It happened in less than a second.
Thirteen-year-old Adam Toledo dropped the gun he’d been holding, turned and began raising his hands just as the officer had commanded. Then the cop fired a single shot, killing the boy in the dark Chicago alley.
The graphic video that became the latest tragic touchstone in the nation’s reckoning with race and policing puts a microscope on those split-second decisions with far-reaching and grave consequences. Investigators are still sorting through exactly what happened, but the shooting has raised difficult questions about why the boy wasn’t given more time to comply and whether the deadly encounter could have been prevented in the first place.
A fortified Minneapolis awaits Derek Chauvin verdict
al.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from al.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In Minneapolis, a fortified city in wake of Chauvin verdict
wfmj.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wfmj.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April 20, 2021 10:57 am
Associated PressNational Guard members are seen through fencing and wire near the Minneapolis Police 3rd Precinct in Minneapolis on Monday, April 19, 2021, after the murder trial against former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin advanced to jury deliberations. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
By TIM SULLIVAN Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Just outside the entrance to Smile Orthodontics, in a Minneapolis neighborhood of craft breweries and trendy shops, two soldiers in jungle camouflage and body armor were on watch, assault rifles slung over their backs. Snow flurries blew around them. A few steps away at the Iron Door Pub, three more National Guard soldiers and a Minneapolis police officer stood out front, watching the street. A handful of other soldiers were scattered nearby, along with four camouflaged Humvees and a couple police cars.