When Adam Toledo was shot by Chicago Police, he did not have a gun in his hand.
Adam Toledo’s family attorney said that the 13-year-old was not holding a pistol when he was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer.
The family was not present at a late-afternoon press conference in La Grange Park. The attorney said that the family is in excruciating pain following the publication of the body camera footage of the shooting by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Thursday.
“It was particularly moving, saddening, and distressing to see a 13-year-old boy fired at the officer’s hands,” she said. “Those of you who have children will understand some of the suffering that the Toledos are experiencing today.”
The officer’s body camera video starts with him driving to the scene in the Little Village area, then leaving his car and running down an alley.
“Police, halt! Put an end to it immediately, “When Adam begins to hesitate by a fence surrounding a parking lot at the end of the alley, the officer can be heard shouting. Toledo is then seen raising his hands and facing the cop.
The officer can be heard shouting, “Hey, show me your f***ing hands, drop it, drop it,” before firing one shot as Adam turns and raises his hands, less than 20 seconds after the officer left his car.
Adam is illuminated by a blinking light as he turns and lifts his hands, and the body camera video appears to reveal that both of the boy’s hands are empty.
“Those videos are self-explanatory,” she said. “Adam did not have a pistol in his possession during his last second of life.”
Though taken from a distance, surveillance footage from across the parking lot appears to show Adam making a flipping motion with his right hand behind the fence before turning to face the approaching cop. At that point, the officer fired.
“This is why I want to emphasize right now that the child complied with the officer’s order, dropped the pistol, turned around, and the officer noticed his hands were up and pulled the trigger,” he said.
Toledo was holding a pistol in his right hand when he was shot by police at a bail hearing for Ruben Roman, 21, over the weekend, according to the Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the SAO retracted those remarks.
“An attorney in this office neglected to properly educate himself prior to speaking in court,” a spokeswoman for the office said in response to concerns about whether or not the teen was carrying a gun at the time of the shooting. “Such errors are not possible, and the matter has been discussed with the person concerned. The video is self-explanatory.”
Attorney Adeena Weiss Ortiz, speaking on behalf of Toledo’s relatives, said that the family found the body cam video difficult to watch.
A different perspective on the shooting is provided by surveillance footage from Farragut High School. Toledo, according to the family’s attorney, tossed the pistol behind the fence before facing the cop.
The shooting is being investigated by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. The attorney stated that the family is seeking justice for Adam at the moment.
“I’m not sure whether the officer had sufficient time or not; all I know is that the officer is trained not to shoot an unarmed person or an unarmed child,” she explained.
