Denver Mom 'Felt Glass Hitting Her Face' As Shot Fired From Stolen Car Hit Her SUV, Nearly Miss Her Kids
DENVER (CBS4) - A mother said shots fired from a stolen car pierced her SUV, just missing her children in the back seat. It happened Friday afternoon near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Quebec Street in Denver's Central Park neighborhood.
From broken glass to a bullet hole in the back seat of her SUV, what happened Friday will forever stay in Jenny's mind.
"We were really lucky," said Jenny, who asked us not to use her last name.
She calls it a frightening and angering experience, and it all happened as she drove her kids home from school.
"I'm aware that there's crime in this neighborhood, but I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that this would be the type of crime that would affect myself and my children," she said.
For Jenny, it all began when she turned onto MLK Boulevard in Central Park Friday afternoon. Within seconds, she said she saw an erratic driver, and then heard gunshots.
"I felt glass hitting my face and I knew immediately what had happened," said Jenny.
Later, as police arrived at the scene, she saw the bullet hole in the back seat, just a few inches away from the car seat her son was sitting in.
"There's nothing that I could have done differently to avoid the situation that I was in," she said.
While the investigation is still underway, Denver police said it all started with a car theft near Quebec Street and Smith Road, and a witness who followed the suspect. They say minutes later, the suspect noticed the driver following them and fired shots, hitting the witness in the arm.
As of Sunday evening, Denver police had no description of the suspect or car involved in the incident. A spokesman said in these situations, witnesses should get a good description of the car and call 911, rather than follow the suspect. Jenny said she's now rethinking everything from her route home to her sense of safety in her hometown.
"It makes me angry," Jenny said. "We need the police to be able to defend everyday citizens and we need people to get angry about the crime that is occurring here. We need people to stand up and say this is not OK."