About 2:30 a.m. March 29, Roman and Toledo were walking together on South Sawyer Avenue toward 24th Street, prosecutors said. They can be distinguished in camera footage by their clothing: a gold jacket on Roman and a white hat on Toledo.
As they walked toward the corner, a vehicle drove by, and Roman walked up and got into a “shooting stance,” Assistant State’s Attorney James Murphy said in court.
Toledo, at first, backed away, the prosecutor said. But as Roman began firing, the teen walked up closer until he was just an arm’s length away from the shooter, according to Murphy.
Roman got off seven or eight shots, and the two quickly fled, Murphy said, Roman taking the lead and Toledo right behind.
A city ShotSpotter device detected the shots, which brought two uniformed Chicago police officers in a marked squad car to the scene in less than a minute. Roman and Toledo cut through an alley together, and police gave chase on foot, Murphy said.
Both of the officers’ body-worn cameras were recording, and one officer tackled Roman as Toledo kept running, the prosecutor said.
Toledo kept running as an officer ordered him to stop, then paused near a break in a wooden fence, Murphy said, and the officer then ordered Toledo to show his hands.
The officer told Toledo “drop it, drop it,” as Toledo turned toward the officer with a gun in his right hand, Murphy said.
The officer fired one shot, hitting Toledo in the chest. The gun he was holding landed a few feet away and was recovered, Murphy said.