Thursday afternoon, the city of Chicago released the body cam footage of the police shooting of thirteen year old Adam Toledo. The video is graphic and illuminating. The timeline of the events is telling. The teenager’s history is a warning to all of us. No one is talking about the trauma to the police.

I’ll tell you the story of the Adam Toledo shooting in a bit, but first I want to give you some statistics. The weekend before the teenager was shot, the city of Chicago saw 24 people shot, three of them killed. It was a typical Chicago weekend. Additionally, the first two months of this year, 45 officers have been shot, eleven of them fatally. That has got to be on the mind of every law enforcement officer as he leaves his home for his watch.

Now, as to Adam Toledo. This young teenager was out at 2:38 in the morning on a school night. He should have been home sleeping to be awake for school or Zoom.According to the Post Millennial, he wasn’t exactly an innocent:

Adam Toledo, who was known in gang circles as “Lil’ Homicide” and “Bvby Diablo” died from a gunshot wound by Chicago PD after they responded to calls of “eight shots fired” on a street corner. The Chicago Police Department released footage of the officer-involved shooting early Thursday morning which vindicated the shooting of Toledo.

Adam Toledo was not alone. He was with 21 year old Ruben Roman. That spells nothing but trouble, as someone who has raised a boy:

In a proffer, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said Roman was walking south on Sawyer Avenue toward 24th Street in Little Village at 2:36 a.m. Monday, March 29. Roman was wearing a gold Carhartt jacket and a gold shirt and dark pants, while Adam was wearing a navy blue hoodie, dark pants, and a white hat – and they could easily be told apart, prosecutors said.

Video from Farragut Career Academy High School showed Roman and Adam walking together, while a vehicle was seen heading down the street away from where they were. The video appears to show Ruben walk up to the corner and take a shooting stance, while Adam first starts to move back in the direction from which they came and then moves back toward Roman as Roman fires shots, prosecutors said.

Adam Toledo aka Bvby Diablo was out in the early morning hours with an adult and a gun. Here is the timeline, according to NBC Chicago:

2:35 a.m.: Multiple ShotSpotter sensors picked up audio of approximately nine gunshots being fired. A short time later, a call went out over radio with the Office of Emergency Management and Communications of shots fired at 2356 South Sawyer, reporting that at least eight rounds had been fired.

2:36 a.m.: The first of two 911 calls provided by COPA was placed. The caller says they heard “six or seven” shots in the 2300 block of South Sawyer.

“I’m hearing a lot of commotion right now,” the caller, who asked to remain anonymous, reported to dispatchers.

2:37 a.m.: The second of the two 911 calls was placed. The female caller says they heard multiple gunshots.

“I just heard gunshots coming from Cermak and Kedzie,” she says. When the dispatcher asks how many shots were fired, she responds “a lot. More than five.”

2:38 a.m.: An officer’s body camera shows them arriving at the scene and exiting the driver’s side door of their squad vehicle. After colliding with a civilian, the officer begins to chase an individual, identified as Adam Toledo, down an alley.

2:38:35 a.m.: The officer’s body camera audio kicks on, as he yells at Toledo to stop and identifies himself as a police officer.

The video is graphic, but it tells the story:

Running from law enforcement officers is always a bad choice. When Adam Toledo does finally stop, he shades his body as he throws the gun behind the fence. He says nothing. He doesn’t say, “I am putting my hands up.” In less than a second, the officer shoots. The officer, Eric Stillman, immediately calls for an ambulance and begins CPR while begging the young man to stay with him.

Eric Stillwell is a 34 year old, prior military service veteran, who had been with the Chicago Police Department since 2015, and is unmarried.

While everyone focuses on the tragic end of thirteen year old Adam Toledo, no one thinks of the trauma to Eric Stillwell and the other officers involved. Law enforcement officers do not EVER want to kill anyone. No one ever thinks about that. Do they? Oh no. All cops are bastards:

Lori Lightfoot saying it's "traumatizing" for police to shoot their guns… COPS SIGNED UP TO BE COPS. THEY CHOSE THIS LINE OF WORK. ACAB.

HE WAS 13.
SAY HIS NAME. #AdamToledo https://t.co/v7D0J587b8

— samantha (@samanth_uhhhhhh) April 16, 2021

No, all cops are people doing a nearly impossible job. Adam Toledo’s mother, and every other adult in his life, is responsible for his death. His mother should have made sure she knew where he was and what he was doing. If he was gang-involved, his mother should have moved cross country to protect him. She put her child in a position to be murdered by the cops.

Featured Image: Screen Capture of Police Body Cam/Public Domain