Tables turn on another Philly carjacker — only 16 years old — as motorist has his own gun and critically wounds young crook. And observers are cheering.

Last week a Lyft driver in Philadelphia — licensed to carry a gun — opened fire on a couple of would-be carjackers, shooting and wounding them both. Police caught the two crooks and got them to a hospital. The Lyft driver was unharmed.

Well, a similar scenario played out in the City of Brotherly Love on Thursday night.

What went down?

A 60-year-old man was exiting his car in the 6500 block of Cherokee Street in the neighborhood of Mount Airy just after 8 p.m. when two young carjackers approached him, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told WXTF-TV.

One of the carjackers demanded the man's key and pointed a gun at his face, police told the station.

Well, the man staring down the barrel of that gun refused to be a victim and just so happened to have his own gun on him. And he had no problem using it.

With that the man pulled out his gun — which he has a permit to carry, police said — and a shootout ensued, WXTF reported.

A better aim

The carjackers fled, the station said, but the man told officers he shot one of the carjackers.

Soon police were called to the 6700 block of Germantown Avenue — only three blocks from the shootout location — and found a 16-year-old in a Jeep bleeding heavily from the legs, Small told WXTF.

Officers drove the kid to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition due to blood loss, police told the station, adding that the 60-year-old later identified the teen as the gunman who tried to carjack him.

Police told WXTF that the targeted motorist wasn't injured despite several shots fired toward his face.

You don't say?

Oh, and it turns out that the Jeep in which the shot carjacker was found was stolen during a carjacking last weekend, police told the station, adding that a shoe found at the scene of Thursday night's failed carjacking matched a shoe in the Jeep that police found.

No word on whether the carjacker was licensed to carry or whether his gun is properly registered.

Carjacking spike

More than 750 carjackings were reported in Philadelphia last year — a 34% increase over 2020, WXTF said. But the station said at least 90 carjackings have been reported in just the first two weeks of 2022.

The station said another armed driver fired several times through his window when an armed suspect approached him earlier this week in what police believe was yet another carjacking attempt. WXTF said the 18-year-old suspect was shot several times and was later charged in the incident.

How are folks reacting to latest armed Philly motorist to fight back?

Quite a few commenters on a WXTF reporter's tweet about the foiled Thursday night carjacking — and the wounded perp — were very happy about the outcome:

• "BREAKING: Criminal went ahead and f***ed around and shortly afterwards proceeded to find out," one commenter chirped.
• "GOOD! When will these ASSHOLES learn. I do NOT care how old a carjacker is. They deserve what they get. So instead of getting the car he got shot. You don’t always get what you want. Sooo glad the owner had a gun," another user declared. "I really do not like saying that. But these days you have to."
• "Philly Hero," another user said.
• "There seems to be a trend happening. Carjackers are getting shot," another commenter observed. "Watch. Carjackings will decrease because citizens are defending themselves and the DAO and/or @PPDCommish will come out and take credit for doing nothing."
• Another user said "2022 could be the year the citizen take back Philadelphia from the thugs and the relaxed @DA_LarryKrasner."
• "Good thing he was 'permitted' to protect his self from POS criminals," another commenter said. "Self defense is a right that should just be...not 'permitted.'"
• "Another legend protecting himself from violent gang culture!" another user wrote. "Address this lifestyle thru community education/counseling & APPROPRIATE consequences or the indoctrination of these youngsters will never stop."

This story has been updated.