Security guard ordered to drop gun, police say
Officer killed bar employee who was subduing suspect
CHICAGO – A security guard who was shot to death by police outside a suburban Chicago bar this week was given “multiple verbal commands” to drop his weapon before an officer fired, Illinois State Police said in preliminary findings.
Jemel Roberson, 26, who worked as an armed guard at Manny’s Blue Room Lounge, was pinning down a suspect outside the bar in Robbins, Illinois, early Sunday morning when the police officer shot him. The person Roberson apprehended had allegedly fired a weapon inside the bar moments earlier, wounding multiple people and drawing police from surrounding jurisdictions to rush to the establishment.
The officer from neighboring Midlothian who killed Roberson saw a man decked out in “plain black clothing with no markings readily identifying him as a security guard, armed with a gun,” the state police Public Integrity Task Force said.
“According to witness statements, the Midlothian Officer gave the armed subject multiple verbal commands to drop the gun and get on the ground before ultimately discharging his weapon and striking the subject,” state police said in a statement late Tuesday.
Gregory Kulis, an attorney representing Roberson’s mother, said Roberson wore a hat emblazoned with the word “SECURITY.”
“Everybody was screaming out he was a security guard,” witness Adam Harris told WGN-TV. “And they basically saw a black man with a gun and killed him.”
Authorities did not release the name of the officer, who is white. Midlothian Police Chief Daniel Delaney said the officer joined the department nearly four years ago after working for another law enforcement agency. The officer was a team leader for a regional SWAT team assembled by police departments in Chicago’s south suburbs.
“We view this as the equivalent of a ‘blue on blue,’ friendly-fire incident,” Delaney said.
In an initial statement on the incident, Delaney referred to Roberson as “a subject with a gun.” He later praised Roberson.
“The Midlothian Police Department is completely saddened by this tragic incident, and we give our heartfelt condolences to Jemel, his family and his friends,” he said. “There are no words that can be expressed as to the sorrow his family is dealing with.”
The preliminary investigation found that the incident started around 4 a.m. Sunday when an armed person entered the lounge and fired, striking multiple people.
The suspect suffered non-lifethreatening wounds and was hospitalized. He has not been charged. The Cook County Sheriff ’s Office is investigating the shooting inside the bar.
Illinois State Police Sgt. Jacqueline Cepeda said there is no timeline for completing the investigation of the police shooting. She declined to say whether the officer wore a body camera or whether the incident was captured by any other video surveillance.
Cepeda said the task force will present its findings to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office prosecution bureau, which will determine whether the shooting was legally justified or whether charges against the officer are merited.
State police asked any witnesses who saw the officer shoot Roberson or have knowledge about what happened inside the bar to come forward.
Beatrice Roberson, the security guard’s mother, filed a federal lawsuit against Midlothian and the officer – identified only as John Doe – seeking more than $1 million in damages.
She called the officer’s action “unprovoked” and an “excessive and unreasonable” use of force.
Roberson suffered multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Robbins is a predominantly black community of about 5,500 residents south of Chicago.
“We view this as the equivalent of a ‘blue on blue,’ friendly-fire incident.” Daniel Delaney Midlothian police chief