An alleged would-be carjacker in Chicago made the painful mistake of picking the wrong victim, who reportedly turned the tables and shot the suspect, who was transported to the hospital in critical condition, according to Fox News and the Chicago Police.
The incident occurred barely 72 hours after police reportedly arrested a 20-year-old carjacking suspect who allegedly shot one of his victims in the leg. According to WFLD News, the local Fox affiliate, 20-year-old Jamari Edwards has been charged with one count of felony aggravated vehicular hijacking/discharging firearm, two counts of felony aggravated vehicular hijacking and a single count of felony aggravated battery/discharging firearm.
In the apparent self-defense incident early Monday morning, the 45-year-old intended victim was in his car and was approached by the suspect, who displayed a handgun and opened fire. But the motorist was licensed to carry and returned fire, hitting the suspect in the chest. The armed citizen was not injured.
A recent report from Fox News says Chicago carjackings “are on pace to rise again in 2022 after already dramatic increases in 2020 and 2021, trending towards a number that would be six times higher than just eight years ago.” The city could experience more than 1,900 carjackings this year, if the pace continues, the story indicated.
“The numbers are in line with an overall rise in crime that has plagued Chicago and other major American cities in the last two years,” the Fox News report said, “a problem some experts have pinned on pandemic-related lockdowns and a more passive approach to policing in the wake of social unrest following the 2020 murder of George Floyd.”
Floyd was the Minneapolis man who died after a police officer—now convicted of murder and sent to prison—kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes despite Floyd’s plea that he could not breathe.
Former officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison.
Chicago set a carjacking record last year of 1,848 carjackings, Fox reported. Monday’s shooting incident in which a suspect was seriously wounded was a rare event and it may, or may not, discourage other carjackers, but probably not for long.
So far this year, according to Heyjackass.com, Chicago had racked up 448 homicides so far this year, of which 410 have involved firearms.
