Chicago security officer shot saving a woman’s life
Chicago IL May 7 2021
A security officer trying to save a woman during a shooting at an apartment building was shot Tuesday according to the police.
One minute Keionna James was standing in the lobby of a South Side apartment building where she works as a security officer, speaking to a tenant who was waiting for her husband. The next, at 5:50 p.m. Tuesday, the 37-year-old heard gunshots, breaking glass, and she pushed the older woman out of harm’s way.
James fell to the floor and began crawling to safety, said James’ sister, Kira Allen. Then James realized she’d been shot once on her right side, just below her shoulder.
“The elderly woman was short, a lot shorter than (my sister),” Allen said Wednesday. “(The bullet) hit her in the right breast area.
It probably would have hit the other woman in the head if the security officer hadn’t pushed the elderly lady out the way of being shot. She saved her life and then she gets shot herself.”
James called 911 and, soon after, was rushed to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition, police said.
“The nurse told her bullet fragments was 2 inches from her heart. It was that close,” Allen said.
A report from Chicago police on the shooting in the Lafayette Plaza Housing Cooperative Apartments, 50 W. 71st St., echoes Allen’s comments. James, a mother of five children ages 13 to 18, was struck during a drive-by shooting in the Park Manor neighborhood.
“Victim is a security officer at Lafayette Plaza residence building. She was inside the lobby helping an elderly (resident) when she heard multiple gunshots and heard the front lobby glass break. Victim felt pain and realized she was shot in the chest,” according to the report.
Both investigators and James’ employer of three years — Wade Ingram, owner of Ingram Security & Detective Services, LLC do not believe James was the intended target.
“That glass slowed the velocity of the bullet, thankfully,” Ingram said. “She was an innocent bystander. She was right where she belonged, doing her job, checking visitors into the building.”
An 18-year-old man also was injured during the shooting when the glass broke, but he was not shot, police spokeswoman Kellie Bartoli said. Authorities said he suffered abrasions and was treated at St. Bernard Hospital, where he had been in good condition.
“The 18-year-old was injured trying to take cover,” Bartoli said in an email.
Ingram said James was standing off to the side of the lobby speaking with the senior when a man came running toward the building. From reviewing surveillance footage, Ingram thought that man was the intended target. But Allen spoke with James about the shooting, and James believes he also was trying to hide from the gunman. It wasn’t clear if he was the injured 18-year-old.
The report indicated the attack did not happen in a gang conflict area but was possibly gang-related. A witness told police the targets were people in the lobby who are in a “gang feud” with rival rappers, but this could not be confirmed with police.
According to Allen, James saw the man come through the revolving door, and since it is her job to check in visitors, “She was saying, ‘You don’t live here, you can’t be here.’ He yelled back, ‘They shooting out there.’” Allen said. “I don’t think he was a target, he was just trying to get off the street.”
The police report says the gunman was in a “dark-colored Honda” that was traveling east past the building. The shooter then stands up “through the sunroof of the car and begins to shoot toward the building,” according to the police report, which was citing surveillance video.
Bartoli said no further description of the gunman or vehicle was available. No arrests have been made.
Though Allen said James had not undergone surgery and was on her way to another hospital, the report and Ingram, a former Chicago police officer who also has been chief of police in Markham and Gary, said James had and was expected to make a full recovery.
James posted on social media that she had been shot at work and was “just so happy to still be here.”
James’ children were “shaken up from hearing about their mother being shot. They’ve calmed down since she’s going to be OK,” Allen said.
Ingram started his security business about five years ago and has multiple security contracts with area building owners. James is one of about 45 employees, and it was important to Ingram to show her family some support in the aftermath of the shooting.
“They’re holding up pretty good, especially because she’s out of danger. She’s going to survive her injuries. I’m just so thankful she’s going to survive,” Ingram said. “Right now I’m pretty sure she’s shaken up, it’s a traumatic event. She is stable, up and talking this morning, and her family said she’s in pretty good spirits.”
Ingram said he was unsure whether James would return to her position after being shot.
James was not armed at the time of the shooting, Ingram said. Some of his employees work on contracts that require them to patrol, and those security guards are armed. Others, like James, work in roles that are what Allen described as “a sit-down job,” and do not need to carry a weapon.
“It’s not like it was an armed confrontation. If she’d have had a gun, I don’t think it would have made a difference,” Allen said. “Even with an armed officer out there … you can have an AK-47, and I don’t think having a weapon would’ve prevented what happened yesterday.”
Chicago Tribune
