A prosecutor who said in court that 13-year-old Adam Toledo had a gun when he was shot by Chicago Police is now backtracking on his statement.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement “an attorney who works in this office failed to fully inform himself before speaking in court.”
“Errors like that cannot happen and this has been addressed with the individual involved,” said the statement. “The video speaks for itself.”
Toledo was shot and killed in the early morning hours of March 29 while police were detaining a man, Ruben Roman, responding to a call of shots fired around 2:30 a.m.
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In the video footage released Thursday, the young Toledo is seen being chased by Chicago officers, and when he stopped, is ordered to show his hands. He does and is unarmed, but the unidentified prosecutor claimed he was holding a gun. The misstatement was made at the bond hearing for 21-year-old Roman, who was with Toledo during the arrest and subsequent shooting.
A weapon was recovered near the teen’s body.
Roman has been charged with reckless discharge of a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and child endangerment.
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“Look, I don’t want to get into the real substance of this because the independent investigation is going on,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday during a press conference urging peaceful response ahead of the footage’s release, “but I’ve seen no evidence whatsoever that Adam Toledo shot at the police.”
She had warned her city’s resident to brace themselves, describing the footage of the shooting — released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability — as “excruciating.”
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Toledo’s family has viewed the video, and at their request, footage like 911 calls and witness statements will not be made public.
“There are several videos that kind of start at the beginning of the episode but watching the bodycam footage, which shows young Adam after he is shot, is extremely difficult,” Lightfoot said. “And I would just say, I’ve said this to a number of people my, my staff or cabinet. As a mom, this is not something you want children to see.”
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