Shots were being fired from behind a row of cars at a Southside Chicago bar just days away from Christmas 2018.
A man, ejected because of an earlier dispute had gone back to his vehicle and retrieved a firearm and began shooting toward the nightclub.
Two security officers immediately returned fire while a third security officer made his way behind the shooter and within inches of the gunfire. He yelled for the gunman to drop his weapon and then fatally shot him when he raised the gun and turned toward the officer. The police arrived and took over the investigation.
The press never mentioned the heroics of the security officers, their efforts that stopped a mass shooting or how they prevented anyone from being injured or killed.
This type of non-recognition by the media and even by law enforcement who do not tell the whole story and seldom give credit where credit is due is nothing new.
Sometimes it’s caused by a public information officer or the on-scene police supervisor who do not give the news reporters the details of the involvement by private security and sometimes it’s the security company’s management who do not want to be identified in the news.
Either way, security officers, loss prevention agents, and sworn private police officers are often left out of the spotlight and their efforts, heroics and bravery are never known.
In 2018, loss prevention agents made more than 1 million shoplifting apprehensions and uniform security and sworn private law enforcement officers apprehended or arrested close to 560,000 offenders for crimes ranging from trespassing to murder.
