Black security guard who stops shooter is then shot and killed by police

[Suppressed]

Black security guard who stops shooter is then shot and killed by police
BY MEGAN KELLER. November 12, 2018 - 12:50 PM EST

A police officer responding to a shooting in a Chicago-area bar shot and killed a black security guard who had subdued and disarmed the shooter.

[...]

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/416255-black-security-guard-stops-shooter-then-is-shot-by-police-while-holding

[DB]

Pretty sad story. There should be consequences for police officers when they make major mistakes like this. At a minimum they should find another line of work.

[Elderberry]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/us/police-officer-shoots-security-guard-chicago.html

Witnesses said that people in the crowd had yelled to arriving police officers that Mr. Roberson, who was wearing gear that read “Security,” was a guard. Ms. Ansari confirmed that Mr. Roberson worked for the bar.

“Everybody was screaming out, ‘Security!’,” one witness, Adam Harris, told WGN-TV. “He was a security guard. And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him.”

On Monday, Mr. Roberson’s mother, Beatrice Roberson, filed a federal lawsuit against the unnamed police officer and the village of Midlothian. It alleges that the shooting was unprovoked, unjustified, excessive and unreasonable.

Ms. Ansari said the man who initially opened fire at the bar had not yet been charged. She said he was still at a hospital.

The shooting of Mr. Roberson is being investigated by the Illinois State Police, who did not return a call for comment.

Family friends of Mr. Roberson’s said he had worked as an organist at several local churches and had once dreamed of becoming a police officer himself, according to local news reports. Mr. Roberson had a state firearm owner’s identification card, Ms. Ansari said, which authorized his possession of firearms.

Mr. Roberson had planned to play later that day at New Spiritual Light Baptist Church, the pastor, Walter Turner, told the local ABC affiliate.

[240B]

Doesn't matter at all what nationality you are or what color your skin is, at home or in public, if you are a justified shooter and down a perp, drop the gun if the situation is safe. If the police show up to an active shooting call, and you are holding a gun, bad things will happen.

Read a story about a guy who shot a perp in his home. For whatever reason, he put the gun in his bathroom sink on the second floor, went downstairs and laid facedown on the floor of his living room waiting for the Police. Kind of an odd solution, but he did not get shot.

He was right to get the gun as far away from him as he thought possible.

[mountaineer]

Not excusing the police at all, but some have pointed out that with gun laws there being as restrictive as they are, cops probably assumed any person with a gun is a bad guy and not a good guy - regardless of skin tone.

[Elderberry]

Perhaps in that situation it would be better to call the coroner instead of the police.

[mountaineer]

Doesn't matter at all what nationality you are or what color your skin is, at home or in public, if you are a justified shooter and down a perp, drop the gun if the situation is safe. If the police show up to an active shooting call, and you are holding a gun, bad things will happen.

Exactly. Perhaps one of the stories on this particular shooting indicates whether the security guard could have put down the gun or felt he had to hold the perp at gunpoint to maintain control of the situation.

[240B]

Exactly. Perhaps one of the stories on this particular shooting indicates whether the security guard could have put down the gun or felt he had to hold the perp at gunpoint to maintain control of the situation.

I understand. Or there could be more than one bad guy. But once the Cops show up, get rid of the gun. Never walk toward a Cop(s) holding a weapon of any kind, but especially a firearm.

No matter who you are or what the situation is. 90% chance you will get shot. So many people have made that mistake because, 'Hey! I'm on your side'. But the Cops don't know that.

[sneakypete]

Pretty sad story. There should be consequences for police officers when they make major mistakes like this. At a minimum they should find another line of work.

@DB

I disagree. At a minimum they should get prison time. They are TRAINED police officers,and are not supposed to panic at the sight of a gun and just start shooting.

I also have to wonder if a huge part of the reason we have so many police shooting innocent people by mistake in this country is related to the cops KNOWING they are not going to face either criminal or civil charges.

Making them responsible might MAKE them responsible.

[Elderberry]

So the police killed the security guard to protect the captured shooter from being harmed as Jemel was not aiming his gun at the police.

Witnesses said security had asked several drunk men to leave the bar, and at least one person returned to the bar and opened fire, CNN affiliate WGN reported.

A bartender was among the victims of that shooting, according to the lawsuit.

After the shooting, Roberson "had somebody on the ground ... with his knee in back, with his gun in his back like, 'Don't move,'" Adam Harris, a witness, told WGN.

"We all yelled. 'He's a security. He's a security,' and without ... giving any thought, they shot him," Harris told the station. "The vest said security as well, ... and they shot him in the side."

[mountaineer]

I understand. Or there could be more than one bad guy. But once the Cops show up, get rid of the gun. Never walk toward a Cop(s) holding a weapon of any kind, but especially a firearm.

No matter who you are or what the situation is. 90% chance you will get shot. So many people have made that mistake because, 'Hey! I'm on your side'. But the Cops don't know that.

Absolutely. That's been drummed into us during church security training.

