WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE CARJACKED:

You pull into a grocery store parking lot. Your nine-month-old baby is strapped into the car seat behind you. In the back seat of the passenger side sits your seven-year-old son. You pull the keys out of the ignition, unlock the car door, and begin to open the door when all of a sudden an individual approaches you. He quickly pulls open your door and you are sitting there looking down the barrel of a handgun. He shouts, "GET OUT OF THE CAR ... NOW!"

What do you do?

A COMPLEX PROBLEM:

The scenario you just read presents several complex problems. Several immediate questions come to mind. What can you do in this situation? What should you do with your two children? How can you and your children survive this ordeal?

ANATOMY OF A CARJACKER:

Most carjacking incidents happen close to the home and involve the use of a weapon.

Let's forget the age of the carjacker for a moment. It doesn't matter whether he or she is a 14-year-old teenager or a 40-year-old man, it's the mindset that you need to comprehend.

When a person points a gun at another person, the intent is usually to scare or frighten or terrorize the individual at the business end of the gun. In fact, in most cases where a gun is pointed at another person, such as in a robbery situation, there is a very small chance that the intruder will actually pull the trigger. The reason for this is simple. The robber's intent is to frighten you into giving up the item he wants to take from you, such as money, a piece of jewelry or your automobile. A person with the intent on killing you will simply walk up to you, shoot you and take whatever they want. This is the difference between an amateur with a gun and a professional killer.

The carjacker, for all intents and purposes, regardless of age, functions as a professional killer.