What led to the shooting
On 4 January 2022. A 38-year-old Lyft driver was car jacked by two suspects that planned to steal the vehicle the driver was in, the incident occurred near the Philadelphia zoo. The Lyft driver drove a 2011 Honda Acord, another person occupied the passenger seat. The suspects, Alex Fernandez Pena and Juan Rodriguez ages 32 and 20 respectively. They set a trap in which they purposefully hit the vehicle of their target. The action of bumping someone’s car forces the driver to stop, get out of the vehicle and address the situation. The goal of this plot was to distract the target while the other passenger committing the crime would sneak into the target’s car and drive off with it. The Lyft driver became the target of this rouse, a passenger in the car sitting in the passenger seat. The passenger was told to get out of the vehicle, Juan and threatened to hit the passenger with the stolen car if they did not. Fernandez Pena immediately pulled out and pointed a twelve-gauge shotgun at the driver. He then proceeded to get into the driver’s car, Juan got into the passenger side and drove away. The driver is a licensed gun carrier and reached for his weapon, and opened fire on Fernandez and Juan. Fernandez was hit with bullet in his chest outside of the vehicle when he tried to escape the scene. Juan was shot on the right side of his rib cage and found in the stolen vehicle.
What happened to the carjackers
Both suspects were critically injured and taken to the Penn Presbyterian after police offer arrived at the scene. The passenger and Lyft driver was unharmed and provided a statement to the police on what had transpired.
After the suspects were treated for their injuries they were charged with the following:
A felony charge for car hijacking. Displaying a firearm during a crime of violence.
If found convicted of these crimes in a court of law the suspects could face a 25-year life sentence for the crime with a minimum sentence of seven years depending on the judge’s ruling.
Was the Lyft driver fired
No further information can be found about what happened to the Lyft driver after the incident, even though he nor the passenger faced physical injuries, it was safe to assume that both were traumatized by the incident. The Lyft driver handled the situation well considering the high stakes involved. The results of the incident could have ended in death but it did not.
The name of the Lyft driver and passenger have not been released, the driver was within his legal rights to have a gun and fire it in that situation as he was robbed of his car and threatened at gunpoint by the assailants.
Does Lyft allow an open carry firearm policy for its drivers?
Lyft has not released a statement about the matter and because citizens in Philadelphia have open-carry rights Lyft cannot legally have a policy against drivers being able to carry guns. Philadelphia are being a dangerous city in the united states of America. Drivers are often at risk making trips at night or during the early mornings as such many become victims of carjackings or other crimes.
Have there been other incidents like this?
71-year-old Abdul Khan was a Lyft driver who was shot and killed in a carjacking that happened on the 26th of February 2022. Fortunately, the assailant was arrested. He was a 17-year-old kid. The sequence of events is as follows;Abdul was on the job at 5. 30 pm. His family contacted the police after failing to reach him for hours, nobody in his nuclear family or Lyft driver app could get a hold of him. He was found in the middle of the road shot dead with gunshot wounds. His car was missing when the police arrived at the scene. He had no identification, his wallet was stolen. Two days after the murder occurred, two teenage boys were spotted with their vehicle. The tragic event that led to the death of an innocent man, this attests to the danger Lyft drivers and other car service drivers face when on the job.
Conclusion
A Lyft driver shot two attackers who hijacked his car. He did this in self-defense after one of them pointed their gun at him and stole his car. The driver and passenger involved were unharmed, and the assailants were arrested after receiving treatment.
