Man credits "hero lady" for saving his life after two men ambushed him with assault rifles

    CHICAGO (WBBM) -- A case of mistaken identity almost cost a man his life on the South Side. The man said he was ambushed by two armed men armed with assault rifles and only escaped when a bystander bravely intervened.

The victim said he did not know the armed men, and he believed he looked like someone they were looking for.

So often, people don't want to get involved when they see something bad going on, but Friday morning, a woman decided to intervene when she saw two guys pointing guns at a man, and that young man credited this stranger for saving his life.

"Oh yeah, I'm glad, you know?" he said.

The appreciation of life comes when one has a near-death experience. Such was the case for a 28-year-old man on Friday morning.

"I feel grateful. You know, I feel I had a second chance at life because of a strong hero woman," he said.

The young man, who asked to remain anonymous, had just dropped his car off at a mechanic in the West Lawn neighborhood, and while walking near 59th and Lawndale, he tried hopping on an e-scooter.

The incident happened not even a block away from the scooter. Two men in a dark Hyundai sedan with tinted windows pulled up.

"The one guy hopped out with the AK, and I was focusing on him, and then I saw another guy hopped out with another AK," he said.

The men pointed the guns at his head in broad daylight. He thought he was being robbed.

"I'm handing over phones, jewelry," the victim said. "That's when the guy put the gun to my head, and that's when he just put the one in the chamber, and that's when the lady – this hero lady – just screamed 'hey,' and they turned around and thought twice."

That scream was enough for the two men to take off.

"She was a hero. She was Superman in a little white car," the victim said through tears. "[I'm] grateful for another chance at life; another chance to see my unborn child."

He said he's eternally grateful for the stranger who had enough courage to step in when so many do not.

"God forbid, they could have just turned their guns towards her and attacked her," he said. "She didn't care. She didn't care. … That one lady saved my life."

After the gunmen jumped back in the car, the woman called 911, providing a license plate number. She even returned to see if the victim was okay, telling him, "she did live in neighborhood she was tired of the bull****, the BS."

"There's hope in Chicago, and there's people like that lady that will step in," he added.

Unfortunately, he did not get the woman's name, but he'd like to personally thank her with a hug and then an invitation to dinner if she accepts it.

No one was in custody Friday night.