Update June 27, 2021 — Police have released surveillance video of the suspects. (Link)
Carjackers shot and critically wounded a 35-year-old man as they tried to take his Jeep Trailhawk in the Gold Coast on Thursday night, police said. No arrests have been made.
The victim, who lives in River North, was standing with his girlfriend at 21 East Chestnut at 10:21 p.m. when a man demanded the keys to the Jeep at gunpoint, according to a CPD report. Police said the offender then fired one round, striking the victim in his neck. The carjacker then returned to the SUV he arrived in and fled the scene, according to a police statement.
Surveillance video shows two offenders getting out of a silver Honda Pilot driven by a third person before the hijacking attempt. Both men ran back to the same car, which is stolen, after the shooting.
An ambulance transported the victim to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was taken to surgery.
Carjacking reports continue to outpace the record numbers seen in 2020. Among the most recent cases is an armed hijacking in the South Loop around 2:55 a.m. Thursday. In that case, carjackers got away with a man’s Mercedes AMG GT63 — a car that retails for over $150,000.
The victim told police that three men, all armed with handguns, commandeered his car on the 1900 block of South Wabash.
Minutes before the crew got away with the victim’s Mercedes, they apparently tried to carjack an Uber driver outside a luxury apartment building on the 1300 block of South Michigan. That attempt failed, but the Uber driver flagged down police to tell them about it moments before the second hijacking unfolded.