Harvey mayor’s private security guard shoots armed robber’s getaway car near busy North Side shopping center

A member of Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark’s private security team intervened in an armed robbery Wednesday afternoon, shooting at the getaway vehicle before it fled a bustling shopping area on the Near North Side.

The security officer opened fire around 2:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of North Halsted Street after seeing the suspect rob an 86-year-old man at gunpoint, according to Chicago police. No injuries or arrests have been reported.

Corean Davis, Clark’s chief of staff, didn’t mention a robbery in a written statement.

Davis said the security officer watched a person wearing a “black ski mask” jump out of a Jeep while brandishing a gun. When the security officer left his vehicle “to protect the mayor,” she said, the gunman “turned toward the detail with his gun pointed.”

“The detail fired his gun at the assailant, striking his vehicle,” she said. “The assailant returned to the vehicle and sped off.”

Davis said the security officer “was not struck by gunfire,” and neither the police department nor the mayor’s office reported that the suspect opened fire.

She didn’t say what the mayor was doing in Chicago with his security team. But she noted the Harvey Police Department is aiding the Chicago police investigation — even though the security officer is apparently employed by a private firm.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times