Adam Toledo police officer Eric Stillman acted ‘consistent with the law’ when he shot & killed 13-year-old, lawyer says
THE Chicago cop who shot and killed 7th grader Adam Toledo ‘acted according to police guidelines’ his lawyer claims.
Officer Eric Stillman’s actions were warranted when he opened fire after the 13-year-old fled, attorney Tim Grace told Fox News.
“Toledo fled. The Officer followed. He gave him commands to drop the gun. Toledo got to the fence as he turns he has a gun in his right hand. Officer shot him,” Grace told host Laura Ingraham on the Ingraham Angle
“His actions were consistent with the Chicago Police Department’s use-of-force guidelines and with the law.”
Stillman, 34, is currently on administrative duty while an internal investigation into the March 29 shooting that left Toledo dead is carried out by the department.
Bodycam footage of the shooting was released this week, spurring protests across the windy city.
The footage shows the moment Stillman opened fire at Toledo, eight-tenths of a second after ordering him to put his hands up – a command the boy followed.
Toledo appears to drop a hand gun and place his hands in the air when Stillman discharges his firearm, fatally striking the boy once in the chest.
Toledo’s lawyer called it an “assassination” of a young child, and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said that she was “outraged” and “in pain” over another police killing.
Stillman’s lawyer called it self-defence.
According to Grace, who graduated from John Marshall Law School in 1996, Stillman had been pursuing members of the Latin King Gang, who had been shooting at cars that night.
Grace argued that the Latin King Gang members are actually to blame for giving Toledo a gun and branding him with a tattoo.
“You can’t look at these situations through a 2020 hindsight” he told FOX News. “How come no one is talking to the Latin Kings?”
“We’re vilifying a good police officer.”
Prior to his deadly encounter with Toledo, Stillman had never fired his weapon at someone in the line of duty, records show.
Records released by the Invisible Institute also showed that Stillman had three complaints made against him, and four use of force reports between 2017 and mid-2020.
One of the complaints, dated November 19, claims that Stillman was one of three officers who allegedly ” illegally stopped and searched” a suspect during a traffic stop.
A second, filed in October 2020, also alleges an illegal traffic stop, however this time Stillman was the only officer accused.
“The accused officer allegedly unlawfully searched the R/P’s vehicle during a traffic stop. The accused allegedly removed a small razor that the R/P had inside his vehicle,” the report reads.
The incident was closed with no findings, the records show.
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“Stillman has worked in some of the toughest neighborhoods in the city and served his country honorably overseas,” Grace continued.
“I do not think he will be prosecuted for a crime.”
“I do believe that if COPA and the Police Department are fair and look at the undisputed evidence, he will be exonerated of any type of a charge.”