A handful of activists demanded the name of a police officer involved in the shooting of a night club security guard at a Midlothian Village Board meeting Wednesday night—but officials explained their hands were tied.
Authorities said 26-year-old Jemel Roberson was working security at Manny's Blue Room in Robbins when police responded around 4 a.m. to a call of shots fired. Midlothian Police said they arrived to find multiple gunshot victims at the bar and an officer at the scene opened fire on "a subject with a gun." That man was Roberson, an armed security guard at the venue.
The activists have been calling for more transparency in the investigation since the shooting last month. They called on board members to name the officer publicly. The village’s mayor, Gary L' Heureux, said Robison was a hero and that the shooting was a tragedy. He told protesters he and other officials are bound by court orders and the ongoing investigation to not release any information publicly at this time.
Four other people, including a man believed to have fired a gun during the initial shooting, were shot and wounded before police arrived, but their injuries weren't considered life-threatening, authorities said.
Roberson's family filed a lawsuit, alleging that he had "apprehended one of the perpetrators and was holding him" when the Midlothian officer came on the scene and fatally shot the guard. Police have not confirmed that account.
The federal civil rights lawsuit names a Midlothian police officer, identified only as John Doe, and the village of Midlothian, calling the killing "unprovoked" and "unjustified."
Roberson - the only person killed in the shooting - had a vaild FOID card, Cook County sheriff's spokeswoman Sophia Ansari said. No details have been released about the officer.
Family members said Roberson was a family man who had been working in security for several years. He also played the organ in multiple churches in the Chicago area.
Robbins police Chief Roy Wells told reporters Sunday the initial shooting stemmed from an argument.
