Video has been released of the shooting of Adam Toledo in Chicago. It’s difficult to watch, so I’ll just link here if you want to see it, and post the description:
The videos show the moments leading up to the officer shooting Toledo, the shooting itself and the aftermath.
Video taken from the front door of a Little Village church shows Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman walking down the street before stopping at the corner of 24th Street and Sawyer Avenue, where it appears Roman fired shots at a target that is out of view. Toledo and Roman leave, video footage shows.
Body-camera footage shows an officer chasing Toledo through an alley, with the officer yelling at Toledo to stop. The officer catches up to Toledo, who appears to have stopped running near a gap in a fence between the alley and a church parking lot.
Video from a different angle appears to show Toledo toss the gun behind the fence moments before he is shot.
The officer flashes a strobe flashlight at Toledo and says, “Hands! Show me your fucking hands!”
Immediately after commanding Toledo to show his hands, the officer shot the boy at close distance. Toledo’s hands were raised when he was shot, the footage shows.
Footage released by police does not show Toledo point or raise a gun at the officer at the end of the chase. Toledo does not appear to be holding the gun as the officer shot him.
Toledo collapsed into the parking lot after being shot.
The conclusion of the foot chase to the fatal shooting happened in only one second, said Brendan Deenihan, Police Department chief of detectives.
After the officer shot Toledo, he walked toward the boy and radioed for backup and an ambulance, the footage shows.
“Look at me. Look at me. You all right? Where you shot?” the officer says to Toledo, who is unresponsive. The officer lifts up Toledo’s sweatshirt to look for a wound and tells the boy, “Stay with me.”
The officer radios for someone to bring him a medical kit. Responding officers and the officer who shot Toledo then begin to treat the 13-year-old, performing CPR on the boy.
The officer who shot Toledo walks away from the scene by himself. Minutes later, a police supervisor radios in to officers on the scene to turn their body cameras off.
COPA initially said it would not release videos of the shooting due to Toledo’s age — but, amid mounting pressure, the agency reversed course and said it would release videos within 60 days. The office first invited Toledo’s family to watch the videos, which they did Tuesday.
The family asked COPA to delay releasing the videos, but officials said they would still come out. People can view all the material online.
Toledo, a seventh-grader at Gary Elementary School, was laid to rest Friday. His family thanked Little Village community members for the outpouring of support they have received since his death.
“Adam’s memory can best be honored by refraining from violence and working constructively for reform,” the attorneys said.
Lightfoot acknowledged trust between the police and many communities in Chicago has been broken by years of abuse, but she urged people to “wait until we hear all the facts” before making up their minds on the case.
Lightfoot said she has seen the videos. She would not comment on what they show, though she said Toledo did not shoot at any police officers.
Before Lightfoot saw videos relevant to the shooting, someone described what they showed to her. In a press conference April 5, she repeatedly said Toledo had a gun.
Toledo’s family is “still, critically, in the throes of grief,” Lightfoot said Wednesday. “I want to be respectful of the family, but I also do think something like a police-involved shooting, particularly under these circumstances, it’s important for us to be transparent.”
I just don’t know what to say. I looked at all the videos. The whole thing is just awful.
Too many guns. Racism. Militarized policing. Our culture is infected with all of it and it’s killing people.