‘I’m Hiding Under the Table’: Baby Shower Attendee Tells 911 During Joshua Beal Shooting

CHICAGO, IL - The altercation and police shooting that led to the death of 25-year-old Joshua Beal in Mount Greenwood in November had attendees of a baby shower at an 111th Street restaurant hiding under the tables in fear for their lives. That’s according to one of the many people who called 911 during the the Nov. 5 incident that sparked racial protests and counter-protests in the neighborhood for weeks. The city of Chicago’s Independent Police Review Authority released dozens of 911 calls from the incident in addition to three videos and two audio files from the police department’s radio transmission on Wednesday.

The caller at the baby shower, who described the confrontation taking place in the middle of 111th Street near Troy as “a total race thing going on,” said once a fight involving more than a dozen people broke out the baby shower attendees got on the floor of the restaurant on the south side of 111th Street.

“I’m hiding under a table in the restaurant,” the woman told the 911 operator, who then informed her that police had arrived and that it was safe to come out from hiding.

The caller said it was a white man firing shots first and a Hispanic man firing back. But that part doesn’t match any other account of the ordeal that all callers agreed that dozens of people were fighting in the street before shots were fired.

In one call, the shooting could be heard. The female caller described a white man wearing a red shirt and blue jeans pointing a gun and that she was not sure whether he was an off-duty police officer or not.

“Now he’s shooting. They’re shooting guns,” she said.

The most clear of the three videos shared by the IPRA shows the aftermath of the shooting and Beal lying motionless on the north side of the street just a foot steps east of Troy. A white man wearing a black shirt and blue jeans is shown administering CPR.

>>>> White Man Gave CPR to Joshua Beal After Fatal Police Shooting

Another video shows an exchange between two women. The first saying, “They killed him, they shot,” with the second one crying during the entire exchange. The first woman asked the second where she was going. “Back to the funeral,” was her response.

A third that showed the most of the confrontation before the shooting shows a man in a red shirt pointing a gun at the group of African-Americans and pacing back and forth on the street.

One male 911 caller described the exchange as a “gang fight” with about 20 black men “swinging bats and clubs.”

“These (expletive),” added another caller who identified himself as an off-duty police officer who was attacked by “12 (expletives) in a car.”

“They cut me off the road. (Expletive) ridiculous,” he said. “Send someone before someone gets shot.”

Another said he saw fighting in the street and a black man wearing a black shirt and blue jeans pointing a gun.

“There’s a bunch of black people out here fighting,” added another caller.

Here’s a description of some of the other 911 calls, all made within minutes of 3 p.m. on Nov. 5. Not all were released by IPRA, citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

‘Big Fight Going on at 111th and Troy’- Black Males Swinging Clubs
People ‘Beating the (Expletive) Out of Each Other’ - Black Male Pointing Gun
‘People Jumping Out of Their Cars’ - This is Crazy as Heck

Read more about the Joshua Beal shooting and the ensuing events in Mount Greenwood:
Man Shot and Killed by Chicago Police in Mt. Greenwood
Joshua Beal’s Criminal History Includes Beating Man With Gun During Traffic Stop
Blue Lives Matter Supporters Surround Black Activists in Mount Greenwood on Election Night
Sign in Mount Greenwood Tells ‘Quasi Honor Students’ to Go Home, Keep Crime Out
Peace Vigils Held to End Recent Racial Tension in Mt. Greenwood

Patch file photo / Tim Moran