Investigators are seeking the identities of three men they believe have information about a shooting at a Robbins bar that wounded four people and led to the death of a security guard at the hand of a responding police officer.
Photos of the three men were released Tuesday by the Cook County sheriff’s office with a request that the public to help to identify them for questioning.
The photos were taken by responding Crestwood police officers outside of Manny’s Blue Room shortly after the Nov. 11 shooting, according to Cara Smith, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
“We think these three are people who have information that will be helpful to our investigation,” Smith said.
She declined to discuss the department’s ongoing investigation further.
The three men are wanted for questioning in connection with a criminal investigation into the shooting at the bar that is being led by the sheriff’s office, Smith said.
Illinois State Police are independently investigating the death of 26-year-old Jemel Roberson, a black security guard who was working at the bar and was fatally shot by a white Midlothian police officer who responded about 4 a.m. along with officers from other neighboring departments.
According to witness accounts, Roberson was subduing a shooter at the bar when he was shot by the officer and his actions have since been described as “heroic.”
Roberson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, the Cook County medical examiner’s office reported.
At the press conference the day after the shooting, Robbins Police Chief Roy Wells said the incident stemmed from an argument inside the bar. Robbins Mayor Tyrone Ward said he wished a Robbins police officer had encountered Roberson, as they might have been more familiar with security at the bar.
Four other people in the bar suffered gunshots and were taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn and Metro South Hospital in Blue Island for treatment, the sheriff’s office said. All were expected to survive.
At least one of the people wounded was considered to be a shooter during the initial incident, the sheriff’s office said. It wasn’t immediately clear if more than one person had fired shots.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no one had been charged with the shooting. The Daily Southtown reported Wednesday morning that the business license for Manny’s Blue Room had been suspended.
Anyone with information about the three men sought by investigators was asked to call detectives at (708) 865-4896.