Good Guy with a Gun #232: Bridgeview, IL

Pro tip: Don't rob a CCL holder. Pro-er tip: Don't hit a semi during your getaway. | Original incident: June 15, 2024

These posts are based on our Good Guy with a Gun calendar. Today’s post is essentially the same as the calendar version.

Bridgeview is a Chicago suburb, about 12 miles southwest of downtown. It's working-class, unremarkable, reasonably safe for Chicago.

But it’s not crime-free. A little after 11 PM on a Friday night, Demetrius Landfair was sitting in his car in a parking lot, waiting for an opportunity. Finally, he saw it: a business owner making his way to his vehicle.

Landfair got out of his car and approached the man to rob him.

The business owner, fortunately, was a concealed carry license (CCL) holder, and he had his firearm with him.

The business owner shot Landfair there in the parking lot — but when Landfair ran, he left a trail of destruction behind him. He got in his own car, drove away, and smashed into two cars and a semi truck.

Landfair died six days later at the hospital.

Death is always a tragedy, but this was a tragedy of Landfair’s own making. And Bridgeview is now a little safer because a business owner was armed and able to defend himself.

Sources

Slim pickings for this incident.

The Chicago Tribune published a story under the much more colorful headline, Grandson charged in Hickory Hills axe death; homicides in Bridgeview, Burnham — but this incident was only one paragraph out of eight. And now that story is gone from their website, to the link above just goes to a Yahoo! reprint.

Score one for truly local news reporting, though: Patch caught the initial shooting and gave a follow-up when they got more details. Nice work.

I see no other coverage from any source. Let me know if you spot something.