COPA releases findings in police shooting that killed Anthony Alvarez
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Wednesday released its findings into the police shooting that killed Anthony Alvarez in 2021.
CBS 2 learned about the findings back in January, but the release of the documents on Wednesday marks the final step in the process.
Alvarez was shot by Officer Evan Solano while holding a gun in his right hand as he was running away from Solano and his partner on March 31, 2021.
Surveillance video from the night of the shooting, which happened in the early-morning hours on Wednesday, March 31 - shows a squad car chasing Alvarez at a gas station in Portage Park.
Officer Solano's body camera shows him running down an alley and eventually around a corner onto a front lawn near Laramie Avenue and Eddy Street. Alvarez's back was facing the officer at the moment he was shot, but a gun was visible in his right hand, moving from right to left. Solano shot him in the back and knee.
COPA had advised that Solano be fired for improper use of deadly force. Police Supt. David Brown disagreed – finding there was insufficient evidence to support the claims of violating departmental rules, including claims that he had used inappropriate force.
Police Board member Steven Block later reviewed the case. He ruled in July that Solano had acted reasonably under the circumstances. Thus, Block ruled in favor of Supt. Brown and against the recommendation that Solano be fired.
"Though Mr. Alvarez's death is undeniably tragic, Officer Solano and Officer Encarnacion's decisions and actions on March 31, 2021, were objectively reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances as the officers could reasonably perceive them," Block said at the time.
Brown had advised that Solano and his partner, Officer Sammy Encarnacion, be suspended for 20 days for violating department rules during the foot pursuit that proceeded the shooting that took Alvarez's life -- which Block's ruling upheld.
Solano returned to work last month.