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Chicago Officer on Leave After Fatal "Armed Encounter" with Teen

Two people were in an alley and fled officers, who pursued them on foot, according to the police statement. The chase "resulted in a confrontation," police said. One officer shot Adam Toledo, 13, in the chest, and he was declared dead at the scene.

April 2, 2021
Chicago Officer on Leave After Fatal "Armed Encounter" with Teen

Chicago Police found this pistol at the scene of the officer-involved shooting that killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo. (Photo: Chicago PD/Twitter)

2 min to read


A Chicago police officer has been placed on administrative duty after fatally shooting a teenager in an incident labeled by one official as an "armed confrontation."

The boy was Adam Toledo, who died by homicide from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Toledo, identified by the medical examiner’s office as a 13-year-old white male, lived in the city’s largely Hispanic Little Village neighborhood on the West Side, USA Today reports.

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According to an initial police statement this week, officers responded to a shots fired alert after 2 a.m. Monday in Little Village.

Two people were in an alley and fled officers, who pursued them on foot, according to the police statement. The chase "resulted in a confrontation," police said. One officer shot Toledo in the chest, and he was declared dead at the scene. 

CPD spokesman Tom Ahern called the incident an "armed confrontation" in a tweet. He also shared a photo of the gun recovered from the scene and said the other male involved in the incident was in custody.

Officers observed two subjects in a nearby alley, one subject fled on foot which resulted in an armed confrontation. One subject shot and killed. 2nd subject in custody. Gun recovered on scene. COPA investigating. #ChicagoPolicepic.twitter.com/bn7o2deAGS

— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) March 29, 2021

Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability, the agency that investigates police misconduct, said in a statement the incident was captured on a body camera, but because Toledo was a juvenile, the footage cannot be released without a court order. Materials that can be released will be "within 60 days of the incident and in accordance with the City’s Video Release Policy," COPA added. 

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