Chicago police leaders have issued an “officer safety alert” to cops saying the department’s narcotics unit learned that factions of the Latin Kings in the Ogden patrol district on the Southwest Side “were instructed by ranking members to shoot at unmarked Chicago police vehicles.”
The alert sent out Thursday said factions of the gang planned to retaliate following the fatal police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo at about 2 a.m. March 29 in an alley in the 2400 block of South Sawyer.
According to the alert, Latin Kings members were likely to shoot at a passing unmarked Chicago police vehicle and flee. It didn’t specify why the Kings would be retaliating. The police department’s News Affairs office declined to comment.
The warning covered a large portion of Little Village — between 23rd and 28th streets and between Lawndale Avenue on the west and Whipple Street on the east.
Police officials previously said that on the morning of the shooting, officers responded to reports of gunfire and found Adam and a man in an alley to the west of the 2300 block of South Sawyer Avenue.
An officer chased Adam — who police said was armed — and then shot him in the chest behind Farragut Career Academy High School. Police shared a photo of a gun allegedly recovered at the scene.
It wasn’t until two days later that the boy’s mother was notified of his death — and three days later until authorities revealed publicly that he was just 13.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates all city police shootings, said Friday it would show the “troubling video footage” of the encounter to the Toledo family before releasing it to the public.
Contributing: Sam Kelly
