Family Singing in Car on Way Home From Movies Dodges Gunfire

Edgar Ramos believes the man he tried to help had been the shooter’s intended target

Edgar Ramos never thought a night at the movies would turn violent and put his family’s lives in danger—but that’s what he said happened New Year’s Day in Chicago.

The family had just left a movie in suburban Melrose Park and were driving near Pulaski Road and Palmer Street in Chicago’s Hermosa neighborhood about 8:30 p.m.

“We’re singing the soundtrack from the movie we just saw ‘Sing,’ we’re singing hallelujah in the car,” Ramos said.

A man waved the family down and asked them to help jumpstart his car, he said. Ramos agreed.

“Right as I finish saying that, the shots rang out from the vehicle alongside of us,” he said. “The passenger side window explodes with glass.”

Ramos said he quickly sped off and made sure his 8- and 10-year-old daughters and wife were unharmed.

“The look in their eyes—I’ve never seen that look on a kid’s face before,” he said of his children.

He said three shots hit his car.

Ramos believes the man he tried to help had been the shooter’s intended target.

A witness told him that the person went back to his broken-down car after the shooting, grabbed something then ran off. 

Chicago police responded to a report of a shooting in the area but it did not appear that anyone was in custody. 

Ramos said the incident has forever changed him.

“I do feel like it’s my fault, like I should’ve just said ‘no’ and drove off,” he said. “But, I guess the good person inside me decided this is my time to help this guy—and someone else decided it wasn’t my time to die.”

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