Atlanta, GA – An 82-year-old man fought off an armed carjacker during a harrowing encounter in a gas station parking lot last month (video below).
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) recently released security footage of the thwarted attack in an attempt to identify the armed suspect, WXIA reported.
The incident occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 11 at a Chevron station located at 580 McDonough Boulevard Southeast, according to police.
The elderly man was standing beside his vehicle pumping gas when the armed suspect suddenly walked up alongside him, the video showed.
The victim later told police the suspect pulled out a gun and demanded that he let him have his car, WXIA reported.
“I thought he was gonna shoot me,” the victim told WAGA, adding that he had been heading home from the doctor at the time of the attack.
The gunman took the victim’s keys away, at which point the elderly man had enough.
“I saw he wasn’t looking and I grabbed his arm with the gun in it and we started tussling and we hit the ground,” the victim told WAGA.
The video showed him as he suddenly lashed out at his attacker. He then spun around, chased him down, and tackled him to the pavement.
The suspect sprang to his feet and pointed the gun at the victim, WXIA reported.
“You wanna die?” he asked the elderly man, according to the police incident report.
The suspect then ran over to the victim’s vehicle and got into the driver’s seat, but jumped back out a second later and fled on foot, the video showed.
Investigators said the would-be carjacker couldn’t get the vehicle started, WXIA reported.
The victim’s keys were found lying on a sidewalk next to the business.
The elderly man injured his arm during the brawl, but was otherwise unharmed, WXIA reported.
“They are getting desperate,” he told WAGA, referring to criminals. “That’s what they are changing to the most vulnerable people now…I’m just glad to be alive.”
Police said they believe the suspect is 17 or 18 years old.
Watch the incident unfold in the video below. Warning – Graphic Content: