The Cook County Attorney, Illinois, said a prosecutor who claimed in court that 13-year-old Adam Toledo carried a gun when he was shot by police did not “fully” inform himself before testifying.
The reversal was originally reported in local media before the Chicago Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) released body camera footage of the fatal meeting Thursday afternoon.
According to several reports, the prosecutor made the claim during a bond hearing for 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who was at Toledo the night he was shot.
When The Hill asked about the reports, a spokesperson for the office said in a statement, “A lawyer working in this office did not fully inform himself before speaking in court.”
“Such mistakes cannot happen and this has been addressed with the person concerned. The video speaks for itself, ”said the spokeswoman.
At the hearing, prosecutors said that prosecutors were chasing Toledo while Roman was being held CBS 2 ChicagoWhen Toledo stopped at a break in a wooden gate, he was ordered to show his hands.
The prosecutor said that when Toledo turned to the prosecutor, he had a gun in his right hand. The prosecutor ordered him to drop the gun and shot Toledo when he didn’t, CBS 2 reported, according to the prosecutor.
But body cameras released by COPA later on Thursday showed that when the officer asked to see Toledo’s hands, the teenager turned slowly toward the officer with raised hands. The footage also doesn’t clearly show he had a gun before the officer demanded that he drop it.