Navy veteran killed during “welfare check”
86-year-old Korean War vet Eugene Craig thought burglars were breaking into his home when he heard banging on his front door and saw flashlights outside his windows. When the intruders forced their way into his home through the back door, he met them with a .38 caliber revolver, unfortunately, the intruders were Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputies attempting a “welfare check” on the octogenarian and his ninety-year-old wife. The officers say that they told Craig to drop the gun three times before they shot him four times. From Bay Area NBC;
“If you’re there at someone’s house to check on their welfare, why do you kick two doors down at night time when my client is 86 years old, his wife is 90, and they live alone at that house and they have for years?” asked [Dennis Luca, civil attorney].
A family friend who says he’s known the Craigs for decades and was outside the home at the time of the shooting raises similar questions about whether the deputies followed proper procedure and their own policies.
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That “wellness check” was not because of any reported crime and it ended up in the shooting death of Craig as he stood inside his own home.
The official press release from that incident released by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office right after the shooting says the deputies went to the 1200 block of Titus Avenue around dusk on September 12, 2016, believing an elderly person inside had medical issues.
The Sheriff’s official news release says that after calling out for about fifty minutes, deputies tried to force their way through the front door.
Because the door was steel encased the deputies couldn’t force entry and so the news release says they tried another location and went through a side door.
There they found Eugene Craig who, according to the official news release “displayed” a .38 caliber revolver, prompting Sergeant Douglas Ulrich to shoot Craig where he stood in his own home.
