CNN's Don Lemon Admits 'Not All Police Shootings Are Equal' in Wake of Adam Toledo's Death

CNN’s Don Lemon admitted during a segment of his show Thursday night that “not all police shootings are equal,” urging viewers to understand police officers are often forced — as was the case with the death of 13-year-old Adam Toledo — “to make decisions in split seconds.”

“If I’m a police officer out there, if I’m anyone out there and there’s been a shooting and … if someone’s running with a gun, and they turn around, police officers have to make decisions in split seconds,” Lemon said. “When you look at the video and you look at the instant, in an instance — the officer probably doesn’t know that the kid is 13, right?”

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Toledo was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer on the night of March 29, when he attempted to flee the scene. Bodycam footage from the encounter showed an unidentified officer pursuing Toledo and another unnamed male when the officer who shot Toledo told him to “stop right [expletive] now!”

Seconds later, after telling Toledo to “drop it,” the officer fatally shot the teenage boy. Police recovered a gun on the ground near Toledo’s body, according to WMAQ-TV.

The exacerbated officer can be heard saying, “Stay with me, stay with me,” as he rushed over to Toledo’s body. He then began doing chest compressions on the boy.

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo told Lemon Toledo might have dropped the firearm right before he was fatally shot by the officer. In response, Lemon said, “If someone comes into your house and you’re like, ‘Drop the gun,’ and they, say, turn around, you don’t know if they’re following your command or you don’t know — you understand what I’m saying?”

“I think, at this point, we cannot judge all police shootings — we cannot put them all in the same realm,” he continued. “They make split-second decisions and, sometimes, they’re tragic. Sometimes, they’re unwarranted and, sometimes, they are not.”

“It’s terrible that this is a 13-year-old boy and his family is suffering,” the anchor added. “But we have to see what happens.”

Ultimately, Lemon said he believes the officer likely made the “right” call.