Body-Cam Footage Captures Deadly Shooting Of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera

CHICAGO—Harrowing video footage of the last moments of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera’s life before she was fatally shot last summer by friendly fire was released Friday by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates allegations of police misconduct.

The 36-year-old officer was shot by her partner, Carlos Baker, an officer with a long and troubling disciplinary record, while chasing a suspect believed to be armed into an apartment building on the city’s South Side in June 2025.

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In the days immediately following her death, Chicago police later determined that the only weapon discharged during the encounter came from Rivera’s partner, whose gunfire “unintentionally” struck Rivera.

An appellate court lifted an order by a Cook County judge last June limiting the release of body-cam footage showing the officer’s fatal shooting. The panel of appellate judges stated that Cook County Judge Barbara Dawkins incorrectly denied a motion filed last year by several Chicago media outlets to lift a protective order on the body-cam footage. The body-cam video was released last week.

Both officers had had a dating relationship known to their superiors, but Rivera’s family said in their lawsuit that she broke it off when she discovered her partner was living with another woman and had requested a change in partners. Chicago police contend the shooting was accidental, but the officer’s family has filed a wrongful death suit against the City of Chicago and Rivera’s partner. Her family alleges the officer’s death was caused by Baker’s “willful and wanton conduct.”

The collection of videos and investigatory reports is available on the COPA website, however, viewer discretion is advised due to their graphic nature.

The video from the shooter’s perspective shows Rivera and her partner pulling up to the 8200 block of South Drexel Avenue around 9:45 p.m. on June 5, 2025. Rivera says, “c’mere” to a man alleged to have fled a street stop, standing at the entry door trying to get into the building.

The man is buzzed into the building. The officers press multiple doorbells until they, too, are buzzed in. They chase him, running up several flights of stairs, a series of sharp corners, and dark, narrow hallways.

Baker kicks in the door to the unit where the suspect had fled, and the pair enter. In another video, an armed man appears, pointing an AR style rifle at the officers. A shot is heard. Baker ascends up a flight of stairs. He’s breathing heavily and looking down at his shoes. He’s yelling into his radio, “SHOTS FIRED AT POLICE.”

Baker yells at someone in another unit to call the police. “Somebody get shot?” He hollers back that his partner has been shot. Baker continues yelling into his radio, and calls for SWAT backup. He looks down the staircase where the door is still open from the unit he had breeched moments before. He calls for Rivera.

Eventually he goes back downstairs to the second floor, where Rivera is lying motionless on her back in the hallway. Baker begins dragging her down the stairs by her vest. Her eyes are open. He says, “Stay with me, Krys.”

The video does not show him immediately rendering aid.

In a written statement released to WGN, Baker’s attorney says the true culprit is the suspect who fled the investigatory stop and the second person who emerged from a bedroom pointing an AR-style rifle.

“The facts are clear that Officer Baker breached the door on that fateful night and was facing the lethal end of a rifle. While moving to seek cover and unbeknownst to him, his weapon unintentionally discharged striking Krystal,” the statement says in part.

“The true facts will reveal that Carlos immediately called for EMS, carried Krystal to safety, and ensured she was being transported to the hospital,” Baker’s attorney’s statement continues. “He then reentered the apartment to apprehend the offenders. The body-worn camera videos supports these facts and challenges the accuracy and veracity of the allegations made in the complaint.”

Baker has not been charged in his partner's shooting death. Two months after the fatal incident, Baker was stripped of his police powers in August 2025 after he was accused of attacking an off-duty police officer in a Wicker Park bar.

Antonio Romanucci, of the Romanucci & Blandin law firm, representing the family of Krystal Rivera, said the edited video clips released by COPA “raised a number of serious questions” because it was not all the body-worn video footage from the shooting.

“What has been released is a curated narrative meant to invent a false truth,” the family’s attorneys claim. “We know there is a considerable amount of body-worn camera footage in the immediate moments after Krystal was shot that has not been released. COPA and the Chicago Police Department should not select only the audio and video portions they believe relevant in order to perfect a cover story.”

The family’s legal team claims to have noticed “at least one discrepancy between the video they saw previously and what was released Friday from COPA. They stated that a full forensic audit of the footage would be conducted.

“We call for an independent investigation into Krystal's death and the CPD conduct that has followed. Indeed, we are suspicious of why the videos are released while an investigation is underway,” the family’s attorneys said.

At the time of Rivera’s death, Baker had allegedly accrued at least 11 misconduct complaints in less than three years on the force. Five of the allegations are said to have occurred while Baker was still a probationary officer.

“We reassert that Carlos Baker was unfit to be a Chicago Police Officer and that CPD put Krystal at risk by giving him a badge and a gun. More so, he failed in his duty to render life-saving aid to his Krystal after he shot her,” the family’s attorneys said.