The fatal police shooting of a homeless man who wounded an officer with a knife during an attempted arrest has shaken Wisconsin’s capital city, sparking protests and demands for accountability from community leaders and residents. Corey Durell Ruiz, 38, was shot and killed on a Madison street Wednesday afternoon, with bystander videos of the confrontation quickly circulating on social media and intensifying public outrage. Police have not released the race of the officer who fired the shots, though Ruiz is identified as Black or Latino in Wisconsin court records. The incident unfolded just blocks from two previous deadly police encounters in 2015 and 2012, deepening wounds in a community that has long grappled with questions about racial justice and use of force.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway addressed reporters Thursday afternoon, telling residents that the shooting would be rigorously investigated while acknowledging the pain rippling through the city. “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,” she said. Common Council President Sabrina Madison echoed that sentiment, describing herself as angry and struggling to reconcile what she saw in the videos with the official account. “He’s a human being. He had a family,” Madison said of Ruiz, whose court records show more than a decade of misdemeanor and felony convictions including drug possession, robbery, strangulation, and resisting an officer.

None of the four officers involved in the encounter were wearing body cameras, leaving bystander footage as the primary visual record of what transpired. Police Chief John Patterson has urged the public not to jump to conclusions based on those videos, saying none capture the perspective of the officers and that additional footage is still under review. He identified the officer who fired his weapon as an 11-year veteran of the force and said all four responding officers have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation, as required by state law. Patterson said officers were initially responding to reports of someone trying to enter parked vehicles and that the suspect fled on a bicycle before the confrontation escalated.

Tensions boiled over at Thursday’s news conference when roughly 20 protesters stormed the room, seizing the microphone from Chief Patterson and clashing with attendees who wanted updates on the investigation. One demonstrator held a sign declaring “Corrupt cops deserve to die too!!!” Outside City Hall, frustrated residents marched through the streets while a growing memorial of flowers and handwritten signs marked the spot where Ruiz took his final breaths. David Ortiz-Whittingham, who witnessed officers swarming Ruiz moments before hearing gunshots, said even knowing about the knife now, he questions whether lethal force was necessary. “Could this have been de-escalated?” he asked.

Ruiz’s family has retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who previously represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, signaling that scrutiny over whether excessive force was used will only intensify in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Aeiramique Glass, Madison’s independent police monitor, accused both the department and city officials of obstructing her office’s review by withholding evidence and the identity of the officer involved. Her office can recommend charges to the district attorney if warranted, but Glass said Thursday that she had received nothing from investigators. As calls for transparency grow louder from elected officials, activists, and everyday residents alike, Governor Tony Evers’ office also weighed in urging full disclosure throughout the investigative process — pressure that is unlikely to subside until answers emerge about exactly how a routine call about parked cars ended in death on a residential street.