Family of 13-year-old fatally shot by Chicago cop decries alleged gang directive to shoot police cars, urges public to remain peacefulon April 4, 2021 at 10:29 pm

The family of a 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed last week by a Chicago cop issued a statement Sunday condemning allegations laid out in a recent alert issued by police leaders warning that factions of the Latin Kings “were instructed by ranking members to shoot at unmarked Chicago police vehicles.”

The alert, issued Thursday, said factions of the gang in the Ogden patrol district on the Southwest Side planned to retaliate following the police killing of Adam Toledo early March 29 in an alley in the 2400 block of South Sawyer Avenue. While the alert warned that members of the gang were likely to shoot at unmarked police vehicles, it didn’t say why the Kings would be retaliating.

“This report, if true, is extremely disturbing,” Adeena Weiss Ortiz, the family’s attorney, said in the statement. “Let me be perfectly clear, the Toledo family condemns violence against police and all other members of the community.”

Police officials have declined to comment on the report.

In the family’s statement, they broadly condemned any calls for violence in the wake of the shooting and urged the public “to remain respectful, peaceful, and law abiding in expressing their grief over Adam’s death.”

Adam’s mother, Elizabeth Toledo, added: “No one has anything to gain by inciting violence.

“Adam was a sweet and loving boy,” she said. “He would not want anyone else to be injured or die in his name.”

It wasn’t until two days later that the boy’s mother was notified of his death — and three days later until authorities revealed publicly that he was just 13. After that disclosure, the fatal police shooting quickly drew widespread media attention and prompted some protests.

Police officials previously reported that, on the day of the shooting, officers responded to calls of gunfire and found Adam and a man in an alley to the west of the 2300 block of South Sawyer. An officer then chased Adam, who was shot in the chest and killed in what police described as an “armed confrontation.”

Police later released a photo of a gun allegedly found at the scene near Farragut Career Academy High School.

The city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates all police shootings, first said state law prohibited the release of video footage of the shooting. But Friday, the agency reversed course and announced it would show the “troubling video footage” to the Toledo family before making it public.

Debbie Price, a spokeswoman for the family, said they still hadn’t seen the footage Sunday morning.

Contributing: Frank Main, Sam Kelly, David Struett, Stefano Esposito

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