The head of the Chicago Police Union called the officer who shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo 'heroic'

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The head of the Chicago Police Union called the officer who shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo 'heroic'
Footage from a police body camera apparently shows Adam Toledo, 13, discarding a firearm before he was fatally shot by a police officer on March 31, 2021.Chicago PD
  • The Chicago Police Union head said Thursday that the fatal shooting of Adam Toledo was "justified."
  • A video released this week shows Toledo running down an alley and raising his hands before he was shot.
  • Toledo appeared to have a gun but dropped it before officer Eric Stillman shot him once in the chest.
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The head of the Chicago Police Union said on Thursday that the shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo last month was "100 percent justified" and that the officers at the scene were "actually heroic."

Earlier this week, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, a Chicago watchdog that monitors police shootings, released the graphic bodycam footage of the deadly incident, which occurred on March 29.

Read more: A Black police union president says it's time for America to overhaul law enforcement and address how racial bias plays a big role in policing practices

Chicago Police Union President John Catanzara, who appeared on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" on Thursday, said of the video: "I started my dissertation by saying it is 100 percent justified. That officer's actions were actually heroic," according to The Hill.

"There's a very good reason he only shot once. Like I said, he could have been shot multiple times but the officer assessed in a split second. Unfortunately, he already committed to the first shot, justifiably so," Catanzara added.

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Catanzara also said that the officer who encountered Toledo in the alley "would have been justified to shoot multiple times," according to CNN.

"We're trained to basically shoot two [times] and reassess. That didn't even happen because, by the time he had shot the first time, in justification, he realized the gun was out of [Toledo's hand]. He didn't shoot a second time."

Watch the full interview below.

The footage, which Insider analyzed in slow motion, shows police officer Eric Stillman leaving his vehicle and chasing Toledo down an alley. The officer had been responding to reports of shots fired.

"Hands!" Stillman shouts at Toledo at one point in the video. "Show me your f---ing hands!"

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In a matter of seconds, Toledo drops something from his right hand, raises his two empty hands, and is shot once in the chest.

After analyzing the footage, Insider, the Associated Press, and The New York Times all concluded that Toledo had appeared to discard a firearm just before the officer shot him.

Toledo family lawyer Adeena Weiss Ortiz confirmed at a press conference this week that the 13-year-old had not been holding a gun in the moment he was shot but that she could not say with "100% certainty" whether he had been carrying a weapon beforehand.

Stillman's lawyer, Tim Grace, argued in a statement to the Associated Press that Stillman had made a reasonable decision.

"At this point, the officer was faced with a life-threatening and deadly force situation. All prior attempts to deescalate and gain compliance with all of the officer's lawful orders had failed," Grace said.

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After the shooting, Stillman and another officer immediately rendered aid to the teenager. Paramedics also tried to save Toledo, but the Hispanic seventh-grader died shortly after.

Stillman has not been charged with any crimes. He is on administrative leave for 30 days while an investigation is ongoing.

The bodycam footage was released just days after the police killing of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis.

Both events have sparked a new wave of protests in Chicago and Minneapolis, almost a year after George Floyd was killed.

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