Chicago has released video footage showing the fatal police shooting of Adam Toledo, more than two weeks after the 13-year-old was killed during a foot chase in the Little Village neighborhood.
A graphic and disturbing video captures what police have described as an alleyway confrontation between Toledo and an officer identified as Eric Stillman in the early morning of March 29.
In the footage recorded from the shooting officer’s body-worn camera, the officer appears behind the wheel of a squad car responding to a call of shots fired. About 1 minute and 44 seconds in, the officer pulls over, jumps out of the vehicle and starts running after someone. Seconds later, he appears to slam into a person walking in the alley but continues his pursuit. (The man was later identified as Ruben Roman, who police say fired the gun that called officers to the scene in the first place.)
One minute and 59 seconds in, the officer’s audio comes on, and he can be heard yelling, “Police! Stop! Stop right f***ing now.”
The boy, who is standing near a wooden fence, appears to stop, and at 2 minutes and 3 seconds, the officer commands, “Hands. Show me your f***ing hands!”
Toledo starts to turn to face the officer with his hands up, both empty.
A second later, the officer says, “Drop it,” and quickly fires a single gunshot.
The blast rings out at 2 minutes and 5 seconds — 20 seconds after the officer began the foot pursuit. At 2 minutes and 6 seconds, Toledo’s body crumples onto the ground, though he appears to try to hold himself up.
“Shots fired, shots fired. Get an ambulance over here now,” the officer is heard saying. “Look at me, look at me. You all right?” he asks the boy.
The officer then stretches the child’s legs out, and his full body comes into view. He is wearing a black Nike sweatshirt with the words “Just Do It,” which are now covered in bright red blood; skinny jeans; and white sneakers. His face and hands, which are near his shoulders, are also smeared with blood.
At 2 minutes and 40 seconds, the officer asks, “Where you shot?” as he lifts Toledo’s sweatshirt, revealing his torso.
“Stay with me,” he says.
The boy’s face rolls from right to left. His eyes are bulging and his mouth is agape as the officer calls for a medical kit. Other officers arrive and begin shouting for Toledo to stay awake. At 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the officer who fired at Toledo says, “I’m going to start CPR. I’m not feeling a heartbeat.” Seven seconds later, he begins performing chest compressions.
He pumps on the boy’s chest for about a minute and a half; then at 5 minutes and 5 seconds, he gets up off the boy, lets someone else take over and takes a walk away from the cluster of officers. He can be heard breathing but doesn’t say anything.
He paces down the alley and back, walks through an opening in a fence where officers are attending to the boy. An officer’s flashlight illuminates the fence. A gun sits at the bottom, leaning against the fence, handle up.
The officer paces away, stands with his shadow looming in the frame, and another officer steps next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Neither can be heard saying anything and at no point in the video does the officer refer to the gun.
At about 8 minutes and 7 seconds, he sits on the ground against the wooden fence and appears to let out a quiet sob. His body can be seen shaking. He remains in the same position until he shuts off his camera at 9 minutes and 23 seconds.
Officials have expressed concern that the disturbing videos could set off a new wave of protests in the city against the police department, which activists accuse of brutality and abuse, especially against communities of color. Toledo is Hispanic, and Stillman, the officer who shot him, is white.
Stillman was placed on administrative duty.
In a report explaining why he fired his gun, Stillman checked boxes that said the subject’s behavior presented an “imminent threat of battery with weapon.” Under “Reason for Response,” Stillman checked boxes saying he acted “in defense of self” and to “overcome resistance or aggression.”
Chicago waited for the video
Bracing for the release of the videos, the Toledo family’s attorney issued a joint statement with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, pleading for a peaceful response from the community.
“We acknowledge that the release of this video is the first step in the process toward the healing of the family, the community and our city. We understand that the release of this video will be incredibly painful and elicit an emotional response to all who view it, and we ask that people express themselves peacefully,” the statement says.
Lightfoot also held a news conference just before the explicit videos were made public, asking for people to give the family “space to breathe.”
“No parent should ever have a video broadcast widely of their child’s last moments, much less be placed in the terrible situation of losing their child in the first place,” she said.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which is investigating the shooting, after some public deliberation decided to publish the body camera footage and other materials in an effort to be transparent with the public — but only after showing it to the Toledo family and giving the family two days to process the boy’s final moments.
Community members had been calling for its release in recent days, during which COPA initially wavered on whether it could publish a video involving a juvenile and the Toledo family asked that it be delayed.
Events of March 29
Police have said that Toledo was killed in the early hours of March 29, when officers responded to reports of gunshots and encountered him and another male.
David Brown, superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, said at a news conference that a gunshot-detection system reported shots in the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue around 2:30 a.m. local time. Officers arrived in time to see two males fleeing from a nearby alley, and Brown said one was armed with a handgun.
The officers pursued them on foot, which Brown said resulted in a “confrontation” in the alley. An officer shot the child in the chest, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The involved officer discharged his weapon once, according to COPA, and body camera footage captured the encounter. The officers involved have been placed on administrative duties for 30 days, Brown said, per routine protocol.
