft, battery and invasion of privacy. He was also convicted of felonies including possession of cocaine and marijuana, robbery, strangulation, resisting an officer and causing bodily harm.

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 He's a human being. He had a family. He has parents who loved him who brought him home, who cared for him,  Common Council President Sabrina Madison said, adding that she's struggling to understand what she's seen in videos of the shooting that have circulated on social media.

 My first thought is, when the officer's walking away, why isn't he walking away in cuffs,  Madison said.  I'm angry, there's no way around it. 

Ruiz's family has retained Ben Crump, an attorney who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, who were all shot and killed by the police. Crump said the case must be examined for excessive force.

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Frustrated residents marched, and a memorial of flowers and signs grew near the place where Ruiz died. It was just blocks from where two other police killings happened in 2015 and 2012.

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