Bodycam Shows Officer Rivera's Final Moments
- Footage released capturing last moments of Chicago police officer Krystal Rivera before fatal shooting. - Appellate court overruled protective order blocking video's public release. - Provides insight into tragic incident for family and public. (patch.com)
Chicago released body-camera video on April 17 showing Officer Krystal Rivera being fatally shot by her partner during a June 5, 2025 foot pursuit in Chatham. (chicagocopa.org) The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said it had been blocked from releasing the footage since June 13, 2025, under a court order in *People v. Adrian Rucker*. That order was vacated on March 27, 2026. (chicagocopa.org) Video from Officer Carlos Baker’s camera shows Baker and Rivera chasing a man into an apartment building near 8200 South Drexel Avenue at about 9:50 p.m. Prosecutors said the man, later identified as Jaylin Arnold, appeared to have a large bulge under his jacket consistent with a drum magazine. (news.wttw.com) As Arnold ran into a second-floor apartment, Baker turned and fired one shot while Rivera was directly behind him in the hallway. Chicago police have described the shooting as an unintentional discharge by Baker. (abc7chicago.com) The released footage adds detail that was not public when Rivera died at age 36. NBC News reported Baker returned to her side after 1 minute, 44 seconds, after first running upstairs and radioing that shots had been fired at police. (nbcnews.com) WTTW reported the videos show Baker waited about two minutes before responding to Rivera as she lay wounded. Baker’s lawyer, Tim Grace, said Friday that Baker “did everything in his power and training” to render aid and that the gun fired unintentionally. (news.wttw.com) The court fight over the video had become a test of how much the public can see in police shooting cases. The intervenors who challenged the secrecy order included the Better Government Association, the Chicago Sun-Times, NBC Chicago and Jamie Kalven of the Invisible Institute. (ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net) Rivera’s family filed a wrongful death suit in December 2025 against Baker, the city and the Chicago Police Department. The suit says Rivera and Baker had previously been in a romantic relationship and alleges Baker was struggling to accept that Rivera had ended it. (nbcchicago.com) Baker has not been charged with a crime, and COPA’s investigation remains open. The video release gives Rivera’s family and the public the first official view of the seconds before she was shot and the minutes after she fell. (nbcnews.com)
