Armored truck security kills robbery suspect www.privateofficer.com
Chicago IL Jan 29 2011 An armored car security guard shot and killed one of two men who were trying to rob the truck Friday morning on the West Side.
The incident unfolded about 9:45 a.m. at 3400 W. Chicago Ave., according to a Harrison District police lieutenant.
Two armed men tried to rob the armored truck, and one of the guards shot one of the suspects, the lieutenant said. He died a short time later at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
The other suspect was shot multiple times, also by a guard, police News Affairs Officer Michael Sullivan said. He was taken in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, according to Fire Media Affairs spokesman Will Knight.
Tennille Simmons, 27, a stylist at Hair Mechanics at 3356 W. Chicago Ave., was sitting next to the front window reading an Entertainment Weekly magazine when she saw one of the guards carrying a bag get out of an armored truck. The vehicle was parked outside the Family Dollar at 3401 W. Chicago Ave., kitty-corner to the salon.
Simmons said a man approached the guard and tried to wrestle the bag away from him, but the guard resisted, and the two were turning in “circles,’’ struggling when the guard reached for his gun.
While this was happening, another suspect wearing camouflage was pointing a sawed-off shotgun at the driver who was still inside the truck.
She then heard a gunshot. “I hit the floor,’’ Simmons said. She stayed there for what seemed like a minute and went outside to see what was happening. Other people in the salon called 911.
As she approached she saw a man lying on the ground with blood gushing from his eyes.
“I ran out and saw the man on the ground, but he didn’t have no eyes,’’ she said. “He kept trying to get up but was falling down and crawling. I was like, ‘Is this a movie?’ ” Simmons said.
“He was on the ground, struggling to get up. He’d get up and crawl a few feet and then fall again,’’ she said of the man shot.
That man was wearing a tan coat with a hood and jeans and he was young, maybe in his 20s. Simmons said she did not see a weapon on the other suspect and neither were wearing masks.
Simmons said she also saw the other suspect lying on the ground.
Sullivan said the suspect who died was initially taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. He was pronounced dead at 10:17 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office, which had not identified the man as of 1 p.m.
The two guards were not hurt, but were “shaken up,’’ and nothing was stolen, according to police.
The fire department was using water hoses to wash down the blood-splattered sidewalk as of 12:25 p.m. and police had reopened Chicago Avenue to traffic in both directions.
Harrison Area detectives are investigating.
Simmons said she remembers the same Family Dollar store was robbed few months ago, just as it had gotten cold outside.
A flyer with a security camera image of a suspect was still hanging inside the store, she said.
Don’t point a shotgun at an armored car driver and you won’t get shot. Two less bad guys on the street.