Police shoot mortally at a black security guard who arrested an alleged gunman: NPR

Jemel Roberson and his nine-month-old son.

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Jemel Roberson and his nine-month-old son.

AP

When police arrived at a gun scene this weekend in a bar near Chicago, witnesses said Jemel Roberson, a 26-year-old security guard who worked there, had already mastered the Assailant, plating him to the ground.

Adam Harris, who was at Manny's Blue Bar at Robbins at the time of the incident Sunday, told WGN-TV that Roberson was holding "someone on the floor with his knee in the back, his gun to fire in the back ", when Midlothian's neighbor officers arrived early Sunday.

It was at that time that Midlothian Police Chief Daniel Delaney said that one of his officers had "met a subject with a gun" and shot him down. according to a press release.

But the "subject" was Roberson, not the suspect in the bar who was shooting.

According to witnesses, Roberson wore his uniform, including a hat bearing the word "security", and was holding a firearm that he was allowed to carry.

Midlothian police confirmed that two police officers responded to the scene at the bar on Sunday and that one of them had opened fire.

"Everyone was shouting:" Safety! ", Harris told WGN. "And they always did their job and saw a black man with a gun and practically killed him."

Roberson was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. Four other people on the scene, including the alleged gunman, sustained life-threatening injuries, the police said.

Delaney said the Cook County Sheriff's Office and Robbins Police Department were investigating the shooting.

Roberson was the father of a nine-month-old son. "It was going to be my baby's first Christmas with his father and now he's going to miss everything," Avontea Boose, the mother of the child, told The Associated Press.

Roberson was also a musician for the churches in his community. "All the artists for whom he has played, all the musicians by his side, we are all broken because we have no answers," said Reverend Patricia Hill at WGN.

She added that Roberson had dreamed of being a police officer. "He was getting ready to train and do all that work, so the people he wanted to be part of the family got killed," Hill said.

Roberson 's family sued on Monday against the Midlothian Police Department and the officer who shot him, demanding damages of $ 1 million.

A GoFundMe page has also been created to raise funds to cover funeral expenses. Family and friends watched Monday night in the nightclub where he was killed.