Chicago's police oversight agency releases video of officer-involved shooting that killed 61-year-old man

CHICAGO - The Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) released video and other materials related to an officer-involved shooting that occurred last month in Gresham.

The incident occurred in the 7700 block of South Carpenter Street on Oct. 4.

Chicago police responded to a domestic disturbance call around 7:35 a.m.

Upon arrival, officers received additional details, and one of the officers entered the residence and engaged the two occupants before discharging his firearm, fatally striking a 61-year-old man, COPA said.

A knife was recovered from the scene.

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The man, later identified as Michael Craig, died from a gunshot wound, COPA said.

A woman was also transported in good condition to the hospital, but it is unclear how she was injured.

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Residents said Craig had knocked on a neighbor’s door and asked them to call 911 because his girlfriend was threatening him with a knife.

Neighbors said Craig had lived in the apartment building for about four years and did maintenance work there.

Craig's family said his wife was the threat, not him, and that he was the victim of domestic violence.

They said that she had physically attacked him before, and that he called police last month because she was threatening him with a knife.

Michael Craig | Provided

Craig's son, Patrick Jenkins, said there was ample evidence that Craig himself had called police and was the victim of an attack by his knife-wielding wife.

Not long after he woke, the 61-year-old Craig called 911 and said his wife was holding a knife to his throat as he lay in bed, apparently as his 7-year-old son looked on, according to a recording released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

"I need the police over here, my wife’s got a knife on my neck, on the bed. Are there any officers coming here?" Craig asked dispatchers.

"She’s got a knife on my neck, and I can’t move. If I move she’ll kill me. I’ve got the front door open, tell the officers the door is open, my kid is opening the door," Craig said, before directing his son. "Go downstairs so you can let the police in. Go. Do like I said, go downstairs."

But the first officer to arrive shot Craig, twice, within seconds of entering the apartment.

"Everything my father told them, everything he cried out for, they ignored," Jenkins said. "And then they let him die like a dog."

The officers involved have been put on desk duty while the investigation continues.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.