CHICAGO _ Jemel Roberson was wearing a cap and sweatshirt that had the word "Security" on them when he was fatally shot by a Midlothian police officer while an armed Roberson was trying to subdue a suspect early Sunday at a Robbins bar, a co-worker of the dead man told the Chicago Tribune.
Dorian Myrickes, 43, who was injured during the chaotic early morning incident at the bar, also said that Midlothian officer did warn Roberson to drop his gun but fired at him within "not even five seconds" of the warning.
Myrickes, who spoke Thursday morning from a suburban hospital bed, said another officer at the scene rebuked the Midlothian cop after Roberson's shooting.
"One cop, he said, 'Man, you didn't have to do that, you didn't have to do that. We know these guys. We told you they're security,'" said Myrickes, who said he was close to passing out from his injury when he heard that statement.
Myrickes also said Roberson initially sought assistance from the Midlothian officer to help him subdue a suspect from an earlier shooting that had brought several police officers to the scene.
Myrickes' description of what Roberson was wearing differs from details from an Illinois State Police preliminary investigation that said Roberson was wearing "plain black clothing with no markings readily identifying him as a Security Guard."
Myrickes' account also differs in one aspect from what he earlier told The Associated Press. The AP reported that Myrickes' said he never heard the officer tell Roberson to drop his gun. In a later interview with the Tribune, Myrickes said he heard the officer command Roberson to drop his weapon before shooting him seconds later.
State police, based on witness statements, said Roberson was told "multiple" times to drop his gun.
Myrickes' account adds fuel to the controversy that has arisen over the shooting of Roberson, who is black, by the Midlothian officer, who is white and has since been placed on leave. The shooting took place while the officer and others responded to a "shots fired" call at Manny's Blue Room Lounge on Claire Boulevard in Robbins.
In his interview with the Tribune, Myrickes said he and Roberson were part of the six-person security team working at Manny's on Saturday night and into Sunday morning. Myrickes said he and Roberson were initially working unarmed as the inside crew but that he believes Roberson either had a suspect's gun or had retrieved his own when he was shot by the officer.
He said a fight broke out between two groups of men and that he and Roberson were trying to defuse the situation.
"So we got, like, four people out the front door, and we were trying to get eight people out the side door," Myrickes said from his hospital room. "They were becoming very aggressive, and started threatening our lives. We get them out the door, we tell them we're going to make sure they get their people out safely, that we didn't mean no harm, we just got to break up the altercation.
"Next thing you know, one of the guys pulled a gun out and started shooting," Myrickes said, adding that security guards working outside the club make sure male patrons get "patted down pretty good" before entering the bar. He said he believed the shooter either stashed a gun outside, or someone outside passed it to him.
Myrickes said he and Roberson were the doorway but still inside the when the shooting started. But before they could shut the door, Myrickes said, a second person started shooting.
"By this time, I didn't even realize I was hit. I stumbled and I fell," he said, adding a young woman told him to get up or he was going to die.
Myrickes said he could hear someone in the group of men that had started shooting yelling, "Go get the blitz," which meant they wanted to get a bigger gun to come back.
"Everyone started panicking, running in different directions," Myrickes said. "I stumbled out the front door. ... That's when I ran into the (Midlothian) police officer (who) had the AR-15, and he pointed it straight at my head, he said, 'Put your hands up.'"
Myrickes said he told the officer he was a security guard and not to shoot him.
"He comes over, puts the flashlight in my face, and said, 'You've been hit,'" Myrickes said. "He pulled my sweatshirt back, and told me I was hit with a gun. He was so aggressive, and I said, 'Let me go back in the club and warn them that a cop's coming in with a gun.'
"He (runs) past me so fast _ I made it back into the club _ and he jumps up on the bar, points the gun at the bartender, shouting, 'Get on the ground!'"
Myrickes said there were other police officers already in the bar at that point, but none of them were helping Roberson with the suspect from the earlier shooting that he was holding at gunpoint face-down on the ground in the foyer just outside the side door.
"He was yelling (to Roberson to) drop the gun," Myrickes said. "Jemel said, 'I'm security. You need to handcuff this guy, get under control.' We don't want the guy to flip over and take the gun from Jemel."
Myrickes said that from the time the officer ordered Roberson to drop the gun to the time the officer fired the first shot was "not even 5 seconds."
"The first shot goes in (Roberson's) leg," Myrickes said. "(The officer) waves the gun across the bar, everybody's like, 'Whoa, whoa,' and then (the officer) shoots (Roberson) again. I saw Jemel get hit a second time in the side."
Myrickes said he then began to pass out, but heard another cop in the bar reprimand the officer that shot Roberson.
"One cop, black cop with glasses, he said, 'Man, you didn't have to do that. You didn't have to do that. We know these guys. We told you they're security.'"
Myrickes said he didn't recognize the officer that opened fire, or the cop that gave the reprimand.
Myrickes said none of the Midlothian or Robbins officers on the scene rendered first aid to either him or Roberson.
Myrickes said he didn't recognize the Midlothian officer that shot Roberson.
"He wasn't the only cop on the scene, but he was the only one with an AR," Myrickes said. "No other cops had their guns drawn."
Official sources have not addresses many aspects of Myrickes' account, including how many officers were on the scene, whether others had weapons drawn and whether another officer admonished the Midlothian officer for shooting Roberson. State police said Wednesday they did not intend to release further information at that time.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's office has confirmed that Roberson died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Myrickes said he believed that the man Roberson was subduing was one the of the men that opened fire on them, but he did not know whether the gun Roberson was holding was his own or one he had taken away from the shooter.
"Jemel and I weren't armed that night," he said. "Jemel leaves his bulletproof vest and gun in the car. We were on the inside. I don't know if it was the offender's gun. We all park in the parking lot close to the back door. Jemel may have had time to go get his gun out of his car when the fight started brewing. He did everything right. He didn't deserve to get shot."
Myrickes said he and Roberson had been working together, usually on the inside, at the club for a while.
"He was a gentle giant," Myrickes said. "He would always say sir or ma'am. Even if he was kicking someone out, he would always say, 'Hey, go home and sober up and come back and party with us the next day.' He was never disrespectful."
Myrickes said he was shot twice in the shoulder, and that one of his lungs is collapsed. He said doctors are contemplating surgery to repair the lung.
He choked up with emotion when he recalled hearing that Roberson was dead.
"My brother came to the (hospital) room Monday and told me," he said. "I was hurt, man. The guy was 26. This guy was trying to do everything the right way."
