New Video Reveals Officer's Fatal Shooting

Chicago’s police watchdog released body-camera video Friday showing Officer Krystal Rivera being fatally shot by her partner during a South Side foot chase on June 5, 2025. (chicagocopa.org) The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said Rivera, 36, died after Officer Carlos Baker fired as the two chased a suspect into an apartment building near 8200 South Drexel in Chatham. COPA said a June 13, 2025 court order had blocked release of the material until that order was vacated on March 27, 2026. (chicagocopa.org) Video reviewed by local outlets shows Baker firing one shot inside the building after the officers encountered a man police believed was armed. Chicago police have described Rivera’s death as an unintentional shooting by her partner. (abc7chicago.com, wgntv.com) The release reopened questions about what happened in the seconds after the shot. The Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and Block Club Chicago reported the footage shows Baker moving up a stairwell and waiting roughly 90 seconds to nearly two minutes before giving Rivera aid. (chicago.suntimes.com, wbez.org, blockclubchicago.org) That timing is central to Rivera family claims filed in a wrongful-death lawsuit in December 2025. NBC Chicago reported the suit says Baker turned and shot Rivera in the back after kicking in a door, then did not immediately call for help. (nbcchicago.com, nbcnews.com) Baker told investigators he would never intentionally shoot Rivera, according to WBEZ’s report on COPA records. Prosecutors have treated the case as an accidental shooting, and no public charging announcement against Baker was reported in the Friday coverage. (wbez.org, nbcchicago.com) The footage also revived scrutiny of the tactic that took the officers into the building. ABC7 Chicago said former law-enforcement sources described the doorway and stairwell approach as a “fatal funnel,” a term for a narrow entry point where officers have limited cover and visibility. (abc7chicago.com) Rivera was a four-year Chicago Police Department veteran, and her death drew citywide mourning in June 2025. Ten months later, the public can now see the encounter that had been described for months only through official statements, court filings and family allegations. (wgntv.com, chicagocopa.org) COPA said its investigation remains open, and the released videos are now part of the public record. The next fight is likely to center on whether the footage supports the city’s account of an accident or the family’s argument that Baker’s actions before and after the shot demand outside accountability. (chicagocopa.org, wgntv.com, nbcnews.com)