Criminal charges unlikely in fatal back-yard shooting
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-
0210220015oct22.story?null
Published October 22, 2002

CHICAGO — Police and prosecutors attempting to sort through the
circumstances of a fatal shooting in the back yard of a South Side house
over the weekend said the man who fired the gun is not likely to face
criminal charges.

Killed was Ronnie Roper, 28, who was in the 6500 block of Stewart Avenue
Saturday afternoon with his brother and girlfriend, according to
investigators.

Roper’s brother initially told authorities the men were in the area
after their car broke down.

“[The resident] saw the deceased attempting to burglarize the home and
he confronted him, ” said Marcy Jensen, a spokeswoman for the Cook
County state’s attorney’s office.

Roper then raised a metal object, which the resident of the house
thought was a gun, Jensen said, and the resident fired a shot striking
Roper in the upper back.

Roper, of the 0-100 block of East 102nd Street, was pronounced dead at
St. Bernard Hospital and Health Center, officials said.

The 42-year-old resident was taken into custody, authorities said, but
released Sunday.

The case remains open, Donegan said, and charges against Roper’s brother
remain a possibility.

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