Two quick thinking patrons disarm gunman after he killed bartender, shot another man
By Mark Gregory | Bugle Newspapers
The shooting early Friday morning at Izzy’s Bar that left one person dead and another seriously injured could have been a lot worse if not for the fast reaction of two patrons.
Mike Cullick and Artis Henderson III, stopped at the Joliet bar after a pool league because Henderson wanted popcorn and ended up potentially saving multiple lives after Patrick K. Gleason of Crest Hill came into the bar armed.
Gleason shot and killed 52-year-old bartender Danny Rios, but the two friends made sure there were no more casualties.
Gleason was released from the hospital after being treated for injuries sustained when Henderson and Cullick disarmed him. He is in Will County jail facing five charges of first-degree murder, three charges of attempted murder, one charge of aggravated discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery.
“The bartender and all of us were talking and the bell went off for the door and instinctually, we all looked, he stopped in the hallway,” said Henderson, a former U.S. Marine. “We could only see him in the mirror and he had on a mask and he just stopped. He stood there for a good two minutes or more and the bartender went to see what was going on and the guy came around the corner and shot him. It was loud. I was the next one in line.
“I ran, he chased me and I was behind a table and he was coming to shoot me and I wasn’t going out that way. So, I reached for his arm and grabbed his gun hand and wrestled him to the ground, then Mike came over and tackled him and we were on the ground wrestling for the gun and the owner’s son came over and as the guy was trying to pull the gun back on us, the gun went off and it shot Thomas [Izquierdo] in the stomach. I got the gun from him and I called 9-1-1. It was a split second decision and split second action and it was just instinct. I guess if we wouldn’t have gone there, more people would have died.”
While the shooter was heading toward Henderson, Cullick went to protect his friend.
“Artis is my best friend and when the guy came in and killed Danny and then went for Artis, I wasn’t going to die like that and I wasn’t going to watch my best friend get killed in front of me. We didn’t think, we just reacted,” Cullick said.
Thomas, the second man shot, was the son of bar owner Alfonso Izquierdo Jr.
“My son is out of intensive care and will make a full recovery, although it will be a long road,” Izquierdo said. “Thank God there were those two guys. My son tried to get the gun away from him, but he was shot doing that, so it was the other two guys that really stopped him and the police told me if it wasn’t for those guys, it could have been a lot worse. I thank my son for trying and I thank those other two guys for stopping [Gleason].”
While Cullick and Henderson have been called heroes, it is not what they consider themselves.
“People have come up and shook our hands and bought us a beer and I appreciate it, but people should focus on Danny’s family and Izzy,” Cullick said. “We are alive luckily enough and everyone needs to celebrate Danny’s life and be thankful Izzy’s son is alive. Just pay it forward. Hold the door for someone or whatever. Life is too short not to be nice to people. You should treat everyone like you want them to treat you. I wouldn’t say I am a hero – I was just someone who was there during a bad situation.”
Izquierdo said the focus now is on Rios and keeping his memory alive.
“All the focus is about Danny now,” Izquierdo said. “Danny was one of my best friends and was a loyal employee and he will be missed at the bar, in my heart and in life. I can’t say enough about Danny Rios.”
Rios is remembered by all as a fun-loving guy who would do anything to help someone else.
“Our family was so close to him we always called him our uncle growing up,” said family friend Paula Aukland. “He used to watch us when we were kids and we had holiday dinners together. He helped me get the interview for my job when I needed it and that was something he didn’t have to do. He was just the best guy.”
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help Rios’s family with funeral expenses.