Mother and daughter traumatized after Golden Valley carjacking

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Tammy Aaberg (left) and her teen daughter are still reeling from the emotional trauma of being carjacked outside her daughter's apartment in Golden Valley. (FOX 9)

GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. (FOX 9) - Officials in Golden Valley are increasing their focus on carjackings after several were reported in recent weeks. Authorities are concerned the suspects in these frightening cases are getting more and more brazen.

"Running at me with the gun was like up his arm sleeve, but I could see the barrel and I could see the end of the gun," said Tammy Aaberg, who was the victim of one of the carjackings.

Golden Valley police concerned with brazen carjackers

Officials in Golden Valley are increasing their focus on carjackings after several were reported in recent weeks. Authorities are concerned the suspects in these frightening cases are getting more and more brazen. "Running at me with the gun was like up his arm sleeve, but I could see the barrel and I could see the end of the gun," said Tammy Aaberg, who was the victim of one of the carjackings.

Tammy Aaberg and her 19-year-old daughter Skylar were terrified, sitting in their red Jeep Patriot chatting on a recent late night outside Skylar’s Golden Valley apartment complex when the unthinkable happened. An armed assailant and a second suspect charged their vehicle demanding the Aabergs get out and leave everything behind. Aaberg had just seconds to react at the wheel.

"In our position, I, I couldn't do it. I couldn't risk her life after losing one kid," said Aaberg. "I really wasn't. I don't want to lose another one."

Aaberg -- whose teen son died by suicide years ago -- and her daughter were traumatized all over again. The masked suspects took off in the Jeep with Skylar’s wallet. The vehicle eventually turned up in Minnetonka, damaged with the license plates ripped off.

"It's just frustrating that like they don't think of other people and how they will feel and how like now my life's impact it whenever I go to my apartment and I have to deal with that and see someone and think, Oh, what if they have a gun on them?"

Sadly, the Aabergs joined a growing list of carjacking victims across the metro as suspects continue terrorizing innocent victims, sometimes simply for the thrill of a joyride. In the last few weeks, starting on May 16, Golden Valley has reported four such crimes with law enforcement concerned the suspects are taking more chances, striking at the Breck Ice Arena and in the middle of the afternoon at Theodore Wirth Golf Club.

"With this last incident taking place in the daytime," explained Golden Valley Police Chief Virgil Green. "Obviously we want to just make sure people are aware of their surroundings and watch for people who are driving by real slow walking up on you."

No arrests to report yet but it’s interesting, so far the vehicles in all four of these Golden Valley carjackings have been recovered and returned to their owners. But for the Aabergs, they don’t want their Jeep back. They say it’s just too traumatic to get back in that vehicle they so loved.