More detail on this person: Shot during a
robbery of the restrauant he co-owned and died the
next day from his wounds.Robbery results in death
of Herby K's co-owner This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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03/10/2024
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Family, friends mourn loss of 'John' Bean Jr.
July 30, 2006
Tanya Allen (left) and William Myar hug each other
outside Herby K's Restaurant on Saturday
afternoon. Co-owner John Bean was shot and killed
during a robbery Friday night. (Robert Ruiz/The
Times)
To help: People with more information on the
robbery and subsequent first-degree murder of
Adrian Johngene "John" Bean Jr. should call police
detectives at (318) 673-6955 or Shreveport Crime
Stoppers at (318) 673-7373.
By Adam Kealoha Causey
Neon beer signs were still glowing in the windows
at Herby K's just after the lunch hour Saturday
afternoon, but the music inside had stopped.
The air conditioner in the enclosed patio was
still running, but the doors were locked. Tables
inside the original part of the hole in the wall
were turned diagonally toward the seats in the
four booths -- left that way from the previous
night's sweeping.
And no one seems quite sure when the good times
will be back.
Herby K's co-owner Adrian Johngene "John" Bean
Jr., 58, died early Saturday at LSU Hospital after
being shot during an armed robbery at the
restaurant shortly before 9:45 p.m. Friday.
Witnesses told police that a masked man dressed
in all black was robbing the restaurant when he
and Bean began fighting. The assailant shot Bean
and fled through an alley.
On Saturday, shocked and grieving friends placed
flowers, cards and posters outside the restaurant
at 1833 Pierre Ave., a Shreveport dining
institution since 1936, where a handwritten sign
on the door read: "CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER
NOTICE."
William Myar, 50, a family friend and sometime
restaurant worker, went Saturday to finish
cleaning up from Friday night's dinner crowd. He
put some food in the freezer and threw away
perishables such as cole slaw. He said he doesn't
think Herby K's will re-open anytime soon.
Bean's energy had become a vibrant part of the
historic restaurant since he married Janet Kaye
Thrasher Busi, who had become a part of the Busi
family through a previous marriage. Herbert Busi
Sr. opened the restaurant -- with walls covered in
artist renderings of the building, old license
plates and university logo stickers -- 70 years
ago.
Bean's gentle manner, Myar said while sitting in
the booth nearest to the patio order window, made
him a true "people person."
"It always made me feel good to work for him,"
said Myar, wiping his eyes with a napkin while a
tear dropped onto his tattooed right arm. "He'd
loan me his last 50 cents."
Iven Bergeron, 59, first met Bean more than 40
years ago when Bean had just finished high school.
They had played together in the horn band Bill Ray
and The Show Band Royale and even shared an
apartment in Shreveport. They lost touch just a
few years later, but had "rekindled the
friendship" in the past three weeks since Bergeron
had located Bean after moving back to
Shreveport.
"John was just a very lovable, fun-loving soul,"
Bergeron said as he helped to put a large poster
board card on the fence outside the restaurant. He
said he never would have dreamed their revived
friendship would be short-lived.
Bean married Busi in 1981, three years after she
had taken over the home of the Shrimp Buster --
Herby K's signature po-boy made with four,
flattened shrimp.
Bean was a veteran of the war in Vietnam where he
flew a medical evacuation helicopter for the
Army.
His military service and the vehicle he drove in
high school -- described as a souped up Model T
Ford -- stand out in the mind of Bean's Woodlawn
High School classmate Jimmy Buckner.
Bean, who graduated with Buckner in 1966, also
played football on the same Woodlawn team as
Louisiana Tech University and NFL great Terry
Bradshaw.
"He was somebody that did everything right,"
Buckner said, complimenting the way Bean found a
fulfilling career in Herby K's. "You'd go in
there, and he'd have a big smile on his face. He
obviously loved it."
Bean and his wife, who along with friends and
family at the Bean residence in Keithville asked
not to be disturbed with questions, were "a great
couple," Buckner, now of Dallas, said.
Shreveport police said they have no leads on a
suspect who brought that career and the life of a
father, friend and husband to an end, Detective
Eric Farquhar said.
"Nobody got a look at him," he said. "We're not
ruling anything out."
Anthony Robertson, 22, who has worked at Herby
K's for just over a month, said he heard fighting
near the counter when he was working in the
kitchen -- and then he heard two gunshots.
"I caught them wrestling," he said, and then the
robber ran out the door.
The man got away with an unknown amount of
money, Farquhar said.
Gary Hines, who has worked at the restaurant for
more than 20 years, said the two men were in each
others' grips just after the gunshots.
"Then, he just let go," Hines, 42, said of Bean.
Bean appeared to lose consciousness.
A doctor and nurse who had been on the
restaurant's patio performed CPR on Bean, Hines
said, reviving him momentarily before he was put
into an ambulance and taken to LSU Hospital.
"He wasn't bleeding much," Hines said.
Billy Oberle, owner of Scuba Ventures just around
the corner from Herby K's in the 1800 block of
Texas Avenue, said he was sad to hear about
Bean's death. He said he's not fearful because of
what happened near his business.
"We have over 300 kids a week in classes here,
and we're here until 9:30 or 10 o'clock some
nights," he said. "We don't have any problems."
This homicide sparks memories for some regular
diners who recall another violent killing at the
restaurant.
"This is just senseless," said Tanya Allen, 51, as
she stomped her feet in sadness and anger over the
loss of Bean and popular restaurant worker Kevin
Shields.
Shields, who lived in an apartment attached to the
eatery, was stabbed after hours in October 2004
following an argument with an acquaintance.
Carson Green, then 24 and of Shreveport, was
arrested and has been indicted on charges of
first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty by
reason of insanity. Prosecutors have said they
plan to seek the death penalty in the case, which
is set for trial in Caddo District Court on Sept.
25 before Judge Leon Emanuel.
Bean became the 17th person in Shreveport to die a
violent death this year.