A police station released a video on Thursday of a Chicago police officer fatally shooting 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for calm as the city braced for protests throughout the night.
Video shows an officer exiting his vehicle and chasing Toledo, running down an alley. When the officer catches up with the teenager, he orders him to raise his hands and shouts, “Drop, drop.” The officer fires a single shot to Toledo’s chest while the teenager raises his hands.
The teenager falls to the ground and the officer rushes to assist and asks for support. Police have said a semi-automatic pistol has been recovered a few feet away. Lightfoot said on Thursday that there was “no evidence” that the teenager fired the gun before he was shot.
The March 29 incident started around 2:30 am when gunshots were picked up by a police audio scanner. Less than a minute later, the police met Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who was arrested by the police and taken into custody.
A lawyer for the officer charged with shooting Toledo claimed that Toledo was armed and that the officer “faced a life-threatening and deadly situation of violence” and “had no other option.”
The teen’s family lawyer said Toledo was not holding the gun when the officer opened fire. “Those videos speak for themselves,” said lawyer Adeena Weiss Ortiz on Thursday. “Adam didn’t have a gun for the last second of his life.”
Shafkat Anowar / AP