ROBBINS, IL — Family and friends are mourning the death of a black armed guard who was mistakenly shot by a white Midlothian police officer while trying to stop a bar shootout over the weekend in Robbins. Jemel Roberson, 26, of Chicago, was shot and killed outside Manny’s Blue Room as he was trying to detain a man involved in the exchange of gunfire that had erupted at the watering hole.
“Sadly, Jemel’s life was tragically and unexpectedly cut short this morning as he tried to save others from senseless violence. Today, many remember him as a hero; one who put others before himself,” the GoFundMe page to raise money for Roberson’s burial costs states. In about a day, the campaign raised nearly $40,000 with a goal of $50,000.
Roberson was graduate from Chicago’s Lane Tech High School and had aspirations of becoming a police officer. He also was the father of a 9-month-old son.
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“This was going to be my baby’s first Christmas with his dad and now he’s going to miss out on everything,” Roberson’s mother, Avontea Boose, told The Associated Press.
The Rev. Marvin Hunter — the great-uncle of Laquan McDonald, the 17-year-old who was fatally shot by a Chicago police officer in 2015 — described Roberson as an “upstanding young man” who was saving up to put down a deposit on an apartment, according to the AP. Roberson also was a talented musician who played keyboard and drums at churches around the Chicago area.
“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 told WGN-TV. “He was getting ready to train [to be a police officer] and do all that stuff, so the very people he wanted to be family with, took his life.”
The shooting happened at about 4 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, at Manny’s Blue Room, 2911 S. Claire Blvd. Robbins Police Chief Roy Wells said an argument had turned to gun play when a man went outside and returned with a pistol.
When the man started shooting, Roberson — who had a license to carry a gun and was wearing a cap that said “Security,” according to the AP — returned fire. He eventually was able to subdue one of the men in the original argument, bringing him to the ground outside the bar, witnesses told WGN.
Officers from multiple jurisdiction — including Midlothian — were called to the scene. That’s when a Midlothian officer opened fire, fatally shooting Roberson.
“[When police arrived, e]verybody was screaming out, ‘Security!’ He was a security guard. And they still did their job, and saw a black man with a gun, and basically killed him,” Adam Harris told WGN.
Cook County sheriff’s investigators are looking into the bar fight, and Illinois State Police are investigating the shooting by the Midlothian officer. Charges are pending against one of the men involved in the bar shootout.
A $1 million federal lawsuit was filed Monday by Roberson’s family against the police officer in the shooting and the Village of Midlothian, according to the Daily Southtown. The lawsuit alleges that the officer was “intentional, willful and wanton” in shooting Roberson, the report added.
The identity of the officer has not been released. Originally, Midlothian police would only confirm that a fatal officer-involved shooting occurred, but Chief Daniel Delaney told the AP in an email that the officer who shot Roberson was white. The village and the department declined to comment about the lawsuit, only expressing condolences for Roberson’s family.
Many of the more than 1,200 people who donated to the GoFundMe page created on behalf of Roberson’s family’s behalf gave their condolences and expressed shock at the shooting.
“I donated because this breaks my heart,” wrote one contributor. “He was protecting people but no one protected him. Instead, they took his life.”
More via The Associated Press and WGN-TV
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Jemel Roberson with his 9-month-old child. (Photo via GoFundMe)