Carjacker Ends Up in Literal Gun Fight After Jumping into the Wrong Car
Carjackers and other petty criminals often think that being armed puts them in charge, but an incident in Indiana has once again shown that the Second Amendment can quickly transform a predator into prey.
On Thursday, a would-be robber jumped into another person’s car during broad daylight. The accused criminal, later identified as Derrick Hart, flashed a gun and demanded money.
Hart had made a grave miscalculation. The “victim” in the car was also armed, and willing to put up a fight.
According to WXIN News, the driver of the car told Hart that he didn’t have any cash, and was then ordered at gunpoint to drive to a nearby Chase Bank ATM. The victim complied, but was hatching a plan of his own.
“At the time, an armored vehicle was stocking the branch’s ATMs, so the victim attempted to steer towards it hoping to find help. When the robber told the victim to avoid the truck, a fight broke out,” the station reported.
“The robbery victim grabbed his gun and they started fighting in the vehicle in very close quarters over that gun,” Deputy Chief Gary Woodruff said.
As the two men were fighting, the car crashed into a fence and both the robber and the resisting victim jumped out of the vehicle. That’s when the car’s owner — who has asked to remain anonymous — drew his own concealed handgun.
“Unbeknownst to the robbery suspect, the victim had his own firearm and so they engaged in an exchange of gunfire,” Woodruff said.
Hart was shot two times, while the car owner was also injured. Luckily, nearby police officers heard the gunfire.
“They hear the gunfire and immediately respond, and they’re able to stabilize the situation and make an almost immediate apprehension of the suspect,” the deputy chief explained.
Hart was placed under arrest and taken to a hospital where he was listed in serious condition. Police said he already had at least one warrant and would now be facing additional charges of armed robbery, aggravated battery and criminal confinement.
Although the anonymous armed citizen was hurt, he or she is expected to be OK.
“We’re just thankful it wasn’t worse, we’re thankful there was no loss of life, and thankful that there weren’t any other people directly impacted as a result of this incident for sure,” Woodruff said.
This is the type of story that is often overlooked by the media and gun-grabbing politicians on the left.
“States with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent crimes,” gun violence expert John R. Lott Jr. summarized to the University of Chicago Press.
“Concealed handgun laws reduce violent crime for two reasons,” Lott explained. “First, they reduce the number of attempted crimes because criminals are uncertain which potential victims can defend themselves. Second, victims who have guns are in a much better position to defend themselves.”
While statistically rare tragedies like mass shootings dominate the headlines, incidents of legally armed citizens defending themselves are much more common — and thankfully, this latest incident ended with the good guy winning.
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