A Chicago Black man, Michael Craig, called police on Oct. 4, saying that he was the victim of an ongoing domestic violence incident. But when police arrived on the scene, Craig somehow wound up being shot and killed by officers. According to The Daily Beast, Craig told dispatchers that his wife was holding a knife to his throat while they lay in bed.

Michael Craig called for help.

Michael Craig told the 911 operator his wife had a knife to his throat.

And when CPD arrived, his 7-year-old son told them the same thing.

But they shot and killed Michael.

His family, the 911 call, body cam video and more on @cbschicago at 5PM pic.twitter.com/YihgAY46Fy

— Tara Molina (@TaraMolinaTV) November 3, 2021

“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 told dispatchers on a recording of the call obtained by the outlet.

“My wife’s got a knife on me on the bed — right now, on my throat,” Craig said. “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.”

One of the responding officers, later identified as Alberto Covarrubias, was seen from body camera footage entering the home with a gun and a taser drawn. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability asserted via a press release that the responding officers engaged with Craig and his wife before firing their weapons.

Craig's family obtained the assistance of attorney Michael Oppenheimer in its case against the police department. Oppenheimer said because of Covarrubias' history, he believes the officer shouldn't have been responding to the call or working for the department at the time.

CBS Chicago reports police records indicate that one of Chicago's top officers asked the board to fire Covarrubias for threatening to assault another officer and stealing police documents during a domestic disturbance in 2018.

“The Chicago police board by a vote of 9-0 voted to reinstate him into the Chicago Police Department. If officer Covarrubias had been taken off the street because they realized he was danger to the community and to the police department, and unfit to wear a badge and carry a weapon, Michael Craig would be alive today,” Oppenheimer said, according to CBS Chicago.

“It takes a lot for a police superintendent to ask that someone be fired,” Oppenheimer told The Daily Beast. “He should have never been on the force, so they put someone they knew was not prepared, who was unstable, who was dangerous, and they left him on the force and now he killed a domestic violence victim.”

“The horror of this is that a domestic violence victim called out for help from the police and ended up getting shot by the police,” he added. “The fact that he had a Taser in one hand and a gun in the other is so improper and strange,” he said.

Oppenheimer added that police were made aware of Craig's wife's behavior before the time of the shooting.

“She had acted erratically all around the neighborhood,” he said. “The police knew that, I don’t know if this officer knew it, but the police knew it.”

As the family continues mourning, Craig's older son, Patrick Jenkins, said he believes the police ignored everything his father told them during his call for help.

“And then they let him die like a dog," he told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Michael-Craig

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