Chicago mayor calls for review of police's foot pursuit policy after cop shot and killed boy, 13

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has called for a review into how the police department handles foot pursuits of suspects after cop shot and killed a 13-year-old boy. 

Lightfoot’s request came Monday, exactly one week after Adam Toledo was shot dead by a cop in the 2300-block of South Sawyer.

‘We cannot and will not push the foot pursuit reform off for another day,’ Lightfoot said Monday during a press conference. ‘No longer can we afford to put off to tomorrow what we can address today because lives are truly at stake.’  

The Civilian Office for Police Accountability is tasked with the investigation of police-involved shootings and announced Friday that it would be releasing the video of the shooting only after Toledo’s family and their attorney review the tragic footage.

Under the city policy, the agency has 60 days to release the material. 

DailyMail.com reached out to the Civilian Office for Police Accountability for comment. 

Adam Toledo was shot and killed by a police officer during a foot pursuit in the West Side of Chicago on March 29 after he was seen fleeing with 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr. The Chicago Police Department dispatched a unit to the 2300-block of South Sawyer following reports of at least eights shots that had been fired. Toledo was shot following an ‘armed confrontation’ with a police officer. The agent who killed Toledo has been placed on administrative leave

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded Monday a reform of the Chicago Police Department’s foot pursuit policy, exactly one week after 13-year-old Adam Toledo was shot and killed by a police officer he was fleeing from. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability announced last Friday that it will be releasing footage 

Elizabeth Toledo (left) issued a plea on Sunday calling for gangs in Chicago not to seek retaliation against the Chicago Police Department after one of its agents was involved in shooting and killing her 13-year-old son, Adam Toledo (right), last Monday

The Chicago Police Department released a photo of the gun that was recovered from the scene after one of its officers shot and killed Adam Toledo last Monday

The Chicago Police Department said Toledo fled with Ruben Roman Jr., 21, before a police officer, whose name has not been publicly released, shot the teenage boy. The cop was placed on administrative leave for 30 days.

According to the Washington Post, Toledo is the youngest person killed by the police in Chicago since at least 2015.   

The police released a photo of a gun that was recovered from the scene, but have not said whether Toledo fired at the police while he was being chased.

‘We will not tolerate [gangs] using our children pawns and setting them up for a life of misery… here is where we must, must draw the line,’ Lightfoot said. 

‘I am determined. We will find the person who put this gun in Adam’s hand. We will not be deterred by threats from gang members. An adult must be responsible for putting that gun in that child’s hand.’ 

Fraternal Order of Police in Chicago union president John Catanzara issued a video statement claiming the shooting footage would clear the police officer who killed Toledo of any wrongdoing.  

‘The officer was absolutely shaken by the circumstances of which happened that night because a life was taken. But it was justified,’ Catanzara said. ‘The offender was fleeing from the police with a weapon. It’s irregardless that he was 13 years old.’

According to his mother, Adam Toledo has dreams of becoming a police officer 

Elizabeth Toledo came forward over the weekend and issued a plea for calm following reports that members of the Latin Kings gang planned on seeking revenge for her son’s death by shooting at unmarked police vehicles.

‘No one has anything to gain by inciting violence,’ she said via a statement Sunday. ‘Adam was a sweet and loving boy. He would not want anyone else to be injured or die in his name.’ 

Adam Toledo and Roman Jr. were seen fleeing by the police after responding to a call of eight shots in Chicago’s West Side on March 29 at 2:30 am.

The police said there was an ‘armed confrontation’ before the shot Toledo once in the chest. 

Toledo died at the scene and Roman Jr. was apprehended for resisting arrest.   

Attorney Adeena Ortiz said Elizabeth Toledo did not learn of her son’s death until Wednesday. 

Toledo said her son had hopes of joining law enforcement.

‘He was so full of life. They just took it away from him,’ she said.

Police department stats released last Thursday showed there were 131 homicides reported in the first three months of 2021, compared to 98 during the same period last year.  

At least 706 people were shot through the end of March. Chicago did not report its 500th shooting victim in 2020 until April.