Lawyer for policeman who shot Adam Toledo: ‘Disheartening’ that no one’s asked how the officer’s doing

A lawyer for the police officer who shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo says that it’s “disheartening” that no one has asked how the officer is doing.

The statement comes after Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability released footage of Toledo’s death, which occurred on March 29. A police report released along with the footage identified the officer as Eric Stillman.

Stillman’s attorney said in a statement to The Daily Beast that no one asked how his client is doing and that his client did the right thing since “prior attempts to deescalate and gain compliance with all of the officers lawful orders had failed.”

“What is amazing and disheartening is that very few have asked about the welfare of the officer,” the attorney wrote, according to the news outlet. “Specifically there is very little interest in the wellbeing of the officer and the impact experienced by the officer who was required to use deadly force in the line of duty.”

“The officer involved has served his country and his city with honor and deserves our support,” the attorney said. 

Footage released on Thursday shows Stillman chasing Toledo down an alley as Stillman yells “stop right f—— now” before Toledo stops at a large gap in wooden fencing. Toledo then slowly turns around and shows both of his hands.

The footage doesn’t clearly show a gun in Toledo’s hand, but the officer yells “drop it” twice before shooting Toledo once in the chest.

Whether Toledo had a gun in his hand was heavily debated until the footage was released Thursday.

A prosecutor made the claim during a court hearing last weekend for 21-year-old Ruben Roman, who was with Toledo when he was shot. However, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office later said the prosecutor didn’t “fully inform” himself before speaking.