Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Officer kills bar’s guard in Illinois

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CHICAGO — A police officer fatally shot an armed security guard who witnesses say was trying to detain a man involved in a shooting at a suburban Chicago bar, authoritie­s said.

Investigat­ors said 26-yearold Jemel Roberson was pronounced dead shortly after being taken to a hospital early Sunday after the shooting at Manny’s Blue Room in Robbins, just south of Chicago.

Four other people were shot and wounded during the incident, including a man who police believe fired a gun before police arrived, Cook County sheriff’s spokesman Sophia Ansari said.

When police arrived at the scene, Roberson was holding “somebody on the ground with his knee in his back, with his gun in his back,” witness Adam Harris told WGN-TV.

“Everybody is screaming out, ‘He’s a security guard,’” Harris said.

Roberson was licensed to carry a firearm, Ansari said.

Charges were pending Monday against the man who investigat­ors believe fired the initial shots during a dispute. His name has yet to be released, and he remained hospitaliz­ed Monday, Ansari said.

Investigat­ors said the initial gunfire was reported around 4 a.m. An officer responding from nearby Midlothian encountere­d and shot “a subject with a gun,” Midlothian Police Chief Daniel Delaney said in a statement. The person was later identified as Roberson.

No details have been released about the officer. Roberson, who was black, was the only person killed. The other four people who were shot suffered wounds that weren’t considered life-threatenin­g, Ansari said.

A federal lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of Roberson’s mother, Beatrice Robinson, against the officer and Midlothian.

Her attorney, Gregory Kulis, alleges that Roberson was outside the bar after apprehendi­ng one of the people involved in the shooting inside. When the officer came out of the bar, he shot Roberson, Kulis said.

Roberson was dressed entirely in black and wearing a hat with the word “Security” on the front, Kulis said.

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