I hope they catch this guy.http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... full.story
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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
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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."
"Our town is not doing well," said Tinley Park Mayor Edward Zabrocki upon returning home at the end of a long, sad day. "This is a tragedy that should not happen to any town."
Though police gave out little information about the shooting through the day, and would not name the victims, some details began to emerge.
The victims' ages ranged from 22 to 37. Four were from the Chicago area; one was from South Bend, Ind. At least one was a store employee.
The family of Carrie Hudek Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort, identified the young woman as one of the victims. Chiuso was shopping when she was slain.
"She is the most wonderful person, and that maniac took a piece of all of us," said her sister-in-law Jennifer Hudek.
Chiuso was remembered as a loving wife who devoted her life to counseling teens. She graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School in 1993 and returned to her alma mater 10 years later as a social worker, meeting one-on-one with students who had personal problems.
"Our students are going to have a really hard time with this," said David Thieman, spokesman for the school. "She was adored by both the students and faculty."
On Monday, the district plans to have counselors on hand to help students cope with her violent death—the kind of work Chiuso typically would have overseen.
Chiuso was also remembered for running support groups for divorced families, transfer students, teenage parents and anger management.
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.
All stores in the strip mall at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue, including a Super Target and Best Buy, were on lockdown for an hour after the shootings. Police were looking at surveillance footage from every business within a mile and a half of the store for clues.
Tinley Park police said their detectives are working with the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force on the investigation. The task force investigates major crimes in 54 south suburban communities.
Zabrocki would not discuss the specifics of the investigation but said detectives were "sifting through the crime scene inch by inch." Throughout the day, support poured in from politicians and neighboring police departments. Sen. Barack Obama, out on the presidential campaign trail, released a statement decrying the violence and saying his heart went out to the victims' families. Gov. Rod Blagojevich also offered his thoughts and prayers for surviving family members and others swept up in the horror.
As alarm swept through the community in the wake of the shooting, residents in the neighborhood bordering the strip mall felt most uneasy.
The area straddles Tinley Park and Frankfort, Cook and Will Counties. It has been a magnet for young families, drawn to new housing, good schools, a train line to the Loop and plenty of amenities.
Between 2000 and 2006, Tinley Park grew by about 25 percent; Frankfort by about 70 percent. Less than a mile from the shooting, a new high school, Lincoln-Way North, is scheduled to open in the fall.
Groundbreaking on the 117-acre mall called Brookside Marketplace was in 2004. At the time, Zabrocki said, "It is certain to become one of our village's most popular attractions."
Eight armed officers entered Target, locked the doors and ordered customers to stay away from the glass doors. Armed officers began searching the aisles, while rumors of the shooting sparked worried whispers among the frightened shoppers.
After an hour and 15 minutes, police released the customers from the store and ordered them to hurry directly to their cars, shopper Selena Kujawa of Mokena said.
"It was kind of like a mad dash getting out there," she said. "Everyone just wanted to get away as far and as fast as possible."
Kathy Row was relieved to get out of the store, but she couldn't exit the parking lot until after police examined her identification, searched the car and opened the trunk.
"Everybody was really nice about it," she said. "And the folks at Target were great, giving out free Starbucks. I didn't mind . . . but I felt sorry for the babies who just wanted to go home."
Connie Devine was working alone in the sales office for Brookside Glen—a subdivision of single family homes and town homes—when she got a call from her boss.
"He told me to lock up. Then, I got a call from other owners, inviting me to come over," said Devine, who was then joined by her husband. "It's a little scary."
Will County State's Atty. James Glasgow arrived at the scene in the afternoon to discuss the case with his top criminal prosecutor, who was there talking to officials.
Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said autopsies on the victims would not be complete until at least Sunday morning.
Lane Bryant is a national chain of clothing stores serving plus-size women. Company officials could not be reached for comment.
Other stores at the center include a bedding store, nail salon and several fast-food restaurants.
Lisa and Rudy DeAngelis, who live in a nearby subdivision, said their three children frequently walk to the shopping center, but with no arrests in the shooting, they are rethinking that.
"This puts an element of doubt on whether we'll let them walk over here now," Rudy DeAngelis said.
Zabrocki doesn't know how the village will recover.
"I'm not sure how you ever recover from this," he said. "It will take time to heal. All of us are going to hug our wives and children just a bit closer now."
sstclair@tribune.com
dhoran@tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
