The mother of a 13-year-old boy said she is seeking answers after Chicago police fatally shot her son during what they claim was an “armed confrontation.”
Police killed Adam Toledo, 13, on Monday night after officers responded to a call of shots fired and confronted two males in the Little Village neighborhood around 2:35 a.m.
One of the males, later identified by police as Toledo, was allegedly armed and ran from the scene. He was fatally shot in the chest during an “armed confrontation,” police later claimed in a statement.
The boy’s mother, Elizabeth Toledo, told Fox 32 that she “just wants answers about what really happened.”
“I haven’t heard from cops since yesterday when they knocked on my door,” Toledo told the station in a phone interview on Thursday.
Police released a photo of a handgun that was allegedly recovered at the scene of the fatal shooting. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability is now investigating the incident and confirmed the shooting was captured on a police body camera. But COPA clarified that releasing the video is prohibited by law “absent the issue of a court order” because the teen who was killed was a minor.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday on Twitter that it is “critically important” that COPA release the body camera video first to Toledo’s family, then to the public, “as quickly as possible.”
A second person who allegedly ran from police during the Monday-night encounter, 21-year-old Ruben Roman Jr., was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
Elizabeth Toledo reiterated her call for transparency during an interview with 10 TV.
“He was so full of life,” Toledo said. “They just took it away from him.”
“I just want justice for my son,” she added. “That’s all.”