Family of 13-year-old Adam Toledo views video of his fatal shooting by Chicago police officer as authorities wait to release it publicly

The family of 13-year-old Adam Toledo has viewed video of his fatal shooting by a Chicago police officer in a Little Village alley, according to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

Authorities said they would not immediately release the video publicly at the request of the Toledo family. The controversial shooting last month has sparked protests and renewed criticism of the Chicago Police Department.

“Today the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) provided the Toledo family an opportunity to view video and other materials of the March 29, 2021 fatal officer-involved shooting of 13-year old Adam Toledo,” COPA said in a statement late Tuesday. “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.

“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 continued. “COPA 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.”

That policy calls for the release of some evidence related to police shootings of civilians.

The Toledo family left COPA’s offices on Chicago Avenue without commenting. The office of their lawyer, Adeena Weiss Ortiz, later released a statement saying attorneys there would continue their own investigation.

“The experience was extremely difficult and heartbreaking for everyone present and especially for Adam’s family,” the statement said of the video viewing. “We want to thank COPA for giving the Toledo family the opportunity to review body camera video and other evidence before its public release.”

COPA gave no timeline for when the video might be made public.

Toledo was fatally shot by an on-duty officer in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood after a foot pursuit. The officer had been responding to a call of shots fired in the area when he ran after the teen, police have said. Officials said a gun believed to have been in Toledo’s possession when he was shot was found at the scene.

A seventh-grader at Gary Elementary School in Little Village, Toledo is the youngest person fatally shot by Chicago police in years.

The shooting remains under investigation by COPA.

“While COPA is in the very early stages of this investigation, interviews of witnesses; civilian and law enforcement officers are ongoing,” the Tuesday statement read. “Investigators have obtained police reports, ShotSpotter, OEMC transmission and 911 call, audio recordings and other relevant evidence.

“COPA is committed to completing a full, thorough and objective investigation of the entire incident which includes not only the officer’s use of deadly force but also the actions of other involved officers leading up to and following the deadly shooting to determine whether each officers’ actions complied with Department policy directives and training,” the statement read.

Some details on the shooting and events leading up to it have been revealed in court.

A 21-year-old man, Ruben Roman, was arrested at the scene of Toledo’s shooting on a misdemeanor charge of resisting or obstructing a peace officer. On April 7, he failed to appear in court on a 2019 gun case, so a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Roman was arrested on an unrelated warrant late last week and ultimately charged with several felonies, including child endangerment, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm for his actions that, prosecutors say, led to Toledo’s death.

About 2:30 a.m. March 29, Roman and Toledo were walking together on South Sawyer Avenue toward 24th Street, Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said in court Saturday. They can be distinguished in the camera footage by their clothing: a gold jacket on Roman and a white hat on Toledo, Murphy said.

As they walked toward the corner, a vehicle drove by, and Roman walked up and got into a “shooting stance,” Murphy said.

A city ShotSpotter device detected the gunfire, and two uniformed Chicago police officers in a marked squad car responded to the scene in less than a minute, Murphy said. Roman and Toledo cut through an alley together, and police gave chase on foot, Murphy said. Both of the officers’ body-worn cameras were recording.

Toledo kept running as an officer ordered him to stop, then paused near a break in a wooden fence, Murphy said. The officer ordered Toledo to show his hands. Toledo was standing with his left side to the officer and held his right hand to his right side, Murphy said.

The officer told Toledo “drop it, drop it,” as Toledo turned toward the officer with a gun in his right hand, Murphy said.

The officer fired one shot, hitting Toledo in the chest. The gun he was holding landed a few feet away, Murphy said. The officer radioed for an ambulance and began chest compressions on Toledo, who was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene, Murphy said.

Toledo was mourned in the Little Village neighborhood and remembered as a child who was beloved by his family and loved animals, riding his bike, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, enchiladas and arroz con leche. There were also immediate outcries for release of the video.

The shooting prompted Mayor Lori Lightfoot to also call on the Chicago Police Department to implement a foot-pursuit policy prior to this summer.

Because Toledo had no identification card or cellphone with him, police could not immediately identify him after he had been shot, officials said.

Superintendent David Brown said he was told immediately that the victim appeared young, according to statements to the media. Detectives searched for two days through missing persons reports before they found a canceled alert from March 26 about a child from the area near the shooting who had gone missing and also matched the description of the person who had been shot by police.

When police questioned Roman the night of the shooting, he at first gave a fake name for Toledo, then a few hours later denied knowing who he was with, prosecutors said.

Police notified the family on March 31. Toledo’s family identified him at 3:30 p.m. that day.

Vigils and marches sprung up immediately in Little Village, one of the largest Mexican American enclaves in the country that is also known for robust community organizations.