Name of Chicago Police officer who fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo revealed in incident report
- A police watchdog agency released the incident report of an officer-involved shooting where 13-year-old Adam Toledo was killed.
- The report identifies the officer, Eric Stillman, 34, as a victim in an aggravated assault of police.
- Body camera footage shows Toledo turning to face the officer with his hands up, and it is unclear if he was holding a gun.
The Chicago Police Department officer who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy was identified as Eric Stillman, according to a case incident report released Thursday.
Adam Toledo, 13, was shot and killed during a foot pursuit by a Chicago police officer on March 29. He was shot with a single bullet to the chest. Stillman has been placed on administrative leave for 30 days.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, a police watchdog agency in Chicago, on Thursday afternoon, released the case report for the incident, as well as graphic footage of the fatal shooting.
The report identifies Stillman, 34, listing the officer as a victim in an aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer. According to a tactical response report released by COPA, Toledo was armed with a semi-automatic pistol, which was "displayed, not used" during the incident.
But body camera footage shows Toledo turning to face the officer with his hands up. An attorney for his family asserts he was not holding a gun when he was shot.
The tactical response report also said Toledo showed "imminent threat of battery with weapon" and "used force likely to cause death or great bodily harm."
Stillman was listed as a "victim" on the incident report. It's unclear if this is standard procedure. Insider reached out to the Chicago Police Department for more information.
A law enforcement expert told Insider that listing the officer as the victim in the incident "is a long-used and hackneyed police trope" to recast the "focus of culpability and blame onto the actual victim of the police deadly force incident, i.e. the person who the police killed."
"Thus the victim, in this case the unarmed dead child who is shot and killed by police becomes the 'perpetrator' and the police officer shooter, the killer, assumes the posture and pose of 'victim,'" he told Insider. "It's an old cop trick meant to muddy the murky waters, and is often used in the aftermath of what we cops call a 'bad shoot.'"