A gunman fatally shot five women in a robbery at a store in a suburban Chicago strip mall before fleeing Saturday, leading police to sweep through neighboring shops as terrified customers watched.
The victims, including at least one employee, were killed at a Lane Bryant clothing store at the Brookside Marketplace, police Chief Mike O'Connell said.
Officers found the victims at the back of the store after getting a 911 call around 10:45 a.m. Police said a bystander told them that a man came out of the store and gave them a description.
Authorities said robbery was believed to be the motive. Police searched for the gunman using dogs and a helicopter equipped with infrared sensors but concluded he left the stores off Interstate 80 southwest of downtown Chicago.
"We do not want to compromise any evidence that may be out there ... I ask we keep family of the victims in our thoughts and prayers," O'Connell said.
In a Target store across the parking lot from Lane Bryant, terrified customers were herded to the front as police with pistols and rifles drawn went up and down the aisles and into storerooms searching for the gunman.
"I was so scared I couldn't think," said Selena Kujawa, who had just entered the store with her 5-year-old son when it was locked down. After about an hour, customers were told to leave.
"They told us to get in our cars and get out of here," Kujawa said.
Kujawa said her son was still asking about the shooting long after they had gotten home.
"He asked `What happened to the people? Did they catch the bad guy?'" she said. "There will be lots of nightmares tonight."
Meanwhile, the Chicago Police Department warned its officers to pay attention to strip malls and other Lane Bryant stores, police spokeswoman Monique Bond said.
Tinley Park police Sgt. T.J. Grady said investigators were trying to determine if there was video from security cameras mounted at nearby stores. O'Connell said the Lane Bryant store did not have a camera.
The Lane Bryant was open at the time of the shootings. O'Connell would not identify the victims, but said they ranged in age from 22 to 37. Four were from suburban Chicago and one was from South Bend, Ind.
The police chief said no further information would be made available until Sunday afternoon, after forensic exams were completed.
The family of Carrie Hudek Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort, said she was one of the victims.
"She is the most wonderful person, and that maniac took a piece of all of us," Jennifer Hudek, Chiuso's sister-in-law, told the Chicago Tribune for a story posted on its Web site Saturday.
Chiuso, a 1993 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, was a social worker at the school.
"Carrie was deeply loved by faculty and staff," school spokesman Dave Thieman said in a statement. "She had a real touch with students. The entire H-F family is deeply saddened."
Police were allowing some shoppers into parts of the strip mall later Saturday, but had cordoned off the store.
Tracy Caccavella was shopping at a Pet Smart store late Saturday morning across the parking lot from the Lane Bryant when she saw police enter the pet supply store.
"Six police entered the store with their hands on their gun holsters," Caccavella said.
The small red and brown brick Lane Bryant is part of a cluster of four or five stores isolated on one side of a large blacktop parking lot, with big box stores including Target and a Best Buy several hundred yards away.
Two large county vans backed up to the front of the building Saturday afternoon and a white canopy was placed over the front of the building.
Messages left at Lane Bryant Brand headquarters were not immediately returned.
Lane Bryant is part of plus-size women's apparel retailer Charming Shoppes Inc., based in Bensalem, Pa., which also owns the Fashion Bug and Catherines brands.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment