Would-be carjacker shoots at man with a concealed weapon, suffers critical injuries when CCL holder returns fire

A man with a concealed carry license was sitting in his vehicle on the West Side early Monday when he was fired upon by a man who Chicago police say had apparently been trying to steal the vehicle.

But the 45-year-old vehicle owner instead drew his own concealed handgun and shot the would-be carjacker once in the chest, according to an online media notification from police. The alleged assailant suffered critical injuries, authorities said.

The North Austin shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. Monday, as the 45-year-old sat in his vehicle in the 5500 block of West Crystal Street, according to investigators. Police did not say in what type of vehicle the man had been sitting when the stranger approached him, “produced a handgun and fired shots at the victim.”

After the 45-year-old — who has a valid license to carry a concealed firearm, police said — reportedly shot the aggressor “one time in the upper chest area,” paramedics responded and took the wounded man to Loyola University Medical Center where he had last been listed in critical condition.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many times the wounded man had fired at the 45-year-old, but the victim was not struck and did not suffer any injuries, police said. The would-be carjacker’s gun was found at the scene, according to investigators.

The attempted carjacking and subsequent shooting remain under investigation by detectives.

Monday’s shooting was at least the second time in less than a month in which an attempted vehicle theft resulted in a shooting by a person with a concealed carry license.

A 13-year-old boy was shot by a woman with a concealed carry license July 28 and the boy died Aug. 2 at Comer Children’s Hospital, days after he had been shot once in the neck, police have said.

The two cases share many similarities, with the only significant difference being the CCL holder’s proximity to the person trying to take their property. The woman had been in her Woodlawn home when four or five males allegedly “were attempting to break into a parked vehicle” belonging to her. She came outside, armed, after a neighbor warned her about what was happening on the street.

The 34-year-old woman who owned the vehicle “confronted” the group, “at which time one of (them) pointed a gun at (her),” according to police. The woman, who had a license to carry a concealed gun, fired at least once at the group, hitting Dion Young, 13.

He initially was taken by paramedics to Comer in “fair condition” with a gunshot wound “to the neck area,” but he died days later, officials said.

kdouglas@chicagotribune.com

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