Off-duty cop charged with shooting at carjackers at Sam’s Club, Chicago officials say

An off-duty Chicago police officer was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm after she was accused of shooting at carjacking suspects while in a Sam’s Club parking lot on Oct. 30.

The stolen vehicle was found two hours later, and six males — one 26-year-old and five juveniles — were taken into custody, Chicago police said.

Oneta Sampson Carney, 58, was shopping at a Evergreen Park Sam’s Club with her husband and loading groceries into her Toyota 4Runner at 6:45 p.m. when three males approached her, court documents provided by the state’s attorney say.

They offered to help load the running car, and one of the males got into the car and drove away, the documents say.

None of the males threatened Carney or her husband or indicated they had a weapon, the documents say. The encounter was also captured on nearby surveillance video.

Carney and her husband ran after the vehicle, and it stopped for a moment as one of the other males ran after the vehicle. Carney then shot her gun once at the vehicle, hitting the ground as the car drove away, the documents say.

Several pedestrians, including children, were walking in the parking lot in nearby aisles when Carney fired, the documents say.

All three suspects escaped. Carney called the police but didn’t mention she had fired her gun during the call, the documents say. A shell casing matching her gun was recovered, the documents say. Carney does not have a known criminal history.

Two hours later, police saw a car of the same make and model as Carney’s driving in downtown Chicago, police said. When officers tried to stop the vehicle, the driver fled and shortly after rear-ended another car, police said. Six people — one 26-year-old man and five juveniles — tried to flee but were caught, police said.

Carney appeared in bond court on the class 4 felony charge of reckless discharge of a firearm and was given a $5,000 bail bond. Her next court date is Nov. 8.

This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Off-duty cop charged with shooting at carjackers at Sam’s Club, Chicago officials say."

Mariah Rush

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Mariah Rush is a National Real-Time Reporter. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has previously worked for The Chicago Tribune, The Tampa Bay Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.