Cop who killed Anthony Alvarez training new recruits

Content warning: graphic mentions of police violence

A Chicago police officer previously recommended for firing after a deadly foot pursuit is on the job again—and this time, he’s training rookies. 

Officer Evan Solano, who faced termination little more than two years ago after shooting and killing 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez, was promoted to the position of Field Training Officer (FTO) this past April. He has been training probationary police officers in the Northwest Side 16th District for the past six months, according to records obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.

Videos of the police killing sparked outrage and protests in the spring of 2021, calling for Solano and his partner, Officer Sammy Encarnacion, to be fired.

Investigators with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) also recommended separation for the two tactical officers—but then-superintendent David Brown disagreed. In the end, COPA’s recommendation to fire Solano was overridden by the superintendent and police board, landing him a suspension of only twenty days. Alvarez’s family would later file a federal civil rights suit against the city.

Officer Solano was stripped of his badge between June 2021 and October 2022. During that time, he was detailed to the Alternate Response Section, a landing pad for cops with serious misconduct issues under investigation. 

In total, Solano spent most of the past three years on desk duty, pending the investigation and disciplinary proceedings. Less than four months after finally returning to his beat in the 16th District, he was promoted to his new training role.

His partner Encarnacion would eventually resign in 2023 after COPA recommended separation following two other unrelated investigations. He was found to have violated several department policies, including a pattern of intoxication off-duty, domestic violence, and another incident where he opened fire on people running away.

Solano has also faced other investigations. Just two months after killing Alvarez, he made headlines following a road rage incident in Logan Square. Witness video showed him in the street, brandishing a firearm, and arguing with another driver. 

CPD’s Bureau of Internal Affairs closed their investigation into that incident, citing the lack of a sworn affidavit.

Solano and Encarnacion were also investigated for their role in an alcohol-fueled fight in a Northwest Side Irish bar that left both officers bloodied in September 2020. It is unclear whether BIA has ever completed the investigation.

“Why are you shooting me?”

Solano and Encarnacion told investigators they were previously familiar with Alvarez, though their past encounters with him were not violent.

One day before Solano shot Alvarez, they said, they recognized him in a parked car. They then ran a search on his license plate, which showed he was driving on a suspended license. 

Alvarez drove away from the officers that night. The two cops said they chose not to pursue him since they knew who he was and where he lived. They made no report about any attempt to pull Alvarez over for an investigatory stop or about the suspended license, but they would use this as justification for chasing him the following evening.

It was just after midnight on March 31, 2021 when Solano and Encarnacion spotted Anthony Alvarez at a gas station, carrying a bag of food and a drink in a styrofoam cup. 

They immediately turned on the emergency lights in their unmarked SUV, and accelerated toward him in the dark. 

Alvarez, seemingly taken by surprise, dropped the items he was carrying, and ran from the oncoming vehicle.

Solano jumped out of the car, rounded a corner, and shot Alvarez in the back as he fled. 

The entire foot chase lasted one minute.

“Why are you shooting me?” Alvarez asked as he slumped to the ground.

Nearly two minutes passed before officers began rendering aid. The gruesome scene was captured on a neighbor’s camera, pointed toward their front lawn.

Solano later told investigators he thought Alvarez was turning to shoot at him.

The police board ultimately concluded that video shows Alvarez stumbling, and he “was attempting to regain his footing—not positioning himself to take a shot at the officers.” 

The board also ruled, however, that the officers’ decision to chase Alvarez and shoot him under these circumstances was “reasonable,” and consistent with department policy. Solano and Encarnacion were disciplined not for the killing, but because they both violated other policies during the encounter, such as delaying the activation of their body worn cameras.

Alvarez was found to have had a mobile phone in one hand, and a gun in the other. At no point is he seen on video aiming his gun at police. As he ran, he appeared to attempt to use his phone, however.

Alvarez suffered two gunshot wounds—one to the back, and one to his left leg. In video of the incident, Officer Solano is seen applying chest compressions while his partner applied a tourniquet to Alvarez’s uninjured right leg.

He was taken to the hospital where he died a short time later.

While COPA determined the police officers violated the department’s foot pursuit training, Superintendent Brown argued it was “debatable” whether the department’s training bulletin “qualifies as training.”

It was no secret that Chicago needed a new foot pursuit policy. In 2017, the Department of Justice issued a report following a comprehensive investigation into CPD after an officer murdered Laquan McDonald. Regarding foot pursuits, the DOJ said, “officers engage in tactically unsound and unnecessary foot pursuits, and that these foot pursuits too often end with officers unreasonably shooting someone.”

On March 29, just two days before Alvarez was killed, Officer Eric Stillman chased, shot, and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo. More than a year after the deaths of Toledo and Alvarez, the department finally issued a new policy.

The new policy creates more reporting requirements following foot pursuits, but still leaves much up to the discretion of officers.

Since January 2019, the department has been operating under a federal consent decree. The oversight process, coordinated by both a federal judge and an independent monitor, promises to restore community trust in the department and speed police reform. According to the independent monitor, from March of 2020 until the beginning of 2021, CPD engaged in 1,300 police foot pursuits, with 382 of those ending with the use of force.

On October 17, the police board decided, in agreement with COPA, to vote on the dismissal of Officer Fernando Ruiz, who fatally shot 24-year-old Reginald Clay Jr. after chasing him into an gangway in Garfield Park. The actual fate of Ruiz’s employment remains unknown, as a court battle that could potentially give cops the right to decide upon arbitration instead of a police board hearing continues.

“Guiding behavior and shaping attitudes”

CPD holds their field training officers in high regard. Their duties include “driving the Department’s culture by guiding the behavior and shaping attitudes of Probationary Police Officers (PPOs) in the field.”

FTOs qualify for the position if their disciplinary history meets certain minimum requirements. They also must pass a specialized exam. Once promoted, they train and evaluate probationary officers on topics such as department policies, use of force, and de-escalation techniques.

Department policy defines an “acceptable” disciplinary history for consideration for an FTO role as no more than a seven day suspension in the previous twelve months. Police officers seeking the role must also not have been suspended more than three times in the past five years.

Despite his history and lack of recent field experience, Solano appears to meet CPD’s requirements for the promotion.

A spokesperson for CPD confirmed Solano’s current assignment, but did not respond to other questions.

According to police records obtained via FOIA, there were 375 FTOs working in the department in September. Eight of them have been stripped of their powers and currently take non-emergency calls in the Alternate Response Section.

FTOs have also faced serious allegations in recent years.

Officer Daniel Otero was accused of sexual assault after he responded to a burglary at a 22-year-old woman’s residence in 2016. Both COPA and Superintendent Brown recommended termination for Otero, but in June 2023, the police board overruled them, settling on a nine month suspension instead.

This past August, 2nd District FTO David Ross was stripped of his police powers after body worn camera video showed him choking a handcuffed boy experiencing a mental health crisis.

COPA described the video as showing the child “making gurgling sounds, clawing at the officer’s fist and gasping for air.”

“I can’t breathe,” he said.

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Read the documents:
COPA’s Final Summary Report
Superintendent’s Non-Concurrence
COPA’s Request for Police Board Review
Police Board Member Review