CLEVELAND — A gunman carjacked an 83 year-old woman outside of a Cleveland church before he got into a shootout hours later with police early Sunday morning.
The 40 year-old suspect was shot multiple times by police and remains hospitalized.
The 83 year-old woman, who doesn't want to be identified, tells WKYC she was preparing to attend Sunday service around 9:30 a.m..at Greater Gospel Temple on East 83rd Street and Quincey Avenue when the suspect tried to open her car door. She says the man pointed a gun at her and screamed, telling her to get out of the car.
"He pointed that pistol at me. He said 'B open this door. I will kill you. And don't take nothing out of that car. You open this door now'," she said.
The 83 year-old woman says she's been going to the church for more than 30 years. She says she is a Sunday school teacher.
The 83 year-old grandmother says she never expected to be carjacked outside of one of the places she feels the safest.
"That man meant business. He wasn't playing. He meant business," she said after handing over her keys.
She says she had no choice but to give him the keys because she believed the man was going to kill her.
"I went on in that church and start crying," she said.
The carjacking victim says people are becoming more violent and more careless in the city of Cleveland.
"They do everything now. Day, night. They don't care what they do now," she said. "People aren't afraid of nothing now. They dont care."
Two hours after the 83 year-old was carjacked, the same male suspect brandished a weapon at a laundromat in the 6200 block of Fleet Avenue.
Officers spotted the stolen car and attempted to initiate a stop, which the suspect ignored. A vehicle pursuit followed and the suspect bailed from the car, which caught fire, resulting in a foot chase in the area of E. 83rd Street and Holton Avenue.
Williams said shots were exchanged between officers and the suspect, ending when the suspect was shot multiple times. Four of the officers involved were Cleveland police officers, one was an RTA officer. None of the officers reported any injuries.
The suspect was taken to University Hospitals, where Williams says he underwent surgery and is listed in serious condition.
Williams said the officers involved will be placed on administrative leave during the investigation, which will be conducted by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office.
The suspect has not been publicly identified.