Video footage of a deadly confrontation outside a Greektown marijuana dispensary shows a security guard “defending himself and employees” when he shot and killed an ax-wielding attacker, according to a law enforcement source.
The source described the guard’s actions as “heroic” and said he was released from police custody without charges being filed. He was being treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for a cut to his leg.
The attack happened around 10 a.m. Monday outside Zen Leaf Chicago at 222 S. Halsted St. as the guard, 37, began arguing with the man over the dispensary’s return policy, Chicago police and fire officials said.
The man began swinging an ax and struck the guard in the leg, police said. The guard then fired shots, striking the man, police said. The man was taken to Stroger Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Cook County medical examiner’s office identified him as Johnel Presley of Joliet.
The guard was taken to Northwestern in good condition.
A store owner down the block said he was sleeping when he heard a few gunshots outside. “It was four or five shots, ‘pop, pop, pop, pop!’” he said, asking not to be named.
A restaurant manager on the same block said nobody there heard any shots, but he saw the security guard being taken away on a stretcher by paramedics.
After police reopened the street about 1:30 p.m., disappointed customers walked up to find the dispensary had closed for the day.
Contributing: Nader Issa
