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Bronzeville shooting: Grandmother known for her gospel singing killed by crossfire between guard, gunman

By Sun-Times Media Wire
Published  February 2, 2022 7:20pm CST
Crime and Public Safety
Sun-Times Media Wire

Woman killed by stray gunfire outside Bronzeville liquor store

A woman was killed, and a security guard was injured in a shooting in Bronzeville Tuesday afternoon.

CHICAGO - A grandmother known for her gospel singing was killed when she was caught in the crossfire between a security guard and a gunman just down the street from Chicago police headquarters on the South Side.

Bobbye Johnson, 55, was walking on the sidewalk in the 200 block of East 35th Street around 4 p.m. Tuesday when she was hit in the chest by one of the dozen or so shots that were fired, according to police.

The guard was hit in the thigh but kept firing as the gunman ran away, at one point grabbing another gun from a concealed carry holder, according to a police report. One of the guard’s shots hit Johnson, the report says.

"She loved God, loved church, loved her grandkids," one of Johnson’s children said in a statement. "She was so sweet to everyone, even if you did anything wrong she would always have the best to say."

Johnson produced some of her own music and posted it on YouTube, her family said.

Police reported no arrests but said detectives were talking to the guard, who was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center after the shooting. The gunman, a man in his 40s or 50s known only by his nickname "Renegade," remained at large.

The guard — who has a record of felony convictions for domestic battery and armed robbery — had gotten into an argument with the other man Monday outside Wood’s Food & Liquor on the block, according to police.

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The man returned Tuesday and another argument broke out, police said. The man pulled out a gun and fired at the guard, according to police. The guard drew his own gun and fired back, then continued firing from the gun he took from the concealed carry holder.

Two ShotSpotter alerts brought officers to the scene, where as many as 14 rounds had been fired and shell casings could be seen near the store’s entrance. A weapon was recovered, police said.

Cook County court records show the guard has been arrested at least 10 times, including for illegal gun possession, battery, domestic battery and armed robbery. Most the cases were dropped, but he pleaded guilty to domestic battery in 2015 and armed robbery without a firearm in 2010.

He was given 100 days in Cook County Jail on the first case, and six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on the other. The Sun-Times isn’t naming him because he hasn’t been charged in the shootout.