Arrest Made In Gunfire Exchange During Attempted Carjacking: Midlo PD

MIDLOTHIAN, IL — Midlothian police on Tuesday said they've made an arrest in connection with a months-old incident in which gunfire was exchanged during an attempted carjacking.

Police on Feb. 6 arrested 19-year-old Jaylon T. O’Neal of Markham, who investigators identified as the suspect in the carjacking.

Police on Oct. 5, 2022 were called to 147th and Waverly for a report of shots fired, which they determined took place during an attempted carjacking. Detectives investigating later learned that the offender, later identified as O'Neal, had contacted the victim via social media to express interest in buying a vehicle the victim had listed for sale. The two met for O'Neal to view the vehicle.

"During the interaction, the victim observed the offender reach into his waistband and draw a handgun, in an attempt to hijack the vehicle," Midlothian Police Chief Daniel Delaney said on social media. "The victim, a licensed concealed carry holder, drew his legally owned weapon and exchanged gunfire with the offender."

In the early morning hours of Feb. 6, Midlothian police detectives, with the assistance of the South Suburban Emergency Response Team (SSERT), served a search warrant at O'Neal's residence in the 16500 block of Plymouth Dr. in Markham. O'Neal was taken into custody a short time later, without incident. During an extensive search of the residence, a loaded firearm was recovered.

O'Neal was later charged with two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm within 1000 feet of a school, and two counts of attempted aggravated vehicular hijacking.