A woman with a concealed carry permit opened fire on a man after an attempted carjacking Wednesday on the city’s Northwest Side, police said.
Officers responded to the scene in the 2400 block of West Ohio Street in the city’s West Town neighborhood about 5:35 p.m. A 41-year-old woman said she was driving northbound on Western Avenue when a gray sedan struck her vehicles, according to police. She pulled over to inspect the damage when an “unknown male” jumped in her car and fled, police say.
The woman told police she saw another person, also a male, hiding behind a garbage can, police said. The woman opened fire at some point during the incident with her registered concealed weapon, according to Chicago police.
In home surveillance footage that captured the incident, the woman can be seen examining her red SUV when two men get out of the sedan in front of her. One man gets in the red SUV’s driver’s seat and takes off—leaving the other man behind as he struggles with a passenger-side door. That man runs into a nearby alley.
Bridget Soldan witnessed the woman firing her weapon after the car was taken.
“There was this girl in a bright yellow blazer pointing a gun into the alley,” she said, adding that the woman was “screaming” and “running around the street.”
Neighbors in the area told NBC 5 Friday they were concerned with the woman firing her weapon in the area.
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“If she was truly protecting herself, I suppose she had a right,” said James, a father and resident who asked his last name not be used. “But any time a gun is discharged by someone who is not a professional, it’s definitely concerning.”
Another witness who asked not to be named said the victim opened fire "well after" her car was gone. She also reported hearing the woman demanding the man to show her his hands.
An investigation was ongoing Friday.
