Outrage in Chicago: video released of police officer who shot and killed 13-year-old

A 13-year-old Hispanic teenager had apparently dropped a gun and started raising his hands less than a second before a police officer shot him down in Chicago., according to images released Thursday due to community pressure.

An image of the video taken by the body camera Police officer Eric Stillman shows Adam Toledo had nothing in his hands and his arms were at least partially raised when Stillman shot him in the chest around 3 a.m. on March 29..

Police said the teen was carrying a pistol before he was shot. And camera footage of the stationary man shows the officer shining his flashlight on a gun on the ground near Toledo after shooting him down. Police were responding to reports of gunfire in the area.

The dissemination of images and other research material comes at a delicate time, As the trial of former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, accused of the death of George Floyd, is underway, and recently another black man, Daunte Wright, was killed by a policeman in a suburb of the city.

Before the Civil Police Accountability Office (COPA) – an independent group that investigates all shootings involving Chicago police – posted the footage on its website, Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on citizens to stay away. Listen to the peace, and some downtown businesses put wooden planks in their windows for fear of possible disruption.

“We live in a city traumatized by a long history of violence and police misconduct.Lightfoot said. “And while we don’t have enough information to be a judge and jury in this particular situation, it is certainly understandable that so many of our residents experience this well-known feeling of outrage and pain. It is even more obvious that the trust between our community and the police is far from being cured and continues to be seriously damaged ”.

A total of 19 seconds elapsed between the time Stillman exited his patrol and the time he fired at Toledo. His camera footage shows the policeman chasing Toledo on foot down an alley for several seconds and shouting at him, “Police! Stop! Stop now! “, Using profanity.

Once the teen slows down, Stillman yells at him, “Hands! Hands! Show me your (blasphemous) hands! “

Then Toledo turns to the camera and Stillman shouts “Drop her!” And when he repeated this order, Stillman opens fire and Toledo falls.. As he approaches the injured teenager, Stillman radio calls for an ambulance. The boy is heard begging to “stay awake” and, as more officers arrive, one says he doesn’t feel a pulse and begins CPR.

Adeena Weiss-Ortiz, a lawyer for the Toledo family, told reporters after the release of the images and other videos that these “speak for themselves.”

“Adam, for the last second of his life, had no weapon in his hand. The officer shouted at him, “Show me your hands. Adam obeyed“, He said.

Weiss-Ortiz said it didn’t matter whether Toledo was holding a gun before turning to the officer.

“If he had a gun, he would throw it. The officer told him to show his hands, he obeyed. He returned“, he underlined.

The Chicago Police Department generally does not release the names of officers involved in such shootings at such an early stage in the investigation, but the name, age and race of Stillman, 34 years old and white, were mentioned in reports from the Civil Police Accountability Office released on Thursday.

Weiss-Ortiz said he investigated Stillman and “from what I understand he has had no disciplinary action, no previous event.”

Lightfoot urged the public to remain in peace and avoid trial until the police disciplinary board can complete its investigation.. In a choked voice, the mayor criticized the city’s long history of violence and police misconduct, particularly in ethnic minority communities, and said too many young people are vulnerable “to systemic failures that we just have to fix it ”.

He also noted that watching the recording was “unbearable”. “As a mother, it’s not something you want kids to see,” she added.

Along with the police inspector, Lightfoot asked COPA to release video of Stillman’s body camera. In addition, The agency released videos of other body cameras, four third-party videos and two recordings of calls made to the 911 emergency number, as well as six audio recordings of ShotSpotter, the technology that alerted police to the shooting in the city. Little area. Town., a predominantly Latino and black neighborhood on the west side of town, and which prompted the officers to go there that morning.

With AP information

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