DENVER -- A man wanted for assaulting his wife while holding her hostage in their own home is behind bars Tuesday after police shot and killed one of his relatives while searching for him.

Vincent Martinez, 38, was loaded into an ambulance Monday after he turned himself in to police. He broke both of his legs after jumping out of a second-story window to avoid officers early Monday morning.

While on the hunt for him, police coming into the home shot Martinez' uncle, Frank Labato, who was staying in the home. Officers say they thought Labato was holding a weapon but it turned out to be a can of soda.

Lobato, 63, was unarmed and was apparently laying in bed watching TV when police officers climbed through the second-story window and opened his closed bedroom door. He was shot once in the left side of his chest and died at the hospital.

Relatives said Lobato was an invalid who needed crutches to move around.

Police Chief Gerry Whitman said Monday that Officer Ranjan Ford Jr. shot the wrong man, but he only fired after Labato moved suddenly.

"This situation involves two tragedies: a brutal case of domestic violence and a loss of life," Mayor John Hickenlooper said, while also commending Whitman for being forthright about the shooting.

On Sunday night, Cathy Sandoval called police to report she had been held against her will and assaulted for 17 hours, police said. She said she told police Martinez was unarmed and that his uncle was in an upstairs bedroom of their home.

Police borrowed a fire department's ladder to enter the home through a window after Martinez did not respond to knocks on the door, Denver police Detective John White said. When officers opened a closed bedroom door upstairs, they saw a man pointing a silver object at them and fired, police said.

Ford is on paid leave while detectives and prosecutors investigate the shooting, Whitman said.

Ford joined the department in 2001 after working in Jasper, Texas, where Police Chief Stanley Christopher said Ford was a model officer.

"Knowing him as well as I do, if something happened, he was in fear for his life. He's not a hot dog. He's not a John Wayne-type," Christopher said.

A protest is planned Tuesday afternoon on the steps of Denver's City and County building.

This latest shooting comes just three weeks after a Denver task force handed down new recommendations for officers and the use of force. The mayor's task force on police reform was created after the shooting death of Paul Childs, the mentally disabled teen who was shot by a Denver police officer last summer.

The city paid the Childs family $1.3 million and adopted the recommendations of the 38-member panel. However, some are wondering if anything's really changed.

"We need to learn a lesson here because, here we go again, back at square one," said Michael Thompson, Paul Child's uncle.

Many task force members say they're waiting for more details before commenting on the shooting.

In September 1999, Mexican immigrant Ismael Mena was shot during a drug raid at the wrong house. The city paid the Mena family $400,000.

"We commend the police chief's openness, honesty and prompt release of the facts of this incident as we await the results of the district attorney's investigation," Hickenlooper said in a prepared statement.

"If they know they are wrong I just hope the Denver Police Department will do what is just and to do the right thing, right or wrong," said Denise Cogil, Labato's niece.

Martinez called police from 7th and Santa Fe to turn himself in Monday night. An ambulance took him to Denver Health for treatment of his broken legs. He was taken into police custody shortly thereafter.

Relatives said they had recently reunited with Lobato after Martinez found Lobato in a homeless shelter last week and brought him home. They say Lobato had been missing for eight years.

Records show Lobato and Martinez both had lengthy arrest records. Lobato's arrests dated to 1959 on suspicion of assaults, burglaries, drug possession and robberies.

Martinez has a record dating to 1980 on charges including assault and domestic violence.