Prosecutor Misspoke In Saying Adam Toledo Had Gun In Hand When He Was Shot Dead By Police, State's Attorney's Office Says
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A spokeswoman for the Cook County State's Attorney's office said Thursday that a prosecutor misspoke over the weekend in saying 13-year-old Adam Toledo had a gun in his hand when police shot and killed him.
Body cam video of the shooting is set for release at 2:30 p.m.
State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Sarah Sinovic told CBS 2's Chris Tye 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. The video speaks for itself."
Spokesperson for Cook County State's Attorney tells @cbschicago that a lawyer for their office misspoke in the case of #AdamToledo when Ruben Roman was in court. They said Toledo had a gun in his hand when he did not. "Errors like that cannot happen and this has been addressed."
— Chris Tye (@TVTye) April 15, 2021
At a bond hearing Saturday for Ruben Roman, 21 – the man who was with Adam Toledo – prosecutors said Adam had a gun in his hand when an officer shot and killed him.
Prosecutors said while defendant Ruben Roman was the one to fire the gun, Adam was holding it when he was shot and killed by police at a point when Roman was already being detained.
Prosecutor said as Roman was being detained, the other officer kept chasing Adam down the alley and told him to stop, but he kept running, prosecutors said. Adam then stopped near a break in a wooden fence, and the officer ordered Adam to show his hands, prosecutors said.
At that point, Adam was standing with his left side toward the officer, and had his right hand at his right side, prosecutors said over the weekend. Prosecutors said this weekend that Adam turned toward the officer, and it turned out he had a gun in his right hand, prosecutors said. The officer ordered him to drop the gun, prosecutors said.
When he did not, the officer shot Adam once in the chest, prosecutors said this past weekend. The officer gave Adam CPR afterward, but Adam did not survive.
The gun that Adam was holding landed a few feet away against the fence, prosecutors said this past weekend.
Adam was pronounced dead at the scene. His right hand also tested positive for gunshot residue, and the Ruger 9mm was recovered against the fence, prosecutors said this past weekend.
Earlier at a news conference, Mayor Lori Lightfoot declined to confirm or deny whether Adam had a gun in hand when police shot and killed him – citing the ongoing investigation – but said she believed it was correct as articulated by prosecutors at a bond hearing for a man police said was with him at the time of the shooting.
"It's not for me to confirm that," Mayor Lightfoot said. "I'm very aware of what was said at the bond hearing for Mr. Roman. I believe that as articulated, the comments of the State's Attorney were correct."
Mayor Lightfoot did say she had seen "no evidence whatsoever" that Adam shot at police.
"I don't want to get into the real substance of this because the independent investigation is going on, but I've seen no evidence whatsoever that Adam Toledo shot at the police," Mayor Lightfoot said.