Details of Chicago police shooting of Anthony Alvarez released in medical examiner’s report
Anthony Alvarez, 22, fatally shot in late March by a Chicago police officer, was struck twice, including once in the back, according to an autopsy report released Tuesday by the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The autopsy report said that Alvarez was also shot once in his thigh and that he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
So far, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has recommended to police Superintendent David Brown that Solano be relieved of his police powers, a decision that would put the officer on paid desk duty and take away his ability to carry a badge and a gun for work purposes. A Chicago police spokesman, however, would only say “the matter is under review.”
Alvarez was walking through a Portage Park gas station parking lot just after midnight March 31 when two officers in an unmarked police SUV advanced quickly toward him. Alvarez ran, with the officers first following in their police vehicle and then on foot. The foot pursuit went through an alley and then around a corner onto a small residential lawn, where Alvarez was shot by Solano.
In footage of the shooting, which was captured on Solano’s body camera and a home security camera, Alvarez appeared to stumble and then drop a handgun once he was shot. An officer chasing him also repeatedly asked him to drop his weapon.
At no point on the footage does Alvarez appear to point a weapon at police during the foot chase. But the shooting remains under investigation.
The records released Tuesday show Alvarez — who at the time of his death was 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 127 pounds — had an entrance wound to the right side of his back with an exit wound to the right side of his chest. The records also show he had an entrance wound and exit wound in his left thigh.
The first report of Alvarez getting shot was at 12:18 a.m. March 31, and he was transported by an ambulance to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:13 a.m., the records show.
At least six hours after the shooting, Alvarez still had not been identified, according to the records.
They also show he had a tattoo on his right forearm with his daughter’s name, “Ailani 9/30/2018,” and there was some sort of illegible writing with a black marker to his right hand and forehead, the records show.
When asked about the findings, Todd Pugh, an attorney for the Alvarez family, said it confirms “what we believe.”
“The video showed ... that Anthony was shot in the back,” Pugh said. “I feel more strongly (than before) it was use of excessive force. It was an unjustified shooting.”
But Solano’s lawyer, Tim Grace, said the autopsy results confirmed what Solano told COPA, which is investigating whether the officer violated policy in the shooting.
“The entry and exit wounds are consistent with what the officer testified to,” Grace said. “The officer believes (Alvarez) is turning to shoot at him. ... All he had to do was release the weapon. ... Put his hands up and follow verbal commands.”
The footage was released late last month by COPA. Videos from Chicago police body cameras, and surveillance footage from homes and businesses in the area were included in the release, along with police reports.
The shooting was one of two fatal police shootings during the last week of March. Two days before Alvarez’s death, 13-year-old Adam Toledo was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer, also during a foot chase, in the Little Village neighborhood.
Toledo’s shooting initially earned more attention and national outrage, due to his young age. But both shootings drew attention to the Chicago Police Department’s lack of a foot pursuit policy, which police departments in other cities have drafted in an attempt to give officers guidance on the dangerous and highly charged chases.
In the wake of the shootings, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced that a policy would be in place by summer. Police Department officials said they were drawing on best practices from other cities and would seek comment from the public before finalizing the policy.
On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, which is reviewing whether to criminally charge the officers who fatally shot Alvarez and Toledo, said there were no updates in either case.
NOTE: This article has been updated with corrected information regarding the officer’s status.
