CBS2 Exclusive: Mother, Daughter Nearly Carjacked In Cliffside Park, N.J.
CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- It was anything but a quiet morning Thursday at a school in Bergen County, after a mother and her daughter were nearly carjacked.
In an exclusive interview with CBS2's Jessica Layton, the mother described the terrifying encounter that stopped her in her tracks.
"I'm just very nervous right now. I don't feel safe," Jessica Lazo said. "It happened so fast, it was a blur."
The incident happened around 9:30 a.m. outside Cliffside Elementary School #3, on Palisade Avenue in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.
Lazo came inches away from a woman wearing a mask who tried to climb into the backseat of her car with a gun, where her little girl was buckled up, ready for school.
"She opened my back door, reaching in. I got out of my car, that's when I saw the gun," she said. "I screamed. I automatically screamed and I was ready to fight her. I wasn't going down without a fight."
Fortunately, she didn't have to fight. The would-be carjacker ran off without harming her or her 4-year-old daughter.
As CBS2's Erin Logan reported, up and down the street, neighbors were talking about the fear and panic that followed.
Miledy Silva watched the chaos from her front door -- scared because her child goes to school there.
"I know there was a lot of police and dogs around the school," Silva said.
"She did a good job," said Sybil Ford, "and I'm glad that her daughter's OK."
Ford said she lives upstairs from Lazo and daughter. She was worried when detectives knocked on her door this morning.
"They just asked if I heard anything. I was sleeping in my back room, so I really didn't hear anything," Ford said. "They didn't go into too much detail. They just said that somebody tried to maybe possibly rob her."
A search for a masked woman in a blue hoodie forced area schools -- including the high school -- to be in shelter mode. Kids were kept in place until police felt everyone was safe.
The school superintendent said it lasted about an hour. Silva said it was a long hour as her son was texting her from the high school.
"They saying it was an old lady with a gun," Silva said, adding that there were all kinds of rumors spreading.
At the end of the school day, parents were just relieved that everyone is safe -- and that mother and daughter were OK. They also realized they themselves could have been the victims.
"I was thinking the same exact thing. What would I have done?" said Sasha Colon. "My phone is always in my hand. Probably at a reaction, I probably would have swung it at him."
Police late Thursday afternoon said there was not an active search in progress anymore. Police also said no one was in custody, but would not elaborate.
