On March 29th, a police officer shot and killed Adam Toledo once in the chest while yelling “drop it” into his body camera. During the split second, he is shot, the teen does not appear to have anything in his hands, but police footage reveals a handgun near the scene of his fall.
Hours after the mayor of Chicago pleaded for peace, small protests were held on Thursday evening in various locations throughout the city. The release of the video follows the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright, who was a resident of a suburb of Minneapolis, on April 11.
In the city, people are waiting for the verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer accused in the death of George Floyd, and violent protests have broken out as a result of the shooting.
So, What Exactly Does Adam Toledo’s, Footage Reveal?
In the video, an officer can be seen exiting his vehicle and pursuing a young Latino male down a shadowy alley after another suspect has vanished from view.
In a loud voice, the police officer declares: “Police! Stop! In other words, put that [expletive] down right this second! Hands! Hands! Get your [expletive] hands up!”The young man faces backward and holds his hands high. Just 19 seconds after leaving his patrol car, the officer orders, “Drop it,” and fires his weapon.
The teen appears to throw an object through the fence as the police officer approaches him in a separate CCTV footage. The officers can be seen on body cam footage searching for a handgun behind the fence after the shooting.
While telling the unconscious boy to “stay awake,” the officer calls for medical assistance. CPR is administered after additional police officers arrive at the scene in the Little Village neighborhood on the western edge of the city.
Prosecutors claim that the teen was with Ruben Roman, 21, who had just fired a gun at a passing car. Due to the gunfire, the police were called to the scene, which led to the fatal confrontation.
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Reports from local news outlets indicate that Mr. Roman made an appearance in court on Saturday to face charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, reckless discharge of a firearm, and endangering the welfare of a child.
The bodycam footage, along with CCTV footage, arrest reports, and audio recordings of the shots fired in the area that alerted police, was released on Thursday by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
How Has Everyone Reacted?
At a press conference just before the video was released, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot described it as “excruciating to watch.” Put simply,” she reflected, “we failed Adam.” As the speaker put it, “we cannot afford to fail one more young person in our city.”
We are a city that has been traumatized by years of police violence and misconduct,” the mayor said. It’s understandable that many locals are feeling the familiar wave of anger and pain, even though we don’t have enough information to be the judge and jury in this case.
We have heard reports in the media that more protests are planned today; while we have no direct knowledge of such events, we pray that for the sake of our city, people remain peaceful to honor Adam’s memory and work constructively to promote reform,” they said in a statement.
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Protesters demanded Ms. Lightfoot and the city’s police superintendent, David Brown, resigned on Thursday night, claiming that authorities have been slow to release details of the case and have not disciplined the officer responsible.
Family attorney Adeena Weiss Ortiz of Toledo stated at a press conference on Thursday that the teen had not been armed at the time of the shooting. The Chicago Tribune reported that she said they couldn’t rule out the possibility that the teen had been carrying a weapon, but that they couldn’t confirm it with “100% certainty.”
Eric Stillman, the officer who fired the fatal shot, has not been formally accused of wrongdoing. He has been assigned to desk duty while investigators determine whether or not he followed the policy regarding the use of force.
Legal counsel for Mr. Stillman released a statement in which he claimed his client had acted appropriately because “all prior attempts to de-escalate and gain compliance with all of the officer’s lawful orders had failed.”The lawyer also said it was “amazing and disheartening” that nobody had checked in on Mr. Stillman after the incident.
Conclusion
Mr. Stillman, 34, has been in the military since 2015. According to data published by the Invisible Institute, which tracks police misconduct in Chicago, he has had four use-of-force reports and three complaints filed against him.
The area where Adam Toledo was shot is reportedly a stronghold of the Latin Kings street gang, and as a result, the Chicago Police Department has been on high alert for potential retaliation against officers, as reported by the Chicago-Sun Times.
Toledo was shot and killed “100% justified” and “heroically,” according to John Catanzara, president of the Chicago Police Union, who claimed on CNN that Toledo was a member of the Latin Kings gang.
