Family of Adam Toledo views footage of fatal Chicago police shooting of 13-year-old; video will not be immediately released

Christine Fernando, USA TODAY
·5 min read

CHICAGO – The family of Adam Toledo on Tuesday night viewed the police body camera video showing last month's fatal shooting of the 13-year-old by an officer who chased him into an alley, the family's attorneys said in a statement.

The Toledo family has requested the footage not be immediately released to the public, according to a statement by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates cases of potential police misconduct. It remains unclear when the footage will be made public.

"The experience was extremely difficult and heartbreaking for everyone present and especially for Adam's family," said a separate statement released Tuesday night by family attorneys Adeena Weiss-Ortiz and Joel Hirschhorn.

The attorneys thanked the review board for allowing the family to view the footage before its public release and asked that everyone respect the family's privacy.

"We also want to thank leaders and members of the Latino community for remaining peaceful in their protests and calls for justice," the family statement said. "Adam's memory can best be honored by refraining from violence and working constructively for reform.​"

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday there is a need for transparency and officials are "going to work with the family to move this process along." However, she added: "I think we have to be respectful of them and move at their speed. That’s what we’re endeavoring to do in balancing a range of different issues."

When asked by a reporter, she said the delay of the release has nothing to do with ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis.

"This is about being respectful and balancing the need for transparency with this grieving family that’s having an extraordinarily difficult time," she said Wednesday during an unrelated news conference.

What we know: Prosecutors allege 13-year-old had a gun when he was shot by Chicago police

Officials are in the "very early stages" of investigating the shooting, and interviews of witnesses and officers are ongoing, according to the COPA statement.

"At the request of the Toledo family, today COPA will not immediately release video and other materials as the family continues to grieve their loss," the statement said. The agency "has advised family representatives that, while it is acutely sensitive to the family’s grief and their desire to avoid public release of materials related to Adam’s tragic death, COPA is mandated to comply with the City’s Video Release Policy."

Tensions remain high in Chicago, where demonstrations have already been planned to demand police accountability in the boy's death. The release of the footage will only add to mounting frustration and anxiety across the country as protests continue after the police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, just miles from where former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin is on trial for the death of George Floyd.

Several dozen people marched through the downtown Tuesday evening, calling for justice for Adam and Wright, who was fatally shot on Sunday.

Chicago police, meanwhile, in a statement Monday said it canceled officers' days off to "ensure public safety" as the city monitors "events nationwide." "Out of an abundance of caution, CPD will be deploying additional resources across communities citywide," the statement said.

Adam was killed in the early morning hours of March 29. Police responded to the Little Village neighborhood after the department's ShotSpotter technology detected eight gunshots. When police arrived, Adam and a 21-year-old man fled, authorities have said.

The officer shot Adam once in the chest after an "armed confrontation," police said. Prosecutors have said the boy was holding a gun when the officer shot him. He died at the scene.

Officials have not publicly identified the officer, who has been placed on administrative leave for 30 days.

Prosecutors say the 21-year-old at the scene was Ruben Roman. As he was arrested, another officer chased Adam. Prosecutors have said the gun Adam was allegedly holding matched the cartridge casings found in the area where Roman was firing.

On Saturday, Roman was held on a $150,000 bond and faces felony charges of unlawful use and reckless discharge of a firearm, as well as child endangerment and violating probation. Prosecutors said Roman can be seen on surveillance video firing the rounds that brought police to the scene.

At a news conference last week, Lightfoot called for a "thorough, expeditious" investigation and urged the Civilian Office of Police Accountability to release the video, first to Adam's mother.

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability initially said it was prohibited from releasing the video because the victim was a minor. But the agency changed course on Friday, saying state law "does not bar publication of the body worn and third-party video camera footage the agency has obtained."

The city has a troubled history of trying to suppress video, including in the 2014 killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The officer who shot the Black teenager 16 times eventually was convicted of murder.

City policy requires public posting of material no later than 60 days after the incident, but COPA said it would release the video shortly after the Toledo family has a chance to view it.

Earlier, the family said the City of Chicago, Chicago police and the Civilian Office of Police Accountability have been "very cooperative." In a previous statement, the family stated they had "requested expedited meetings with pertinent authorities to obtain evidence and to review the police body camera footage and other available video."

"Over the last two-weeks, COPA has maintained regular contact with the family and its representatives during this sensitive time to expedite todays viewing in coordination with their availability," said the Tuesday statement.

Contributing: Grace Hauck, USA TODAY

Contact News NOW Reporter Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Adam Toledo: Family views bodycam footage of March shooting

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