This video footage shows the moment cops shoot a man dead after he called the police saying his wife was holding a knife to his throat.

The body-cam footage of the incident was released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) on Wednesday, 3rd November.

The footage shows the moment a cop shoots dead the caretaker of a building in the community area of Auburn Gresham in the city of Chicago in the US state of Illinois on 4th October.

The footage shows how the man, named Michael Craig, is engaged in a struggle with his wife on the floor of the hallway inside their apartment just before he is shot.

The officer is seen approaching the ajar front door of the apartment holding a taser in his hand. However, he also grabs his pistol as soon as he hears the woman screaming and discharges both weapons at the man a split-second later.

He is then seen picking up a knife from beside the suspect’s motionless body.

The police had been called to the scene following reports of a disturbance at the property including from the man himself, who told officers: “My wife’s got a knife on me on the bed. Right now, on my throat…

“She got the knife on my neck. I can’t move. If I move, she’s going to kill me…

“I’ve got the front door open. Tell the officers the door is open. My kid is holding the door.”

The couple’s seven-year-old son is seen outside the apartment block at the start of the footage and he is heard replying “my mama” when the cops ask him: “Somebody has a knife? Who has the knife?”

After shooting the man, the woman fails to reply to the officer’s questions and she remains lying limply on the floor, with the officer dragging her a short distance away from the man’s bleeding body by her ankles.

The lawyer representing the victim’s family, Michael Oppenheimer, has said that the victim’s wife had stabbed the victim several times before the police arrived on the scene, suggesting the officer targeted the wrong culprit.

The officer in question was given a month’s leave during the investigation into whether he responded appropriately to the incident.

COPA wrote in its press statement on 3rd November: “COPA’s investigation into the officer’s use of deadly force is ongoing and we encourage members of the community who may have witnessed the incident or have additional information to contact COPA…”