COPA concludes investigation of police shooting of Adam Toledo; case moves to superintendent for response
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability announced Thursday that it has concluded its investigation into the fatal officer shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last year in Little Village.
The case moves to Chicago police Superintendent David Brown for review.
Brown is required by ordinance to respond within 60 days, unless he requests an extension of up to 30 additional days, and he will decide if he agrees or disagrees with COPA’s recommendations of discipline or other remedial action against the officers involved in the shooting. COPA will post its findings and recommendations on its website after Brown completes his review.
“COPA has been in contact with the Toledo family, through their representatives, and we ask for patience as the investigation moves through the post-investigation review processes,” the agency said in a news release.
Last month, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced her office would not bring charges against the officer who shot Adam Toledo or the officer who fatally shot 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez days after Toledo’s death. Prosecutors determined that both officers reasonably believed they were in danger when they opened fired, Foxx said.
Toledo, who was shot March 29, 2021, near the 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue, was the youngest person to be fatally shot by Chicago police in recent years. People protested after graphic body-worn camera and surveillance footage of his death was made public. In a split second, Toledo can be seen running from Officer Eric Stillman, tossing a gun behind a fence, turning toward the officer, raising his hands and being shot, video shows.
While surveillance footage captured from the other side of the fence makes it clear Toledo lobbed the gun away, video from the body-worn camera on Stillman’s chest does not clearly show Toledo throwing the gun.
On the same day as Foxx’s announcement, the Toledo family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and Stillman, saying excessive force was used, records show.
