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Jemel Roberson, Security Guard Who Protected Illinois Bar From Shooter, Gets Killed By Police
Jemel Roberson, Security Guard Who Protected Illinois Bar From Shooter, Gets Killed By Police

Security Guard Gets Killed By Police While Protecting Illinois Bar From Shooter

Jemel Roberson, Security Guard Who Protected Illinois Bar From Shooter, Gets Killed By Police Source: WGN-TV

A security guard at an Illinois bar who was protecting the business against a man who opened fire was fatally shot by police.

READ: Dallas Cop Enters Apartment She Mistakes For Her Own And Fatally Shoots Man Inside

Jemel Roberson was working as a security guard at Manny's Blue Room Bar in Robbins, Illinois, and had asked a group of drunken men to leave around 4 a.m. on Sunday, according to WGN9. One of the men returned with a gun and opened fire; Roberson returned fire and apprehended one of the men outside of the bar.

"He had somebody on the ground with his knee in back, with his gun in his back like, 'Don’t move,'" Adam Harris, a witness, said.

A Midlothian police officer responding to the scene then fired at Roberson and killed him.

"Everybody was screaming out, 'Security!' He was a security guard," Harris said. "And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him."

Roberson was 26.

Midlothian police have released a statement on the incident and confirmed that two officers from the department responded to the scene of the shooting and that one of them opened fire.

"A Midlothian officer encountered a subject with a gun and was involved in an officer-involved shooting. The subject the officer shot was later pronounced deceased at an area hospital," the statement read.

A spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff's Office also said Roberson had a valid firearm owner's identification card (FOID), but did not have a concealed-carry license.

According to friends of Roberson's, the 26-year-old was a musician who played keyboard and drums at several Chicago-area churches. He also wanted to become a police officer.

"Every artist he's ever played for every musician he's ever sat beside, we're all just broken because we have no answers," the Rev. Patricia Hill of Purposed Church said. "He was getting ready to train and do all that stuff, so the very people he wanted to be family with, took his life."

The Cook County Sheriff's Office is handling the criminal investigation of the original shooting, while the State Police Public Integrity Task Force is investigating the police-involved shooting.

Source: WGN9