Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

>>. . .

>>The city of Chicago has shotspotter technology, a computer-aided audio
>>analysis of ambient noise to isolate and identify gunshots. The incident
>>began at 2:53 am 3/29/2021. 8 gunshots were heard in an alley. . . .

>>Shotspotter alerted police to gunshots. I haven't read through police
>>reports of the incident, but my interpretation of media accounts is
>>Ruben Roman, age 21, was teaching Adam Toledo, age 13, to shoot and
>>brought the kid a gun. Roman was arrested on a warrant for failure to
>>show up in court on an unrelated case, then arraigned in this case and
>>given $150,000 bond on April 10. . . .

>And yet another arrest warrant has been issued for Roman who missed a
>court hearing on April 7 on the 2019 gun case he's on probation for. In
>July 2019, he pleaded guilty to a single count of unlawful use of a
>weapon. At first, prosecutors were going to throw the book at him as
>nearly a dozen charges related to violations of gun laws had been fired,
>but all other charges were withdrawn.

>Sure sounds like our State's Attorney Kim Foxx still isn't doing her
>job, and Roman learned no lesson about not test firing a gun in the
>public way. The protestors weren't blaming Roman for his role in events
>leading up to Adam Toledo's death, given that the kid wouldn't have been
>killed if a supposedly responsible adult hadn't been giving him a gun.

I'm reviving this thread. Ruben Roman is finally on trial.

We still don't know why Adam Toledo, age 13, snuck out of his apartment
in the middle of the night to meet Roman, age 23. (There's a discrepancy
in Roman's age in news reports. Was he 23 at the time of the incident or
is he 23 today?) I'm still assuming Toledo was obtaining a gun from
Roman. This wasn't a gang initiation but there's no way to assume Toledo
wasn't going to cause harm with the gun.

From news reports at the time, I had assumed Roman was demonstrating to
Toledo how to operate the gun and was test firing it. But that's not the
case at all. Video surveillance footage from the church across the
street shows that Roman fired the gun as a car drove by. It sounds like
Roman was trying to murder either the driver or an occupant of the
vehicle which would have immediately tied Toledo to a homicide or
attempted homicide.

When police arrived, Roman gave Toledo the weapon and the two of them
fled in different directions. One police officer took Roman into
custody, whereas the other tragically ended Toledo's life, who had
tossed the weapon away and had raised his hands complying with the
police officer's instructions.

Roman was indicted on four felony counts related to use of the weapon
and firing it. He is not charged with felony murder in the death of
Toledo. Felony murder would have been a huge stretch, because Toledo
died DESPITE having complied with police orders.

Our lovely State's Attorney Kim Foxx stated that Roman's actions were
not the reason for Toledo's death.

The thing is she declined to charge Roman with child endangerment, a
charge they were initially considering, as that would have tied Roman to
Toledo's death.

But isn't bringing a gun to give to a child the very definition of child
endangerment? Toledo was going to do something dangerous with that gun!

Despite very bad police conduct, the officer was not charged in Toledo's
death and neither officer attempted to cover up the bad act. In fact,
after the police officer shot Toledo he tried to resusitate him but it
wasn't possible.

I have no idea if he's still on the job. He shouldn't be.

Partner of officer who shot and killed Adam Toledo testifies in gun case
of man who was allegedly with the teen before he was slain
By Madeline Buckley
Chicago Tribune
Nov 17, 2022 at 6:12 pm
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/criminal-justice/ct-ruben-roman-adam-toledo-trial-20221116-mqqattxt7zd2vgljqidnm2gzsu-story.html

The community was spared 60 years of terrorism by little AT.

> Adam H. Kerman
>
> Despite very bad police conduct, the officer was not charged in Toledo's
> death and neither officer attempted to cover up the bad act. In fact,
> after the police officer shot Toledo he tried to resusitate him but it
> wasn't possible.
>
> I have no idea if he's still on the job. He shouldn't be.

I disagree. From what I remember from the police body-cam footage,
the kid dropped the gun while _simultaneously_ turning around and
putting his hands up.

The cop had to a make a life or (his own) death decision in a fraction
of a second, after chasing down the kid WHO HAD A GUN IN HIS HAND.

An unfortunate but justified shooting IMO, the kid was a dumbass and
paid for his stupidity with his life. Let it be a lesson to others: don't run
from the cops and especially, don't run from the cops with A GUN IN
YOUR HAND.

Ed Stasiak <edstasiak1067@gmail.com> wrote:

>>Adam H. Kerman

>>Despite very bad police conduct, the officer was not charged in Toledo's
>>death and neither officer attempted to cover up the bad act. In fact,
>>after the police officer shot Toledo he tried to resusitate him but it
>>wasn't possible.

>>I have no idea if he's still on the job. He shouldn't be.

>I disagree. From what I remember from the police body-cam footage,
>the kid dropped the gun while _simultaneously_ turning around and
>putting his hands up.

Those were the cop's instructions.

>The cop had to a make a life or (his own) death decision in a fraction
>of a second, after chasing down the kid WHO HAD A GUN IN HIS HAND.

That was my initial reaction, yes, but BTR1701 talked me out of it. The
police officer gave Toledo specific instructions which Toledo followed
to the letter. This is known from the body cam and audio recording from
the police officer.

>An unfortunate but justified shooting IMO, the kid was a dumbass and
>paid for his stupidity with his life. Let it be a lesson to others: don't run
>from the cops and especially, don't run from the cops with A GUN IN
>YOUR HAND.

The shooting wasn't ruled justified.