Bodycam Reveals Officer Rivera's Final Moments

Chicago released body-camera video on April 17 showing Officer Krystal Rivera being fatally shot by her partner during a 2025 chase in Chatham. (chicagocopa.org) The Civilian Office of Police Accountability said Rivera, 36, was killed on June 5, 2025, near 8200 South Drexel after officers chased a suspect into an apartment building. NBC Chicago reported the footage shows Officer Carlos Baker kicking in a unit door, a gunshot sounding, and Rivera collapsing in the hallway behind him. (nbcchicago.com) COPA said a June 13, 2025 court order in *People v. Adrian Rucker* had blocked release of the material for 10 months. That order was vacated on March 27, 2026, and COPA then posted body-worn camera video, third-party video, radio traffic, tactical response reports, and case reports. (chicagocopa.org) An Illinois Appellate Court panel reversed Cook County Judge Barbara Dawkins after media outlets argued the court had no legal basis to keep public records sealed from a nonparty city agency. The unpublished opinion said the trial court had applied the wrong law, while leaving room for narrower future motions. (patch.com, ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net) The release also sharpened scrutiny of what Baker did after the shot. WBEZ and Illinois Answers reported the video shows him retreating up the stairs and waiting roughly 90 seconds to two minutes before reaching Rivera as she lay wounded. (wbez.org, illinoisanswers.org) Rivera’s family sued the city in December 2025, alleging Baker turned and shot her in the back and did not promptly call for help. The complaint also said Baker had 11 misconduct complaints, including five from his probationary period, and that Rivera had raised concerns about working with him. (nbcchicago.com, patch.com) Prosecutors have described the shooting as accidental, and the appellate ruling did not decide Baker’s civil or criminal liability. The court fight was about whether the public could see records tied to a police shooting that did not come from a suspect’s gun. (nbcnews.com, ilcourtsaudio.blob.core.windows.net) What is no longer disputed is that the video is public now, nearly a year after Rivera’s death. The next fights are likely to stay in court, where her family’s lawsuit and the city’s response will test what the footage means. (chicagocopa.org, patch.com)