Chicago’s police oversight agency has cleared two officers in a 2024 Pilsen shooting, finding one was justified in fatally shooting an armed 16-year-old and the other was justified in firing at a person who ran from the scene.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability released its findings on Thursday night in the August 18, 2024, shooting death of Alex Cortez, of Plainfield. COPA previously said state law barred it from releasing video of the incident or identifying Cortez by name because he was a juvenile. CWB Chicago identified him through other public records.
CPD has said its own investigation found that Cortez was one of two people who opened fire on a nearby vehicle before the officers arrived, critically wounding two occupants. Again, CPD did not identify Cortez by name.
Around 1:16 a.m., Officers Jeter Stokes and Emmerick Stolz, both assigned to CPD’s Robbery Task Force, were stopped at the intersection of 18th Street and Blue Island Avenue in a marked squad car when they heard a barrage of gunfire. Stolz told COPA’s investigators that he looked to his right and saw two armed subjects running into a parking lot.
As Stolz pulled a U-turn to follow them, Cortez stopped, turned, and faced the front passenger side of the squad car at close range, COPA determined. Cortez raised a firearm to his chest and Stokes, seated in the squad car’s passenger seat, fired through the front windshield and passenger side window, striking Cortez, who fell to the ground and dropped a firearm beside the vehicle.
COPA said the other subject kept running. Stolz exited the driver’s side and fired two rounds in that person’s direction, but those shots did not hit anyone, and the second subject escaped.
Investigators determined that neither Cortez nor the other subject had fired any shots during the encounter. Even so, the agency cleared both officers.
COPA found that Stokes’ body camera footage “largely verifies his account” of the incident and concluded his use of force was “reasonable, necessary, and proportionate to the imminent threat.” The investigation summary also noted that Stokes stopped firing when Cortez fell and dropped the gun.
Stolz’s situation was more complicated, but his actions were still found to be within policy. COPA said he fired at the fleeing subject, believing that the person had shot out the squad car’s windshield. In fact, the windshield shattered because Stokes had fired through it at Cortez. But the agency still cleared Stolz, saying his mistaken belief was understandable given the chaos of the moment.
“Officer Stolz’s perception of what he believed occurred at that time, based on the totality of the circumstances, is relevant,” COPA wrote in its findings.
While Stolz was retrieving his medical kit to treat Cortez, a crowd gathered from across the street and became hostile toward the officers and someone shoved Stolz to the ground.
COPA said Stokes kept his weapon pointed toward the advancing crowd, ordering people to step back, with one bystander responding, “Or what, you gonna shoot me?” Additional officers arrived shortly after to help secure the scene.
In 2021, after a Chicago police officer fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo, COPA released a collection of evidence, including the bodycam footage of an officer shooting Toledo. However, a court ruling handed down in 2022 now prohibits them from releasing video of shootings involving juveniles, including Cortez, according to a COPA spokesperson.
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