Saturday, February 2, 2008

TINLEY PARK, IL: 5 WOMEN SHOT IN LANE BRYANT STORE

Location of Tinley Park, Illinois

A man walked into the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Ill. and shot five women to death on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008. (Photo courtesy CBS)

Police investigate the shooting in front of the Lane Bryant store at the Brookside shopping center in Tinley Park, Ill., Feb. 2, 2008. Five victims were found Saturday at a clothing store in a strip mall, but there was no sign of the shooter, authorities said. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

5 women slain in store
Police hunt gunman in shootings at Tinley Park mall
By Stacy St. Clair and Deborah Horan Tribune staff reporters
11:13 PM CST, February 2, 2008

A gunman led five women into the back room of a Tinley Park clothing store Saturday morning, killed them, then walked out the front door and disappeared.

Police said there were no survivors at the Lane Bryant store in a southwest suburban strip mall along Interstate Highway 80, in what they are calling a botched robbery.

Still, with little information made public, conflicting reports and rumors about motives and witnesses swirled throughout the day.

Officers from at least eight local departments quickly descended on the shopping center.

Some went from door to door, combing stores for clues. Others hunted in a nearby subdivision for a stocky man described by one witness, while helicopters hovered in the sky. One helicopter, armed with an infrared camera, scanned snow-covered open land and forest preserves.

Police pleaded for help from anyone with information on the killing spree.

As night fell, the gunman remained on the loose.Tinley Park Police Chief Michael O'Connell tried to calm fears, saying, "We are very confident that the offender is out of the area."But earlier in the day, an officer at the scene admitted, "We have no idea who he is."

(snip)

Police got an emergency call at 10:44 a.m. reporting multiple gunshot injuries inside.

Sgt. T.J. Grady said the gunman opened fire in a robbery that "at some point . . . went rather poorly." Police described the suspect as an African-American man, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing between 230 and 260 pounds. He was wearing a black winter coat, a knit cap and dark jeans.

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