GARY, INDIANA – A woman was forced to fire her gun as a man tried to pull her from her car in the early morning hours of Thursday, January 14th. Gary police were dispatched to a report of a robbery and shooting at a gas station at West 47th and Broadway around 4:40 a.m. While responding, officers were notified that a victim was with police in nearby Merrillville, about 4 miles from the scene, according to Lt. Dawn Westerfield.
A GPD officer met the woman in Merrillville and spoke with her there. She stated that she had stopped at the gas station where the incident was originally reported to buy some things. According to her, some men who were sitting in two cars parked nearby were catcalling her. As she was leaving the gas station parking lot, a black man with dreadlocks ran up to her car and jerked open the driver’s door. He then tried to pull her out of the vehicle and tried to choke her. Fighting back, she pulled out a gun and fired at him, causing him to stumble backward.
Lt. Westerfield stated that it wasn’t clear whether the man was struck by gunfire or not, and Gary police have not received reports of anyone being struck by gunfire. As the woman continued driving off, someone fired shots at her car. She told officers that she drove to Merrillville because she was afraid. Apparently, the woman was not injured, and the investigation is continuing..
Often, avoidance is the best defense. If you are a woman, or a man for that matter, stopping at a gas station at 4:40 in the morning to pick up some things is not advised…especially when it’s in an area where the window coverings of choice are steel bars and plywood.
Luckily, this woman was prepared and refused to be a victim.
