Carjacker shot by clerk, flees police and crashes into cars in downtown Fort Worth

A suspected carjacker was shot by a store clerk Thursday morning but managed to lead police on a brief chase before he crashed in downtown Fort Worth, police said.

The suspect, who was later identified as Courtney Keith Johnson, 28, got out and fled from a crashed black Tahoe but was arrested after a foot pursuit.

The carjacking occurred about 7 a.m. Thursday at a Valero in the 3900 block of East Lancaster Avenue in east Fort Worth, police said.

“A woman and two children were at a business when the suspect took the vehicle,” police Sgt. Raymond Bush said Thursday morning.

The suspect, armed with a handgun, walked up to the woman and demanded the vehicle, police said. Two children were in the vehicle, but they got out before the suspect drove away, police said.

At about that time, a store clerk fired multiple rounds at the suspect, police said. Detectives interviewed the clerk, but he was not arrested.

“The suspect was wounded, but he continued to drive away,” Bush said. The suspect suffered gunshot wounds to his arm and abdomen.

Minutes later, police spotted the Tahoe behind a motel on East Lancaster Avenue, police said.

A pursuit ensued as the suspect drove into downtown before he crashed into two unoccupied vehicles — a Ford Edge and a Toyota Rav4 — in a parking lot at Seventh and Macon streets.

After he crashed the stolen Tahoe, the suspect fled, but he was arrested about two blocks from the crash scene. The suspect was taken to the hospital with wounds not believed to be life-threatening.

Johnson faces aggravated robbery and evading arrest charges, and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges, police said.

No other injuries were reported.

The crash caused extensive damage to at least two vehicles, leaving the 2013 Ford Edge upside down in the parking lot.

“I got here about 7 a.m. and I never heard anything,” said Debra Burson, owner of the Edge. “My husband called me when the the police called him. I walked out to the parking lot and there it was, upside down.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 8:59 AM with the headline "Carjacker shot by clerk, flees police and crashes into cars in downtown Fort Worth."