A 40-year-old woman and her coworker were heading to the airport together when a group of carjackers accosted them. The pair miraculously fought off the armed attackers without suffering any significant injuries, saving the vehicle and managing to get to a hospital to receive treatment.
A Normal Day
On the early morning of Wednesday, the 27th of December, Jaquita Sims suffered what she thought was a minor annoyance. The 40-year-old woman was heading to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for a vacation when her car got a flat tire.
Helping Hand
Luckily, Sims’s 65-year-old coworker, whose name remains private, was able to give her a lift. At roughly 4:40 am, the pair was approached by a silver SUV containing four men who took out firearms and instructed Sims and her coworker to leave their vehicle.
Terrified
“I started screaming my coworker’s name out,” Sims later told the Chicago Sun-Times. A gunfight rapidly broke out between the armed men and the coworker, who had been carrying his own weapon.
Sticky Situation
“All I heard was loud noises after that, and my eyes was closed,” Sims told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I heard [my coworker] kept screaming my name, but I couldn’t answer him.”
Shots Fired
Sims’s coworker used all five bullets, which was luckily enough to make the four men flee. Meanwhile, the attackers “shot the car up maybe 20 times,” according to Sims’s mother.
Lucky Escape
“You see all those bullet holes and only one hit my child. That’s a miracle,” Sims’s mother told CBS News. “Angels covered her. God covered my daughter. Thank you, Lord.”
Minor Wounds
After the armed attackers fled, Sims’s coworker drove the pair to a nearby hospital, where each received treatment. Sims had been wounded on her chest, and her coworker had a minor injury on his leg. Both have since been discharged.
Giving Thanks
A group of friends, including Sims’s pastor, visited the pair while they were still in the hospital to pray for their health. “This family has been saved from a funeral, saved from a burial – just saved, saved, saved,” one visitor said.
The Damage
Sims’s mother almost couldn’t believe her daughter’s luck. “When I see this car and all the bullets on her side of the car, and she was the passenger, and it’s about 20 bullets just on her side, and only one of them hit her, and it didn’t kill her,” she told CBS News. “Thank you, Lord.”
Legal Carrier
According to the police, Sims’s coworker had a concealed carry license and a valid identification card for his weapon.
Sad Situation
“It’s just sad that a person trying to make a living could almost lose their life,” Sims’ pastor told CBS News. “And so those that are out there with gun violence — this is somebody’s daughter. You’re not just shooting at random targets.”
Further Violence
“Somebody else’s mother is going to get the same call that I got this morning, that their child got shot by the same people, because the guns are still in their hand,” Sims’s mother told CBS News. “They’re going to do it again, and we’ll never know who they are — ’cause they shoot and they run.”
Cycle of Violence
Gun violence has been on the rise in the US for decades. In 2021, more people died from gun suicides and murders than any other year on record, according to Pew Research.
Complicated Crime Story
Murders and violent crimes nationwide fell sharply in 2023, and Chicago also saw fewer homicides and shootings than in 2022. However, robberies and car thefts have both risen.
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