Teens visiting Atlanta carjacked at gunpoint

ATLANTA - Terrifying moments for a group of teenagers visiting Atlanta after police said they were carjacked at gunpoint.

According to the Atlanta Police report, the teens, visiting from Arkansas were driving on Spring Street in Midtown Sunday around one in the morning. The driver backed up to park along the curb when she hit a fire hydrant. Police said the driver pulled into a parking garage on Eighth Street to look at the damage.

“She and a passenger were outside looking at the damage on the vehicle and an unknown black male came running up and produced a firearm and demanded the vehicle,” said Sgt. John Chafee with the Atlanta Police Department.

Police said as the teens jumped back into their Nissan Altima the man jumped into the car and demanded they get out of the car at gunpoint.

“These people had actually pulled inside of a parking garage, were checking out the damage on the vehicle, which is something we all would do in that set of circumstances,” said Sgt. Chafee.

FOX 5’s Nathalie Pozo spoke to the teen driver over the phone who said she and her friends were visiting Atlanta on a vacation before they head off to college.  The teen said they are all ok and back home safe.

Officers said the suspect is believed to be 20 to 25 years old, about 5’5”, and weighing 130 to 150 pounds. Investigators believe the man got out of a black car driven by another person.

While police continue to search for those responsible, residents said they would be more careful.

“It’s just a little scary down here now, hearing that,” said Midtown resident Gabby Maddox. “It’s a really busy street, we are right in the middle of multiple restaurants, multiple clubs, so usually at any given time even at one and two o’clock in the morning you see people walking all through here and it's pretty safe if something was to happen everybody would see it.”

Atlanta Police said they are reviewing surveillance video, but are not ready to release it at this time.