The family of a 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed last week by a Chicago police officer issued a statement on Sunday condemning the charges presented in a recent alert issued by police leaders warning that factions of the Latin Kings “were instructed by members of the step to shoot unidentified Chicago police vehicles. “
The alert, issued Thursday, said gang factions in the southwestern Ogden patrol district planned to retaliate after Adam Toledo’s police murder in early March 29 in an alley at 2,400 block of South Sawyer Avenue. Although the alert warned that gang members would likely shoot unidentified police vehicles, he did not say why the Kings would be retaliating.
“This report, if true, is extremely disturbing,” Adeena Weiss Ortiz, the family’s lawyer, said in the statement. “To be clear, the Toledo family condemns violence against the police and all other members of the community.”
The police refused to comment on the report.
In the family’s statement, they widely condemned any call for violence after the shooting and urged the public to “remain respectful, peaceful and law-abiding by expressing their sadness at the death of Adam”.
Adam’s mother, Elizabeth Toledo, added: “Nobody has anything to gain by inciting violence.
“Adam was a sweet and loving boy,” she said. “He wouldn’t want anyone else to get hurt or die in his name.”
It was not until two days after the boy’s mother was notified of his death – and three days later, until the authorities publicly revealed that he was only 13 years old. Following this revelation, the fatal police shooting quickly attracted media attention and sparked some protests.
Police officers previously reported that, on the day of the shooting, police responded to the shooting calls and found Adam and a man in an alley west of South Sawyer Block 2300. An officer then chased Adam, who was shot in the chest and killed in what the police described as an “armed confrontation”.
Police later released a photo of a gun allegedly found at the location near Farragut Career Academy High School.
The city’s Police Liability Office, which investigates all police shootings, first said that state law prohibited the release of video footage of the shooting. But on Friday, the agency changed course and announced that it would show the “problematic video” to the Toledo family before making it public.
Debbie Price, a family spokesman, said she had not yet seen the footage on Sunday morning.
Contributing: Frank Main, Sam Kelly, David Struett, Stefano Esposito