CHICAGO, IL – A carjacking in West Garfield Park, Chicago erupted in gunfire during the early morning hours of Dec. 27, according to the Chicago Sun Times, when the would-be victim started shooting at the carjackers and they returned fire.

The incident occurred just before 5 a.m. when the victims were stopped near a silver SUV. The carjackers exited the SUV and ordered them to get out of the vehicle and hand over the keys.

The driver, who has a valid permit to carry, drew his pistol and started firing at the carjackers but missed. One of the carjackers started firing back wildly, striking the passenger – a 40-year-old woman – in the chest and grazing the leg of the driver, a 65-year-old man and fled the scene.

The woman, according to CBS News, was in stable condition hours later. She and the driver are co-workers at O’Hare International Airport.

The driver fired five shots in total and reportedly drove himself and his wounded passenger to a hospital for treatment.

The Chicago Police Department is investigating the incident.

Fortune Favors The Bold

The defender, in this instance, knew there was no negotiating his way out of it, was confronted with a gun and, therefore, a credible threat to life and limb, and therefore, that shooting his way out was the best choice to resolve the situation and decided to act.

The motto “fortune favors the bold” or something to that effect has been around since antiquity. While the civilian shooter did get shot at and winged – and his passenger wounded, almost gravely – the fact that he decided to act might have well saved their lives.

In a lot of instances, the proper use of a firearm for a civilian is often to force a break in contact, to get the threat to leave, or at least pause long enough for a person to flee. In essence, that’s what happened here; the threat presented itself, was met with lethal force, and the attack was broken off.

Some might opine in this situation that letting the thieves take the car was the safer bet, which has some merit. After all, car insurance policies cover theft.

However, it’s also true that compliance in a robbery does not guarantee survival. So it’s impossible to say that it would have been the better choice in this or any other instance.

Be prepared to act if you have to. It may be what saves your life.

Read the original story: Chicago Carjacking Escalates to Gunfight: Permit Holder and Passenger Wounded