Police seek to identify suspects in slaying of Chicago shopping center security guard
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police have released surveillance video from a shooting that killed a security guard just days before Christmas at a shopping center in the Chatham neighborhood.
Detectives are trying to identify three suspects after 53-year-old security guard Edward Fontaine Creamer was shot and killed while confronting a group of shoplifters on Dec. 20 at a shopping center near 87th and Cottage Grove.
Video released on Thursday shows two men and a woman loading items into shopping baskets and a Nike bag and walking out of the store shortly before 1 p.m. Police said one man pulled out a gun and shot a Creamer three times.
Police are also seeking a fourth person who the suspects met up with in the parking lot.
It was unclear whether the video was taken before or after police said the trio got into an argument with Creamer.
Anyone who recognizes the suspects is asked to call Area 2 detectives at 312-747-8271.
Police said they fled the scene in a Nissan Maxima that had been stolen one day earlier. The Maxima had Illinois license plate CW25426.
Police have not identified the store involved, but other workers at the shopping center have said Creamer was assigned to protect the DTLR store in the same shopping center, and confronted the shoplifters outside the store they stole from.
"The security officer, you know, he was known by many – very friendly; would say hello to us all the time before we started our shifts," said China Brown, who works at the shopping center, "and it's kind of sad knowing that we lost a really good person today."
Creamer was a father of seven and a grandfather of five, and friends said he was a black belt in karate, who taught and mentored kids. His daughter, Ashley Creamer, told CBS 2 that her mother died years ago and that her father has always been there for her.
"My life is over," Ashley Creamer said. "That's all I had left was my dad."
Brown was working her normal shift when she heard gunshots on the day of the shooting. Her colleagues counted eight rounds.
"Imagine doing your daily job, and then just hear gunshots out of nowhere," said Jirah Tankson, who also works at the shopping center.
Brown and her colleagues ducked when the shots rang out.
"We just heard the gunshots, and like everybody was trying to get down, but we didn't know where they was coming from or where they was flying from," said Tankson.
The employees later ran outside to find Creamer on the ground. He was later pronounced dead at University of Chicago Medical Center.
"He was on the ground. He had an open wound to his head," Brown said. "It was terrible."
They recognized him as the security guard they see every day – assigned to protect the DTLR a few doors down.
"He would keep you protected no matter where you were," said Brown. "If you were in the Magic Bails, he would just, you know, make sure, you know, you knew he was there."