ATLANTA -- An assistant professor of English and African-American studies was visiting a friend in Southwest Atlanta when he said he was ambushed by two men.

A cold Saturday night at a friend’s house turned into a terrifying situation for Lawrence Jackson. It happened around 6:55 p.m. on the corner of Oglethorpe Avenue and Lawton Street in Atlanta’s historic West End when Jackson said he was pulling in to park and noticed a car following him.

"They tried to cut me off and I just thought it was some guys being macho and wanting to fight,” Jackson said.

As Jackson was walking to his friend's door and was about to knock, “The guy was on me with the pistol. I was turning away from him and at one point I had the back of my hand on the pistol,” Jackson said.

Facing down the barrel of a gun, Jackson tried to remain calm and keep the carjackers calm.

"I just tried to give him the things as easily as I could and move away," he said. "I was really thinking I do not want to unsettle them. You are anticipating the worst and thinking about my family and children and wanting to survive so I can see them. You are always just afraid someone is going to become a hothead and just start shooting."

Jackson described the vehicle that approached him as a black two-door, late model sedan with Michigan handicapped tags. After giving up his wallet and keys, Jackson ran to a nearby house and laid face down on the porch regrouping, waiting and hoping the gunmen didn’t come back.

The night Jackson went to his friend's house he was going to take his kids with him, but decided to leave them home.

"You are just exhausted and you just collapse really it was just an emotional roller coaster and at that point you realize what is really important to you,” Jackson said.

He said he gave his kids a big hug and told them if anything ever happens to just give the thieves what they want. Jackson laughed when asked why he didn’t think the men were going to carjack him.

"It's not the kind of car I would think people would want to steal. It’s a station wagon," he said.

Jackson said he wants the city of Atlanta to take a more proactive approach to fighting crime and said one day he hopes crime will disappear in the city.

“We need to pull together as a group, as a nation, as a city," he said. "We've got real work to do so there is enough opportunity and job creation so there isn’t so much desperation out on the street."

Jackson wrote a book on Ralph Ellison called “Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius." He received a doctorate from Stanford University and has been a teacher at Emory University since 2002.