Chicago Police Interim Superintendent Eric Carter recommends the officer who fatally shot a teenager in 2021 be fired, CWB Chicago reported Monday.
Carter recommended the Chicago Police Board fire Officer Eric Stillman, who shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo in March of 2021, the outlet said.
Body camera footage of the incident involving the teenager shows the officer making a split second decision to shoot the young man, per the Chicago Sun-Times:
“Stop! Stop! Hands, show me your [expletive] hands!” the officer tells Toledo after chasing him along a fence line.
At first, the teenager appears to have his back turned to the officer but when he turns around, the officer commands him twice to “Drop it.” As the young man turns towards him, a shot is heard and the teen falls to the ground.
The officer then calls for an ambulance, grabs hold of the teen, and asks him if he is alright. In the clip, blood is seen on the front of the young man’s hoodie.
Prior to his resignation, police superintendent David Brown recommended a five-day suspension for the officer. The Cook County state’s attorney’s office did not press charges, the CWB report said.
However, “The allegations signed by Carter accuse Stillman of using ‘deadly force [that] was not necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm from an imminent threat.’ Stillman also failed to ‘use de-escalation techniques to prevent the use of deadly force as a last resort,’ Carter wrote.”
When Toledo ran from the officers, he was reportedly carrying a gun, but he dropped the firearm behind the fence just before turning to face Stillman.
“Where you shot, man? Where you shot?” the officer asks the teen as he lay on the pavement, according to the video. “Stay with me, stay with me,” he pleads as sirens are heard in the background.
Toward the end of the Sun-Times clip, the video highlights what appears to be a firearm on the ground leaning against the fence as officers render the teenager aid.
In April 2021, Chicago businesses boarded up their windows due to fears of rioting and looting after Chicago police released the body camera video of the shooting involving Toledo, Breitbart News reported at the time.
“The video appears to show Toledo holding a pistol in his hand less than a second before the officer shot him fatally in the chest. Police found the pistol a few feet away, behind the fence,” the outlet said.
Carter has alleged seven of the department’s rules were violated during the incident, the CWB Chicago report noted.
“According to the allegations, Stillman’s decision to chase Toledo on foot was inconsistent with the department’s training because he did not notify dispatchers before undertaking the chase, did not wait for backup, and separated from his partner,” the outlet said.
Stillman is also accused of failing to turn on his body-worn camera until after he got out of his vehicle, the report stated:
When Brown recommended a five-day suspension for Stillman, it was for failure to activate his camera. Brown, responding to a recommendation by the city’s police oversight agency, COPA, that Stillman be fired, said he believed Stillman should not be found in violation of the department’s use of force and foot pursuit policies.
Following the shooting, Stillman’s attorney Tim Grace said he was a decorated U.S. Marine and argued the officer followed the department’s rules and the law during the incident, according to a Fox 32 report:
“This is the hardest part. These officers need to make split-second decisions of life and death,” Grace said.
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