A 20-year-old man who was shot trying to stop carjackers attempting to steal his sister’s car in Austin early Monday was hospitalized in critical condition.
The attack happened about 2 a.m. in the 1500 block of North Linder Avenue, just outside the home where the siblings live, according to Chicago police and the man’s sister, who asked not to be identified for safety concerns.
The 25-year-old woman said her brother was carrying one of her children into the house as she parked her car. As she got out to check if she had parked correctly, four people whom she had seen in a nearby alley ambushed her, beating her and threatening her with a gun.
“After that I just got out the way because they pointed the gun at me,” the woman told the Sun-Times, adding that two of her children were still in the car as the attackers began to drive off in her 2011 Volkswagen sedan.
“They were about to pull off with my car, and I was like you can have the car, I just want my kids,” she said, adding that her brother tried to come to her aid as the attackers were “throwing my kids out of the car” and that’s when he was shot.
Her brother suffered a gunshot wound to his chest and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he remains in critical condition, his sister said. He is scheduled to undergo surgery within the next couple of days to remove the bullet.
“I think he’s going to be OK,” she said, describing her brother as a “nice, outgoing person who doesn’t tell anybody ‘no.’”
No one is in custody. Area 5 detectives are investigating.
On Monday afternoon, a community outreach team from the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago canvassed the block where the attack happened, handing out leaflets with information for those affected by violence. They also hoped to connect with the shooting victim and offer him help, possibly with his medical bills or recovery.
Violence “is like a disease, so we gotta stop the transmission any way we can,” said Tavares Harrington, the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago’s outreach supervisor for the Austin area, adding that the team tries to build relationships within the community and holds trust-building events.
“We just try to give back and help,” Harrington said. “Keep the peace.”
