Police Video Shows 13- Year-Old Adam Toledo Shot With Hands Up

CHICAGO — The Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Thursday afternoon released bodycam video and other investigative materials related to the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo by a police officer in a Little Village alley on March 29.

The video appears to show Toledo holding a gun in his right hand as a police officer— identified as Eric Stillman in police reports made public Thursday — can be heard saying "show me your f------ hands" and "drop it" following a foot chase down an alley in the 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue.

The police officer's body-worn camera seems to show the teenager was shot in the chest while his hands were up. The video does not appear to show Toledo pointing a gun at the officer or holding a gun while his hands are raised.

Officer Stillman's body-worn camera video doesn't clearly show Toledo dropping a gun before he was shot in the chest.

Separate videos made public on Thursday, however, do appear to show Toledo toss something moments before the officer fired his gun.

Police said a gun was recovered near the fence where Toledo was shot.

WARNING: The video contains graphic and violent images.

Toledo family attorney Adeena Weiss Ortiz said Thursday that the teenager could have had a gun in his hand. "I'm not gonna deny that. It could be a gun," she said. Weiss Ortiz said the police video must be further analyzed to determine if that is the case.

She said just before Toledo was shot, he "did not have a gun in his hand. The officer screamed at him, 'Show me your hands,' Adam complied, turned around. His hands were empty when he was shot in the chest at the hands of the officer."

"If you're shooting an unarmed child with his hands in the air, it is an assassination," Weiss Ortiz said during a news conference.

Stillman, the officer who shot Toledo, called for an ambulance, a medical kit and performed chest compressions on the boy before the Gary Elementary School seventh-grader died, according to body-worn camera video made public by COPA Thursday.

A police report stated that Stillman, 34, has been a Chicago police officer since August 2015.

Stillman has had three misconduct complaints and four use-of-force reports between 2017 and mid-2020, according to a recent update of Stillman's misconduct history on Invisible Institute's Citizen's Police Data Project.

Stillman has received 48 police department awards, including the Superintendent's Award of Tactical Excellence, a police department spokesman said. A military veteran, Stillman leads a Bible study at the police district, a city source told Patch.

Authorities have called the fatal shooting an "armed confrontation." According to their account, officers responding to reports of shots being fired pursued Adam and 21-year-old Ruben Roman on foot near the 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue on March 29.

Roman was tackled to the ground and dropped a pair of gloves that later tested positive for gunshot residue, according to the state's attorney's office.

Roman was charged with felony reckless discharge of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and child endangerment.

Weiss Ortiz said the Toledo family did not know Roman.

WARNING: The video contains graphic and violent images:

At a press conference before the videos were released on Thursday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot cautioned people not to show the footage to their children, stating it was "excruciating" to watch while fighting back tears.

Adam's family and their lawyers viewed the footage of Adam's death on Monday. A statement from the Toledo family's lawyers said they are continuing to conduct their own investigation.

Chicago police said they were preparing for potential unrest upon the release of the video and had canceled days off for officers.

Attorneys for Toledo's parents issued a statement from the family Wednesday morning urging anyone who plans to protest over their son's death to remain peaceful.

"We appreciate the community support and are grateful that events so far have remained peaceful. We have heard reports in the media that more protests are planned today, and while we have no direct knowledge of such events, we pray that for the sake of our city, people remain peaceful to honor Adam's memory and work constructively to promote reform," attorneys said in a statement.

Earlier this week, police updated aldermen on plans for responding to demonstrations and potential civil unrest related to the video, the ongoing trial of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with murdering George Floyd, and other protests related to police misconduct nationally, including the recent fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Porter, who resigned and now faces criminal charges.

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Ald. Ray Lopez raised concerns that too much of the police department's protest response plans directs staffing and resources downtown, leaving neighborhood business districts vulnerable.

Mark Konkol contributed to this report.