Family Of Adam Toledo, 13-Year-Old Boy Shot Dead By Police, Condemns Reported Calls For Violence In Retaliation For His Death
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The family of Adam Toledo – the 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police in Little Village last week – condemned reported calls for violence in the wake of the boy's death.
The family noted that on Friday, the Chicago Police Department issued an "officer safety alert" claiming the Narcotics Division had learned that gang factions had been told to shoot at unmarked CPD squad cars in retaliation for Adam's death.
"This report, if true, is extremely disturbing," Adeena Weiss Ortiz, who represents the Toledo family, said in a news release. "Let me be perfectly clear, the Toledo family condemns violence against police and all other members of the community."
Adam's mother, Elizabeth Toledo, called for the community to keep the peace.
"No one has anything to gain by inciting violence," Elizabeth Toledo said in the release. "Adam was a sweet and loving boy. He would not want anyone else to be injured or die in his name."
Early this past Monday morning, Chicago Police arrived for a ShotSpotter alert of multiple shots fired in the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue in the Little Village area. Grainy surveillance video shows officers pulling up and getting out, but what played out next in the alley is only captured on police body camera.
Police said Adam and a 21-year-old man were in the alley. According to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, both ran.
Police captured the man, but Adam was shot in the chest by police during an "armed encounter," according to CPD. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office said it was a single bullet to the chest.
COPA said Friday that it would release body cam video of the incident, reversing course after earlier claiming state law prohibited it from making the footage public without a court order.