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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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.