Victims speak out after armed carjacking outside Beverly home: 'I don't want to go outside'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Surveillance video captured the scary moments during an armed carjacking outside of a South Side home.

The victims of the violent attack are speaking out about their horrifying encounter with hopes their story can help keep others safe.

Michele Pettiford screamed as she was attacked and pushed to the ground by two men at gunpoint behind her family's home in the city's Beverly neighborhood in the 9300 block of South Pleasant Avenue.

Footage of the attack was captured on the family's Ring security camera.

"The night time is really hard," Michelle said. "I don't want to go outside. I don't want to go in the backyard."

She was returning home from an open volleyball gym with her 12-year-old daughter last Thursday when the two men rushed into her yard just before 9 p.m.

"I go in waves of like being okay and being not okay," Michelle said. "Trying to stay strong for my kids."

Her husband, Jeff Pettiford, said he yelled at the two men before they pointed their weapons at him, demanding car keys.

The two men ultimately got into in the family's Audi A7 and took off, along with more of Michele's belongings.

"A carjacking isn't just somebody stealing a car," Jeff said. "When you see something like that and the trauma it causes a family, a wife, a daughter... then it becomes more real."

Michele and Jeff said their Beverly community has supported their family during this traumatic time, helping them get by a day at a time.

"Beverly is a really unique place where it doesn't matter if you know the person or not, you're going to support them," Michelle said.

The couple hopes that by speaking out about the violent encounter, their story will serve as a reminder about always staying aware of your surroundings.

"This can be you," Jeff said. "This is happening everywhere and it doesn't discriminate by neighborhood, and it could be your wife, your son, your daughter, your mother."

None of the Pettiford's were physically injured in the attack, but they said they've been left with unseen emotional trauma.