Illinois prosecutor didn’t ‘fully inform himself’ on Adam Toledo shooting before testifying

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois said a prosecutor who claimed in court that 13-year-old Adam Toledo had a gun on him when he was shot by police didn’t “fully inform” himself before testifying.

The reversal was originally reported in local media before Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) released body camera footage of the fatal encounter Thursday afternoon.

According to several reports, the prosecutor made the claim during a bond hearing for 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who was with Toledo the night he was shot.

When asked by The Hill about the reports, a spokesperson for the office said in a statement “an attorney who works in this office failed to fully inform himself before speaking in court.”

“Errors like that cannot happen and this has been addressed with the individual involved. The video speaks for itself,” the spokeswoman said.

During the hearing, prosecutors said that officers were chasing Toledo as Roman was being detained, according CBS 2 Chicago. When Toledo stopped near a break in a wooden fence, he was ordered to show his hands.

The prosecutor said that when Toledo turned toward the officer, there was a gun in his right hand. The officer ordered him to drop the gun, and shot Toledo when he didn’t, CBS 2 reported the prosecutor saying.

But body camera footage released by COPA later on Thursday showed that when the officer asked to see Toledo’s hands, the teen slowly turned to the officer with both of his hands raised. The footage also doesn’t clearly show that he had a gun before the officer demands that he drop it.