[sneakypete]

Exactly. Perhaps one of the stories on this particular shooting indicates whether the security guard could have put down the gun or felt he had to hold the perp at gunpoint to maintain control of the situation.

@240B  @mountaineer

Yeah,what could possibly go wrong with sitting your gun down on the ground in a bar parking lot while surrounded by drunks and waiting for the cops to show up? ESPECIALLY after someone else has already been shot,and it is likely they have pissed-off drunken friends standing around?.

The guy had big "Security" letters on the back of his vest,and the crowd was screaming "He's security!" to the rabbit with the badge and the gun.

In an IDEAL situation,you would unload your gun and lay it on the ground next to you when the police cars come to a stop near you,but this was far from an ideal situation. Anything can and will happen in bar parking lots,

[mountaineer]

It appears the police failed to assess the situation properly. Did they say to the guy in the security vest, "Drop the gun" or did they shoot first, ask questions later? Could the security guard have holstered his weapon? We're all Monday morning quarterbacking, I'd say.

[240B]

A Cop who shoots an innocent never gets off entirely. Even if they somehow get out of criminal prosecution, their career is basically over. Also, unless they are a psychopath, just living with what they did drives some of them crazy(PTSD,drugs,alcohol). The guy that shot that security guard will not be Cop very much longer. And then he has to live with what he did for the rest of his life. How do you sleep after that? Where are they going to find a job after?

My opinion is the idea that Cops shoot because they know they will not go to jail, is not correct. There are a lot more ramifications for Cops from an unjustified killing than only jail.

[Elderberry]

https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/supreme-court-gives-police-green-light-shoot

The Supreme Court Gives Police a Green Light to ‘Shoot First and Think Later’

By Emma Andersson, Senior Staff Attorney, Criminal Law Reform Project
April 9, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The Supreme Court just ruled that a police officer could not be sued for gunning down Amy Hughes. This has vast implications for law enforcement accountability. The details of the case are as damning as the decision. Hughes was not suspected of a crime. She was simply standing still, holding a kitchen knife at her side. The officer gave no warning that he was going to shoot her if she did not comply with his commands. Moments later, the officer shot her four times.

“Shoot first and think later,” according to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, is what the officer did.

As Sotomayor argued in dissent, the court’s decision in Kisela v. Hughes means that such “palpably unreason­able conduct will go unpunished.” According to seven of the nine Justices, Hughes’ Fourth Amendment right to not be shot four times in this situation is less protected than the officer’s interest in escaping accountability for his brazen abuse of authority. According to Justice Sotomayor, “If this account of [the officer’s] conduct sounds unreasonable, that is because it was. And yet, the Court ... insulates that conduct from liability under the doctrine of qualified immunity.”

Worse yet, this decision wasn’t a surprise. And it certainly isn’t an aberration.

In fact, it is just the latest in a long line of cases in which the Supreme Court has decimated our ability to vindicate constitutional rights when government actors overstep. And when law enforcement oversteps, as was the case with Hughes, the consequences can be devastating.

[mountaineer]

More facts.

... She told WFLD that Roberson has worked as a bouncer at the bar for a long time, so everybody knew him, even though he wasn’t wearing a uniform to identify him as security to the responding police officers.

Ansari told WGN that Roberson had a valid FOID card that would allow him to have a gun, but that he did not have a concealed-carry permit.   ...

Blue Lives Matter
 

[Suppressed]

The guy had big "Security" letters on the back of his vest

Source?

[Elderberry]

Source?

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/13/us/security-officer-police-shooting-suburban-chicago/index.html

"We all yelled. 'He's a security. He's a security,' and without ... giving any thought, they shot him," Harris told the station. "The vest said security as well ... and they shot him in the side."

The vest might not of had big "Security" letters on its back. It might have been a talking vest and said "security".

[Frank Cannon]

And cops wonder why people are out rioting against them.

[sneakypete]

Source?

@Suppressed

Click on the link.

[mountaineer]

What I posted said his clothing didn't identify him as security. Lots of differing perceptions in the heat of the moment, I'd guess.

[Elderberry]

Midlothian police officer who fatally shot security guard Jemel Roberson placed on administrative leave, officials say

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-midlothian-police-shooting-lawsuit-st-1113-story.html

The Midlothian police officer who fatally shot security guard Jemel Roberson on Sunday at a bar in Robbins has been placed on administrative leave, officials told the Daily Southtown on Tuesday.

The officer, who has not been identified, has worked for the department for seven years and is a member of the South Suburban Emergency Response Team, officials said.

Delaney issued a statement Tuesday explaining why his initial statement about the shooting Sunday did not specify that Roberson was a security guard and not a suspect, attributing it to what he said were “conflicting reports” at the time.

Gregory Kulis, an attorney for Roberson’s family, said Roberson — dressed in all black and wearing a “security hat” — had apprehended one of the men responsible for the bar shooting and was holding him down when the officer opened fire on him.

Kulis said he did not want to speculate about why the officer may have shot Roberson. The suit alleges the officer’s actions were “intentional, willful and wanton,” and it demands $1 million in damages.