Good Samaritan shot by group of armed car thieves in Uptown
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Good Samaritan trying to report a group of armed thieves breaking into cars in Uptown was injured when he became their next target and almost lost his life.
"It's a blessing! I mean, seeing like the graze on my head. It's like if I had not started to duck down, it's right there!" the victim said, pointing to the middle of his forehead.
It happened while the victim, who asked only to use his first name Justin, was riding his bike home on Montrose near Racine in Uptown. He said he saw someone near a Jeep with a shattered window and another car in tow.
"There were two guys in the car and a guy's tying his shoe right by a bunch of glass. It just didn't seem right," Justin said. "They we're all wearing black. They had neoprene masks."
So he kept riding, but stopped not far away, just down the block, where he said he tried to call police.
"I literally pulled the phone out. I hit the 9, and that's when the shooting started," he said.
Justin was struck in the elbow and was also grazed by a bullet on his head.
"It broke both of those two bones. I have to have surgery to have all of that put back together. The bullet is still inside me," he said.
His wounds will heal one day, but he said the mental trauma will be harder to recover from. He used to live in the area of the shooting. Not anymore.
"We moved immediately!" he said.
ABC7 reached out to Chicago police who did not confirm whether a Jeep was stolen, but did say they are still searching for Justin's shooter.
