Image from ABC News
By Savannah Dewberry
CHICAGO, IL– Officer body camera footage was released Thursday of the horrific police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo—it came on top of the murder trial of Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd, and the recent traffic stop shooting death of Daunte Wright, both in Minnesota.
The deaths of Floyd, Wright and numerous other deaths at the hands of police officers inspired nationwide demonstrations and protests.
The Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), a separate agency that investigates police shootings, released 17 files of bodycam footage from involved and on-the scene Chicago police officers, four surveillance videos of and related to the scene of the incident, as well as the Case Incident and Tactical Response Reports.
At 2:38 a.m. on March 29, Officer Eric Stillman, 34, reported gunshots heard in the area, and then chased young Adam Toledo and Ruben Roman, 21, down an alleyway. Roman was subdued and handcuffed by another officer, while Stillman pursued Toledo.
The footage captured Stillman yelling at Toledo to stop, and cursing at him to drop his weapon.
The body-worn footage shows Toledo slowing down and turning around to face Stillman, with raised arms and apparently empty hands. Stillman fired a single shot and Toledo collapsed instantly. The entire incident happened within 20 seconds of the officer exiting his vehicle.
The footage also shows Stillman attempting to give Toledo medical aid for several minutes, asking him where he was shot and telling him to “stay with me.” As other officers arrived on the scene, Stillman stepped away. Toledo was pronounced dead on the scene.
A handgun was found behind the fence, several feet away from Toledo, but was not shown in Toledo’s hands when Stillman fired upon him. The quality of the bodycam footage makes it unclear if Toledo was holding the gun at any point during the pursuit.
Roman is facing child endangerment charges as well as weapons charges, and is currently held on $150,000 bond.
Toledo’s family viewed the footage Monday, via COPA, and are pursuing legal action against Stillman. COPA said that all the videos and reports were not edited, but had some redactions for privacy protections. Originally COPA was not going to release the footage of Toledo’s death due to his age, and only did so due to mounting public pressure.
Stillman has been an officer with the Chicago Police Department since August 2015, with no prior incidents according to the Invisible Institute’s Citizens Police Data Project. He has been placed on administrative duties for 30 days.
Savannah Dewberry is a student at the University of San Francisco. She is pursuing a Media Studies major with a minor in Journalism. Savannah Dewberry is an East Bay native and currently lives in San Francisco.
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Guess who said this:
And guess who said this:
I’m going to guess “Bill Maher”.
Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo of MSNBC. Hardly right wing police advocates.
Pretty sure it was CNN. Actually caught their comments last night, my wife was watching while I was lying on the couch after shot #2. Not overly impressed by their analysis – wish they would have brought in an expert rather than opining after watching the video on TV.
Sounds like they’re “muscling in” on blogs’ territory.
But yeah, that video is pretty disturbing. Saw a portion of it briefly once, don’t want to see it again.
I wonder what it would look like if all violent criminals wore body cameras, when victimizing others. As it is, we only get to see that if other cameras happen to capture that action.
Yes, you’re correct, CNN, MSNBC, pretty much the same thing.
Yes, it would have had to have been your wife watching because you’ve told us many times you don’t watch. Thanks for clarifying that.
Why, because for once they said something honest that doesn’t align with the agenda?
It would look like this:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/04/12/adam-toledo-chicago-shooting-video-gun-what-we-know/7185840002/
As I said, it was ill-informed and they shouldn’t be throwing out ill-informed opinions to millions of viewers.
I don’t know what my view is on this Keith. Why? Because there are two things I do before I formulate my views on police shootings – one is to watch the video frame by frame and the second is to get the views of people I consider experts.
I don’t think the Vanguard reaches that many people. 🙂
Regardless, it sure would be nice if folks thought for themselves, instead of just absorbing and internalizing. For the most part, reinforcing views that they’ve already identified with.
Yeah – we’ve seen that with Picnic Day. Seems like people see what they’re already determined to see. And somehow it’s often quite different from what others see.
No comment.
Your “no comment” speaks volumes 😐
One thing I’ve learned on here:
If you really want to get into the weeds, start discussing what you see on a given video, frame-by-frame.
Part of that “trial by blog” process that’s ultimately a waste of time, except for the truly committed. In other words, those (already) trying to prove something.
That’s also why some people can look at a video (and decide that it’s another reason to engage in a riot), while others do not. Actually, some seem to decide that before they even look at a video.
And the truly fortunate ones don’t even look at the video to analyze it in the first place. I admire those folks, as they’re probably doing something productive.
Oh, and also avoid mentioning the word “accident”, unless you want to engage in more discussions. (Yeah, I realize that some are discussing legal ramifications, etc.)
I think I’ll mostly stick with development issues.
Among industrialized nations, the U.S. is #1 in police killing people.