COPA releases bodycam video of shooting that killed Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera

The Civilian Office of Police Accountability released video Friday of the deadly shooting that killed Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera.

Rivera died on June 5, 2025, after being "unintentionally" shot by her partner, Officer Carlos Baker, while chasing a suspect after an investigatory stop in Chatham.

COPA released multiple videos in the incident, including from Rivera's and Baker's body cameras.

In her bodycam video, Rivera sits in the passenger seat of the squad car. You can see her and Baker conduct their investigatory stop and chase a man to an apartment building. She rings multiple doorbells before the pair get into the building. 

Baker runs ahead of her, up the stairs, and Rivera's last words seem to be a warning — "careful" — before Baker kicks down the door and fires once. 

You hear a woman scream, before Rivera collapses on the floor. 

A closer look at surveillance video from inside the building show the person the two were pursuing. The door opens and someone runs inside, only for another person to point a gun at the entrance. 

In Baker's bodycam video, you can see him run up the stairs with Rivera behind him. When he kicks in the door, you can see the person wielding a gun. It doesn't appear that person shoots.

Baker turns, you can see Rivera in the hallway, and then the gunshot. 

For about two minutes, Baker's camera captures him waiting on the steps while Rivera is on the ground, shot. He calls for SWAT, then makes his way down the stairs to drag Rivera back to the lobby. Then other officers arrive.

The shooting sparked a wrongful death lawsuit from Rivera's family, calling Baker reckless and unfit for duty. It also revealed the two had a romantic relationship, which she ended upon learning he was dating someone else. The suit also claims Baker intentionally did not help her.

Baker was stripped of his police powers in August 2025 the day after CBS News Chicago reported on actions he took following an incident at a bar in Wicker Park. Baker made calls to neighboring businesses on Milwaukee Avenue and to a CBS News Chicago reporter, looking for surveillance video after a 29-year-old woman, also a CPD officer, called police to DSTRKT Bar and Grill and told them she'd been attacked by multiple people, including Baker.

Baker is still with CPD, but he is only tasked with handling non-emergency 311 calls.

Rivera's family said she had also asked to be separated professionally from Baker. She was killed a few weeks later.

CPD released a statement in the wake of the bodycam video, writing, "Our hearts remain with fallen Officer Krystal Rivera's family. These videos are difficult to watch, and we remind members of the public that there is an active Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) investigation, which CPD continues to cooperate with. Due to this active investigation, we have no further comment."

Antonio Romanucci, the attorney representing Rivera's family, released a statement after the video release which accused COPA of releasing "a curated narrative meant to invent a false truth."

"The edited video clips released by COPA today regarding the death of Chicago Police Officer Krystal Rivera raise a number of serious questions. The first and foremost being that this is NOT all of the body-worn video footage from the event," the statement read in part. 

"Our legal team, which had a prior viewing of the video, has noted at least one discrepancy between the video they saw previously and the version released today. We will conduct a full forensic video audit and analysis to investigate this concern and any others," it continued. 

The family, through their attorneys, said they still believe Baker was "unfit to be a Chicago Police Officer and that CPD put Krystal at risk by giving hm a badge and a gun. More so, he failed in his duty to render life-saving aid to Krystal after he shot her."

They said they look forward to their wrongful death suit being heard by a jury in court.