Police are searching for a carjacker who wreaked havoc and violence on Detroit's east side, shooting a bystander, stealing a car and crashing a minivan into a lake.
According to WXYZ-TV, a woman went into a gas station in Detroit after dropping her son off at school Thursday morning. When she came back outside, a carjacker was waiting for her with a gun. The carjacker fired shots, then left in the woman's SVU as three bystanders chased after him. He got to a nearby boat club, where he got out as the vehicle crashed into the water.
The carjacker then allegedly exchanged fire with one of the Good Samaritans who had followed him, according to the Detroit Free Press. The man was shot in the arm and taken to a hospital where he was listed in temporary serious condition. The carjacker then escaped in his car, according to the paper.
"These two guys ... are heroes because they literally put their lives on the line to help me," the woman who was carjacked told WXYZ.
The suspect is described as a black male in his 30s with a light complexion and goatee, approximately 5-foot-10 and 150 pounds. He was wearing a blue hoodie, grey vest and dark pants and is believed to be in a 2009 blue Ford Focus with a license plate reading CDU284. If he is spotted, observers are advised to call 911 directly and not approach him. Police are also looking for a possible accomplice, described as a black man in his 20s wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, thought to be driving a tan or old Crown Victoria or Mercury Marquis, according to the Detroit News.
The incident seems like darkly perfect timing: the Detroit Police Department has made carjackings a priority this month, focusing on the corridor of Seven Mile Road -- an area they like to call "Carjack City," according to WJBK-TV. They recently hosting an awareness and training event for the public. At the time, Police Chief James Craig revealed he had recently come close to being carjacked.
According to the Detroit News, police said 85 percent of the time, when carjackers aim a gun, they'll shoot.
“The carjackers are prepared -- that’s why they have a gun,” DPD Detective Brian Fountain said, according to the paper. “And they are prepared to use that gun, so you have to pay attention.”
As of Tuesday, 586 carjackings had been reported in Detroit for the year-to-date, according to WDIV-TV.
An 85-year-old woman and her 88-year-old husband were carjacked in their Detroit driveway Monday. On Tuesday morning, two armed, masked carjackers accosted a man on the city's west side, forced him into the back of his van, and made him remove his pants and hand over other belongings before taking off in the vehicle.
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