Family of grandmother killed by stray bullet from Bronzeville shootout files lawsuits

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The family of a grandmother who was struck and killed by a stray bullet fired in a Bronzeville shootout four blocks away is filing a series of lawsuits in the wake of her death.

Bobbye Johnson, 55, was leaving a Chase Bank branch at 35th and Martin Luther King Drive when she was shot. Chicago police said the bullet came from a shootout outside a liquor store at 35th and Indiana. A scuffle led to a security guard named Victor Brown being shot by a man known in the area as Renegade. Brown then shot Renegade using a starter pistol.

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"The next thing you know he had a real gun and he just kept going," said Carleeta Johnson, Bobbye Johnson's daughter.

Witnesses said Brown got the gun from another security guard who had a concealed carry license, then fired "wildly" some 20 times from his knees at Renegade. One bullet struck Johnson. Brown, a convicted felon, is charged with first degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm.

"The training he received, the conflict resolution skills that he had, and the education that he was supposed of been given by those who employed him failed," said Cannon Lambert, attorney for Carleeta Johnson.

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Now Carleeta Johnson is suing all three businesses on the block with the liquor store, who she alleges had a shared security arrangement.

"The owner of Woods has indicated that Mr. Brown works for all three of the companies and that means all through those companies are responsible for the actions of Mr. Brown," Lambert said.

Brown is being held without bail. The liquor store has been shut down by Chicago police, saying it is a danger to the community.