Masked “Ninjas” Fire Shot at Driver in New Jersey Carjacking

The man refused to give up his Mercedes outside an Italian grocery in Newark Monday

Masked carjackers dressed in black tried to take a Mercedes outside a specialty Italian grocery store in New Jersey Monday morning, and fired a shot at the driver when he wouldn't give it up.

The driver was in his black Mercedes outside the store in Newark when one of the suspects jumped into the passenger seat and ordered him out of the car, according to the owner of the grocery store, Vito Birardi.

The driver refused and threw the car in reverse, smashing into another car and ripping off the passenger door.

An accomplice of the first carjacker then fired a shot, but it missed the driver and went through the window, according to Birardi.

Birardi believes there were four carjackers working together, all dressed in black with scarves over their faces.

"They looked like ninjas," he told NBC 4 New York.

The commotion forced the lockdown of a nearby elementary school, just before the children were about to let out for Christmas break.

No one was injured and police are investigating.

--Jen Maxfield contributed to this story

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