The mother of a security guard gunned down by Chicago police moments after he detained a gunman, is suing the officer who killed her son. A lawyer for Beatrice Roberson filed a federal lawsuit Monday (Nov. 12) citing unprovoked, unjustified and “excessive and unreasonable” force, TMZ reports.
The victim, Jemel Roberson, was shot to death Sunday (Nov. 11), inside Manny’s Blue Room Bar in Robbins, Ill., where he helped apprehend a group who had been kicked out of the bar for being unruly. The men returned to the location and opened fire, at which point Roberson sprung into action. Roberson’s mother is seeking at least $1 million in the lawsuit.
“He had somebody on the ground with his knee in back, with his gun in his back like, ‘Don’t move,'” witness Adam Harris recalled, according to Chicago’s WGNTV.
Police responded to the scene at around 4 a.m. Sunday. One of the officers shot and killed Roberson after stepping inside the bar. Roberson had the shooting suspect “on the ground” when police arrived.
“Everybody was screaming out, ‘Security!’ He was a security guard,” Harris continued. “And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him.”
The Cook County sheriff’s department charged one man in connection with the shooting that Roberson attempted to thwart. The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force is investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Chief Daniel Delaney, of the Midlothian Police Department, confirmed the shooting stating in part that the officer “encountered a subject with a gun and was involved in an officer-involved shooting.” Roberson was pronounced dead at an area hospital, Delaney said.
Besides working as a bouncer, Roberson was also an organist at Chicago’s New Spiritual Light Baptist Church. The 26-year-old father was also an aspiring police officer and was licensed to carry a firearm.
“How in the world does the security guard get shot by police?” the church’s pastor Walter Turner said. “A young man that was literally doing his job and now he’s gone.”
Roberson’s loved ones described him as a “gifted basketball player and musician” who was “greatly loved by all who knew him.” The family has launched a Go Fund Me page to raise money for Roberson’s funeral.