‘I am thankful to be alive:’ Hinds County election commissioner carjacked in Jackson

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A Hinds County election commissioner was carjacked Saturday night in Jackson.

According to Commander Abraham Thompson with the Jackson Police Department, the incident happened along Porter Street.

The four suspects involved remain on the loose and were last seen driving District 5 Election Commissioner Shirley Varnado’s 2016 white Honda Accord.

Varnado claimed she was getting into her car when a gray car pulled up beside her. That’s when a teenager wearing a white hoodie got out with a gun cocked and told her not to move, Varnado said.

The Hinds County official said the teen jumped in her car and drove off, and the other teens drove away in the gray vehicle.

“Of course, I ran because I was not going to stand there and be shot,” Varnado said. “He was going to have to shoot at a moving target.”

According to Varnado, officers informed her that JPD was pursuing the suspect driving her Honda, but the teen nearly hit a JPD cruiser head-on and got away.

“I’m just trying to warn everybody to be extra careful. This is a dangerous world,” she said.

The commissioner said the carjackers also got away with her phone and purse, but she later found her phone just down the street.

“I’m just so thankful to be alive,” she said. “As long as I’m alive, I can get anything else back.”

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