Possible road rage shooting critically injures mother in West Chatham Home Depot parking lot: family
15-year-old boy recalls moment suspect began shooting toward him, his mom
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Police are investigating a possible road rage shooting that left a woman critically injured in the parking lot of a South Side Home Depot on Tuesday morning.
ABC7 spoke with the victim's teenage son, who was in the backseat of their car, sitting right behind his mother when they came under fire on Tuesday morning.
He said the shooting stemmed from a road rage incident.
His mother, 41-year-old Silvia Garcia, was shot in the head. She was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in critical condition.
Her husband, Jesus Garcia, is by her side as she undergoes surgery.
Angel Garcia, 15, told ABC7 his parents were in some sort of road rage incident with a driver near the Home Depot at West 87th Street and South Lafayette Avenue shortly after 9:30 a.m.
Garcia said the driver got out of his car and began shooting toward them. Their Dodge Ram was left with a bullet hole on the passenger side, where Silvia was sitting.
"This guy got out of his car. He started getting aggravated towards my father. So, my father got out of his car. He then hit my father with his gun. So, my mother tried defending him by throwing something into the back of the guy. So then, the guy drove off to the front, got back out of his car and started shooting towards us," Garcia said.
Before the pickup truck came to a stop after coming under fire, it slammed into a Dollar Tree. The stop sign damaged the building.
"I don't know what was going on. It just happened so fast, like 'crash,'" said Laquita Oatis, a Dollar Tree employee.
Oatis was checking out a customer at the register when it happened.
"I was ringing somebody up, and then, all of a sudden, it was like 'boom!' So, when I looked, I'm like, 'oh, a car is going to come into the window.' My heart was beating fast," Oatis said.
Benison is a general contractor nearby who comes and goes from the shopping center often.
Michael Benison is a general contractor nearby.
"I was just here at 8 o'clock. When I come back at 12, I wasn't expecting craziness and police everywhere," Benison said.
Police said no one is in custody as detectives continue to investigate.
"This is a real nice family. They're part of the victory outreach church and it's a very united and humble family. They do not deserve this," said Victory Outreach Church Pastor Aby Diaz.
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