Illinois state senator carjacked at gunpoint near Chicago

Illinois authorities said state Sen. Kimberly Lightford (D) was the victim of a carjacking in a Chicago suburb, NBC affiliate WMAQ reported. 

The Broadview Police Department (BPD) said that on Wednesday just before 10 p.m., three masked individuals driving in a Dodge Durango hijacked a Black Mercedes-Benz SUV with Lightford and her husband, Eric McKennie, inside. 

BPD also said multiple gunshots were fired during the ordeal but that both Lightford and Mckennie were unharmed in the incident. 

Authorities also said they were trying to retrieve surveillance video to help with their investigation, according to The Chicago Tribune. 

BPD police Chief Thomas Mills said the incident occurred 30 minutes after Broadview village officials hosted a Christmas event that took place close to the scene, The Tribune reported. 

Lifghtford’s incident comes the same day Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) was carjacked at gunpoint while leaving a meeting in her congressional district in Philadelphia. Scanlon’s office said she was not physically harmed in the incident, and five people have been arrested in connection with the carjacking.

In a statement, Lightford, the state’s Senate majority leader, said she is “thankful that my husband and I are alive and physically unharmed” but that she is still “trying to process the trauma of what happened,” WMAQ reported. 

“I want to thank everyone who has offered their love and support,” Lightford said in her statement. “I want to especially thank Mayor Katrina Thompson and the Broadview Police Department for their quick and thorough response.” 

Police said that an investigation is ongoing in the incident, WMAQ noted.