Caught on bodycam, the moment US cop shot an unarmed boy of 1 3 dead
Wave of protests in States over teenager’s killing
SHOCKING footage of an officer shooting a 13-yearold boy who had his hands in the air has become the latest police killing to enrage America.
Suspected gang member Adam Toledo was chased down an alleyway by an officer in Chicago, who feared the Hispanic teenager had a gun.
Body camera footage from officer Eric Stillman shows the schoolboy with both arms raised and nothing in his hands before he is shot in the chest a spilt-second later.
The graphic images show the teenager losing his life under a blinking streetlight illuminating the otherwise dark alley.
The incident took place last month, when police said they had been involved in an ‘armed confrontation’. But the body camera recording was only released yesterday, causing a fresh wave of protests in the US.
Riots and looting had already taken place across the country over the police killing of motorist Duante Wright, 20, in Minneapolis last week. He was shot when an officer apparently mixed up her Taser and her pistol, in the same city where sacked officer Derek Chauvin is currently on trial accused of killing black father-offive George Floyd.
Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef, of the
‘He was left with no other option’
Chicago Activist Coalition for Justice, said: ‘[Adam] put his hands up and was still murdered. So I have a question: what more could he have done?’
Officer Stillman and a colleague responded to reports of shots fired in the Little Village area of Chicago in the early hours of March 29, police said. The force said the victim and Ruben Roman, 21, ran off when they arrived, and while Roman was tackled to the ground, Adam was chased down an alley.
He was seen on the footage stopping by a fence, facing away from the officer as Stillman shouted: ‘Stop. Stop right f ****** now. ‘Hands. Show me your f ****** hands. Drop it.’
The video captured the victim with his empty hands in the air just as a single shot rang out and Mr Toledo collapsed to the floor.
Police later found a gun lying by the fence and CCTV from across a car park showed Mr Toledo’s right arm making a throwing motion behind the fence before turning back to the officer.
Adeena Weiss-Ortiz, an attorney for Mr Toledo’s family, said: ‘If you’re shooting an unarmed child with his hands in the air, it is an assassination’. The lawyer said she was ‘not going to deny’ Mr
Toledo could have had a gun in his hand, but added that in the final moments of his life he was not holding it. She said: ‘It is not relevant because he tossed the gun. The officer said, “Show me your hands”. He complied. He turned around.’
Stillman, 34, has been placed on administrative leave. In his report on the incident, he said Mr Toledo did not follow verbal commands and posed an imminent threat.
Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot described viewing the footage as ‘excruciating’ and said it was a ‘complicated and nuanced story’.
Tim Grace, an attorney for Stillman, said he thought the bodycam footage showed Mr Toledo had the gun when he was approached by the officers.
Mr Grace said Stillman was ‘faced with a deadly force situation and all attempts to de-escalate had failed’. He said: ‘The officer had no place to take cover or concealment, the gun was being (orientated) in his direction and he was left with no other option’.
Prosecutors have not said if they plan to charge Stillman with a criminal offence.
In the wake of the killing, police in Chicago issued an ‘officer safety alert’ because of retaliation threats by the Latin Kings, the gang authorities say Adam was pulled into at a young age.