Chicago mayor seeks reform after police kill 13-year-old

CHICAGO – Mayor Lori Lightfoot on called for reforms to how police pursue suspects on foot and urged a “thorough, expeditious” investigation into the death of a 13-year-old boy who was shot by a Chicago police officer last week.

Adam Toledo, who dreamed of becoming a police officer, was killed March 29 after police chased him into an alley. Tensions were high as the Civilian Office of Police Accountability prepared to release what it called “troubling video footage” of the shooting.

Lightfoot said the tragedy emphasizes the need to change Chicago police foot pursuit policy, saying such pursuits are one of the most dangerous activities police engage in because they are often separated from their partners and communication becomes difficult.

“We cannot and will not push the foot pursuit reform off for another day,” Lightfoot said at a news conference at New Life Church on the city’s West Side.

Lightfoot also said she spoke briefly with Adam’s mother, Elizabeth Toledo, and thanked Adam’s family for their “passionate call for peace.”

“Let us not forget that a mother’s child is dead,” she said. “Siblings are without their brother. And this community is again grieving.”

Over the weekend, Adam’s family asked for calm amid reports that gang factions had been instructed to retaliate by shooting at unmarked police cars.

On Thursday, police said they issued an “officer safety alert” and said the Narcotics Division had received information about retaliation.

“No one has anything to gain by inciting violence,” Elizabeth Toledo said Sunday in a statement.

“Adam was a sweet and loving boy. He would not want anyone else to be injured or die in his name.”

Officials did not elaborate on the reports Monday.

Police say officers were dispatched to a largely Latino neighborhood in the city’s West Side on March 29 after the department’s ShotSpotter technology detected eight gunshots.

When police arrived, Adam and a 21-year-old man fled, Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown said.

Brown said one person was armed with a handgun, but police have not said whose gun it was.

There was an “armed confrontation” during which the officer shot Adam once in the chest, police said. He died at the scene.

The 21-year-old man was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest. The officer who shot Adam, whose identity has not yet been released, has been placed on administrative leave for 30 days, which Brown said is “routine protocol.”

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability initially said it was prohibited from releasing the video because Adam is 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.

“Let us not forget that a mother’s child is dead. Siblings are without their brother. And this community is again grieving.” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot