Who is Adam Toledo?
Adam Toledo was a 13-year old Mexican American boy and a seventh-grader at Gary Elementary School from the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago. He was brutally killed on March 29, 2021, by a Chicago Police Department officer called Eric Stilman. The incident occurred in the Little Village neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago.
Following the incident, there have been protests in Chicago. Lori Lightfoot who is Chicago’s mayor called for reforms to how police pursue individuals on foot and called for a “thorough, expeditious” investigation. Following the public release of bodycam footage of the shooting on April 15, 2021, the officials of the department continue to interview witnesses and officers.
Toledo is considered to be the youngest person killed by the Chicago Police Department in several decades
How Old is Adam Toledo?
Toledo was thirteen years old at the time of his death.
Who are Adam Toledo’s Parents?
Toledo was born to Elizabeth Toledo who has described his son as caring, imaginative, and curious since birth. He loved the show The Walking Dead and had even gone to lengths to plan for a zombie apocalypse, with a bag packed and ready to go. Toledo also wanted to be an officer but unfortunately killed by another officer. He also played with Hot Wheels and Legos at home and had no criminal history.
Adam Toledo Education
Toledo was a seventh-grader at Gary Elementary School from the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago.
Adam Toledo Death
A police oversight agency on Thursday 15th April 2021 released a video of a Chicago police officer fatally shooting Toledo in March. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for calm as the city braces for protests throughout the night.
Video shows an officer exiting his vehicle and chasing Toledo, who is running down an alley. When the officer catches up to the teen, he orders him to raise his hands and yells, “Drop it, drop it.” The officer fires a single shot to Toledo’s chest as the teen raises his hands.
The teen drops to the ground and the officer rushes to administer aid and calls for backup. Police have said a semi-automatic pistol was recovered a few feet away. Lightfoot on 15th April said there was “no evidence” the teen fired the weapon before he was shot.
The March 29 incident began around 2:30 a.m. when gunshots were picked up by a police audio scanner. Less than a minute later, police encountered Toledo and 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who was tackled by police and taken into custody.
An attorney for the officer accused of shooting Toledo claimed Toledo was armed and that the officer was “faced with a life-threatening and deadly force situation” and “was left with no other option.”
The attorney representing the teen’s family said Toledo was not holding the weapon when the officer opened fire. “Those videos speak for themselves,” attorney Adeena Weiss Ortiz said Thursday. “Adam, for the last second of his life, did not have a gun.”