Update: Woman in Aurora carjacking remains in critical condition, incident connected to Maple Park carjacking

Occurred Saturday

A woman remains in critical condition after being shot in a carjacking on the city’s west side Saturday that is connected to a carjacking in Maple Park earlier in the day.

The woman, who was shot in the back while she was parked at a Wendy’s restaurant, is expected to survive, according to a release from the Aurora Police Department.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, Aurora Police’s 911 Telecommunications Center received numerous calls for reports of a shooting and a carjacking in the Wendy’s parking lot in the 1200 block of North Orchard Road, the release stated. When officers arrived, they found a woman on the ground in the parking lot suffering from injuries.

Aurora Fire Department paramedics arrived on the scene and immediately transported the woman to an Aurora area hospital. The woman has been transferred to a Chicago area trauma center for further treatment.

Officers began interviewing potential witnesses and learned the woman was sitting in her car eating a meal while she was parked in the Wendy’s parking lot when at least two black men pulled up in a black Ford Escape, surrounded her vehicle, forcibly pulled her out of her vehicle, shot her in the back and then stole her vehicle.

A black Ford Escape was also found in the parking lot and officers learned it had been stolen in another carjacking in DeKalb County less than an hour earlier. Officers on the scene immediately broadcasted a statewide message over the Illinois State Police Emergency Radio Network for officers across the region to be on the lookout for the victim’s vehicle taken form the scene.

Detectives from the Aurora Police Department’s Bureau of Investigations responded to the scene and began investigating the specific circumstances of the incident. Evidence technicians also responded to the scene to identify and collect forensic evidence from the shooting.

Officers and detectives conducted a canvass of the area to collect potential information from additional witnesses to assist with the investigation. Aurora police detectives contacted the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office and learned that just prior to the carjacking of the Ford Escape in DeKalb County, the offenders had been involved in a crash also involving two other stolen vehicles. Officers in DeKalb County had briefly pursued the vehicle, but ultimately terminated it for safety reasons.

Aurora Police is currently searching for the woman’s vehicle, which is described as a Red 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe with an Illinois License Plate of AE89203. If the vehicle is spotted, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Those who have any information are asked to call the Aurora Police Department’s Investigations Division at 630-256-5500. They can also call the Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000 to report information regarding the incident anonymously.

According to the Maple Park Police Department, officers responded to a reported carjacking at 3:20 p.m. near County Line Road and Peterson Road. A post on the department’s Facebook page states that a man pulled over to help at the scene of what appeared to be an two-vehicle accident. Three suspects appeared from two vehicles with one producing a handgun and forced the individual from his vehicle, according to the post.

The suspects fled westbound on Barber Greene Road in the victim’s car.