JACKSON, Miss. – Carjackers brazenly opened fire in the direction of a Mississippi family in their own driveway Friday and tried to steal a car with young children remaining inside, according to a disturbing video.
Doorbell camera footage shows two men walking up to the family’s residence in Jackson when a gunshot is heard and at least one firearm was pointed at a woman, Heather Allen, and her adult son standing next to a black car parked in the driveway, WAPT reported.
As both suspects approach, one of the men then opens the driver’s door and yanks Allen’s daughter out of the vehicle and gets behind the wheel, the video clip shows.
Allen told WAPT the suspect pointed a gun in the face of Allen’s other son, who was inside the car.
“He jumps in the driver’s seat, I’m standing on the outside looking in, and he points a gun at my oldest boy’s face,” she said.
The footage then shows him getting out of the passenger side and running toward the home.
Allen’s two young grandchildren were in the back of the car the suspects were trying to steal.
Meanwhile, both of Allen’s young grandkids, her daughter’s children, remained inside.
“My daughter was like, ‘My babies, my babies are in the car,’” Allen expressed to the news outlet during an emotional interview.
Despite her fear, Allen decided to grab her grandchildren out of the car while the two suspects repeatedly yelled for the keys.
Finally, to get the armed carjackers to leave, the grandmother tossed her own keys at them and they fled in her car, which had been parked nearby on the front lawn, the video shows.
About 40 minutes after the frightening crime occurred, Allen’s car was recovered two blocks away. The vehicle remained in police possession while they processed it for evidence.
The suspects fled in a second vehicle and remain at large as police continue to investigate the carjacking.
Allen said the frightening experience traumatized the entire family, the New York Post reported.
“I’m not sleeping. My oldest son, his anxiety is through the roof — he’s even scared. My daughter, she has shock, but they’re safe,” she told WAPT.
Allen has only lived in the area for about three months. However, she wants to leave Jackson following the terrifying crime.
“We can’t stay here anymore,” Allen said.
Although the woman’s family is safe at another location, she fears the suspects could return.
“I’m scared, because I don’t want them coming back,” Allen said. “Like I don’t know what their mindset is.”
The case remains under investigation and no arrests have been made.
