Armed Carjacking Outside Local Elementary School

"I get into my car ready to go home," said Erminio Vicente of Chattanooga. "Then one of these guys opened the door of my car and he pointed the pistol and took over my car."

The three suspects described as males in their early 20’s and seen in a surveillance video are still on the loose.

The victim was driving a green 2000 Honda Passport.

He told News 12 he’s shopped at the grocery store for years.

"I’m thankful that it didn’t hurt me but I don’t want anybody else to get hurt because these people are dangerous carrying a gun," Vicente said. "They could hurt someone."

The scene of the carjacking is just a few yards away from an elementary school where children were playing outside while police conducted their investigation.

The school wasn’t on lockdown and school officials had no idea what had just happened right outside.

"I understand that there was a carjacking in very close proximity of our school, an armed carjacking with a gun," said East Side Elementary principal Stephanie Hinton. "I wasn’t aware of that."

Hinton locked the school doors after learning from News 12 about the armed carjacking and that the suspects were not captured.

"I do not know why we were not notified," Hinton said.

The child of the victim attends the school.

Chattanooga police told News 12 that because the suspects left the area, no reaction was necessary.

Police urge anyone with knowledge of the suspects to call them immediately.

The East Side Elementary school principal said she hopes this incident shows the school board how desperately they need surveillance cameras and a system that only allows authorized personnel in.