Chicago City Wire

Chicago Interim Police Superintendent Eric Carter has recommended that Officer Eric Stillman be terminated for his role in the 2021 shooting death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

Stillman responded to a call of shots fired in the Little Village area on March 29, 2021. According to Chicago Sun Times, Stillman shot the teen once in the chest shortly after he dropped a handgun and raised his hands as if to surrender to the officer.

Carter, who preceded David Brown last month, has been speaking out on the recent case. 

According to the article, formal disciplinary charges have now been filed against Stillman, and top Chicago Police Department officials will be seeking his dismissal in hearings set to kick off early next month. Those charges filed with the Chicago Police Board have accused Stillman of using unnecessary deadly force, failing to follow his training on foot pursuits and being slow to activate his body-worn camera, the news report said.

Tim Grace, Stillman's attorney, made a statement declaring that policemen face high-risk situations, a fact not acknowledged in this case, he said.

“This case is a prime example of the tone-deafness of our oversight and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinarily dangerous situations that Chicago police officers find themselves [in] every day," Grace said in the article.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in March 2022 that her office would not prosecute Stillman, according to Sun Times.

“There are no winners in this situation,” Foxx said.

According to Sun Times, Police Board President Ghian Foreman recommended Stillman's dismissal last October but also called for a hearing before the police board to consider all the evidence.

“The parties and the public will benefit from a full evidentiary hearing on this matter, and so referring this matter for a hearing before the police board is the appropriate next step,” Foreman said.

The board proceedings of Stillman's case can reach a year out; so far, the officer faces seven violations related to unnecessary firearm use and misconduct, the article said.