Right across the street from work!!! Man shot dead in Loop store robbery

Cops: Man shot dead in Loop store robbery

A man was shot to death during an apparent robbery in a convenience store he ran at Wabash Avenue and Jackson Boulevard for more than 20 years, police and relatives said.

A co-worker found Edward Jernagin, 57, in a back office of Wabash Food and Liquors in the 200 block of South Wabash Avenue at about 8 a.m., according to relatives and police.

Jernagin was shot in the back of the head, police said. A source said the store safe was open and at least one casing was found on the scene.

The store's front door was locked when the co-worker arrived this morning, according to Lt. Denis Walsh, an Area 3 homicide detective. "We're at the infancy of this investigation," he said.
Walsh said the store usually opens around 7 or 8 a.m. and usually closes around 9 p.m. He said a security guard is usually in the store while it is open.

Police said they planned to review surveillance video from the store.

"He was the best," the victim's brother, George Miles, said through tears just minutes after Jernagin's body was removed from the store on a stretcher. "He loved everybody."Miles said his brother never encountered serious trouble at the store. "He did not deserve this," Miles said. "He gave with his heart. He gave to everybody. He didn't have a hating bone in his body. . .I hope they burn in Hell."

Clarence Shearer said he was in a nearby Starbucks when he heard sirens and came outside, where he saw police outside the store. Shearer, 42, said he had been in the store a handful of times. "I thought maybe it was just a robbery until I got out here and started hearing stories, and, you know, it just doesn't look very good at this point," he said. Clusters of people have gathered along Wabash since police arrived, speculating about what happened and watching forensics investigators come and go from the store.

Brian Hecht, 36, an attorney who works down the street from the store, said the store serves a mix of DePaul students, people who work in the area and homeless people. Hecht said the employee he usually saw in the store is a "real nice guy, a real low-key guy.""He seemed to treat everybody the same," said Hecht, who did not know if the employee he was describing was the person who was found dead.

Several people said a security guard was usually inside the store when it was open.