Oak Park police step up patrols near middle school after mother is carjacked while waiting to pick up child

Extra police patrolled near a middle school in Oak Park Thursday after a mother was carjacked while waiting to pick up her child a day earlier.

The woman was parked on Washington Boulevard outside Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School at 325 S. Kenilworth Ave. when she was approached by two men around 3:20 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

One of the men pulled a gun and ordered the woman out of her car, police said. One of them then got into the car and drove west on Washington Boulevard. The other carjacker got back into a black sedan and sped off.

The woman ran to the school’s front office, which called police. The woman was not hurt, and the students and staff were inside the school at the time, according to a notice sent to parents.

The notice said the school district had asked for “additional police presence” around the school Thursday and asked parents to report any suspicious activity.

“We are disturbed and extremely concerned,” said Amanda Siegfried, a spokeswoman for Oak Park Elementary School District 97. “We are reviewing the safety procedures at the school, just as we do any time a serious incident occurs in or near the building.”