Woman escaped carjacker by jumping on school bus, deputies say

HICKORY, N.C. — Authorities said they have a man in custody after a manhunt early Friday morning following a car-jacking attempt in Hickory.

Deputies said a gunman tried to car-jack a woman in her driveway on Springs Road around 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning, but she managed to get away and jumped onto a nearby school bus looking for help.

Channel 9 reporter Dave Faherty was the first on the scene, follow him on Twitter for updates.

Investigators said Wesley Wright came up from behind Mee Chang with a gun and tried to get into her car.

It happened in a neighborhood about a mile from where officers were fifteen SWAT team members were training.

Chang's young daughter witnessed the incident from the backseat of their car.

She locked the doors and was able to get away out of her driveway, deputies said.

Chang drove down the street to her daughter’s school bus stop and jumped onto the bus asking for help, authorities said.

Wright  took off running, deputies said.

After an hour long manhunt, deputies and a SWAT team that was training nearby were able to catch Wright and arrested him, charging him with felonious attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon and resisting arrest.

Wright didn't have the gun at the time of his arrest. Deputies searched for the weapon and found it on 27^th Street NE in Hickory.

Reporter Dave Faherty spoke to Wright.

"(I) didn't do nothing, man," Wright said.          
 
Investigators have swabbed the woman's car for DNA evidence.

Local schools were briefly placed on lockdown while police looked for Wright.

The mother recounted her terrifying experience to Channel 9.

She said the barrel of a black ops pistol held in her face was 8 inches long.
 
"I was taking my daughter to school," Chang said.
 
Chang said the man approached her car, pointing a gun at her as she was getting ready to take her daughter to the bus stop.
 
"I was so scared and can't remember if he said, get out, get out, I got a gun, or get out, get out," Chang said.

"There's no way to describe it; within  two minutes, they had cars here and all the way up and down the street," neighbor Chris Lowman said.

"Lord looking after you and good luck," Catawba County Sheriff Coy Reid said.
 
Deputies found the air-soft pistol in some woods behind a tree. 
 
Wright denied knowing anything about the pistol or what happened.
 
As a precaution, deputies took Wright to the hospital first before taking him to jail.

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