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A Black security guard in Illinois was killed by a police officer following a call about a shooting, BuzzFeed News reports.
Jemel Roberson, 26, who was a security guard at Manny’s Blue Room Lounge in Robbins, Illinois was shot by Midlothian cop around 4 a.m. on Sunday, police confirmed.
Midlothian Police Department Chief Daniel Delaney told BuzzFeed News that the responding officer “learned there were several gunshot victims inside the bar.”
“Officers encountered a subject with a gun and was involved in an Officer involved shooting,” he told the site in a statement.
Law enforcement confirmed that Roberson later died in the hospital.
Witnesses told WGN9 that someone was drunk inside the bar, left after they were told to leave and came back with a gun where they began shooting inside.
“He had somebody on the ground with his knee in [the] back, with his gun in his back like, ‘Don’t move,’” Adam Harris, who witnessed Roberson subdue the suspect, told the local station.
“I guess when the police got there, they probably thought he was one of the bad guys, cause he had his gun on the guy and they shot him,” Harris continued.
Fox 32 News reporter Tia Ewing interviewed a witness who said that she never heard the police tell Roberson to put his gun down and felt that the cop was scared.
“A witness describes how she saw a Midlothian officer shoot and kill an armed on-duty security guard,” wrote Ewing on Twitter. “Family and friends of Jemel Roberson want answers, Illinois State Police are only saying they’re investigating.”
A witness describes how she saw a Midlothian officer shoot and kill a armed on-duty security guard. Family and friends of Jemel Roberson want answers, Illinois State Police are only saying they’re investigating. @fox32news pic.twitter.com/ajmU3bMDAC
— Tia A. Ewing (@TIA_EWING) November 12, 2018
Pastor LeAundre Hill said that Roberson played music at Purposed Church in Chicago.
“Jemel has played for @PurposedChurch for the last several years and just played for my grandma’s funeral Friday and now he is gone,” he wrote. “Rest In Peace #JemelRoberson #JusticeForJemel.”
Jemel has played for @PurposedChurch for the last several years and just played for my grandma’s funeral Friday and now he is gone. ?
Rest In Peace #JemelRoberson#JusticeForJemel https://t.co/yLiI9WkCpC— LeAundre Hill (@PastorDreHill) November 12, 2018
A GoFundMe page calling Roberson “the light of his [mother’s] life” and “a gifted basketball player and musician” who loved God was set up to cover his funeral costs.
The police-involved shooting incident is being investigated the Illinois State Police Public Integrity Task Force, per BuzzFeed News.
His mother, Beatrice Roberson, filed a lawsuit against the cop who killed her son on Monday saying that the shooting was “excessive and unreasonable,” according to TMZ.
She is seeking damages of more than $1 million, per the report.
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