The Lane Bryant shooting was an incident of mass murder

Mass murder

Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...

 and armed robbery at a Lane Bryant

Lane Bryant

Lane Bryant is a United States retail women's clothing store chain focusing on plus-size clothing. It began in the early 1900s with the innovative maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. -Beginning:...

 clothing outlet in the Brookside Marketplace in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, that occurred on February 2, 2008. The shooting resulted in five fatalities, and the injury of another.

Police do not know the identity of the shooter. Police released a sketch of the suspect on February 11, receiving two dozen leads the first day.

Details

Four customers, a part-time employee, and the store manager, were taken to the back of the store and shot. Five of the women were killed, and the part-time employee was wounded and survived. Police found the victims shortly after receiving an emergency call at 10:45 a.m. The gunman was described as a black

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 man with thick, cornrow

Cornrow

Cornrows, also known as braids, are a traditional African style of hair grooming where the hair is braided very close to the scalp, using an underhand, upward motion to produce a continuous, raised row...

ed hair and a receding hairline, along with one braid lying over the right side of his face at cheek level and decorated with four light-green beads on the end. Police believe it was a robbery "gone awry."

The victims are:

• Connie R. Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor;
• Sarah T. Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest;
• Carrie Hudek Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort, Illinois
  Frankfort, Illinois
  Frankfort is a village in Will and Cook Counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 17,782 at the 2010 census. According to Forbes.com, in 2007 the village ranked as the 36th fastest growing suburb in the United States. - Previous spelling :...
  
  ;
• Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet
  Joliet
  There are several people and things named Joliet:*Louis Jolliet, a 17th century explorer of North America*Joliet, Illinois, United States, a city named after Louis Jolliet**Joliet Prison*Joliet, Montana, United States...
  
  , the store manager;
• Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of South Bend, Indiana
  South Bend, Indiana
  The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
  
  
• The identity of the survivor is protected by police and has not been released to the media.

Aftermath

The shopping center was closed and locked down while being searched. It was reopened after police found that the gunman had left the immediate area. Some months after the shooting the store has been closed and the building has since been permanently closed.

Then Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

, who was elected President in November that year, released a statement following the killings:
A $100,000 reward, half of which was donated by Lane Bryant's parent company, Charming Shoppes Inc., was offered for information leading to the gunman's arrest. On February 6, 2008, Lane Bryant announced the establishment of The Lane Bryant Tinley Park Memorial Fund in honor of the five women who were killed. Lane Bryant also offered to pay for the victims' funerals.

The Steve Wilkos Show

The Steve Wilkos Show

The Steve Wilkos Show is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Steve Wilkos. The show debuted on September 10, 2007, two months after Wilkos' departure as director of security on The Jerry Springer Show.-History:...

, being taped in Chicago, profiled the suspect of the shooting at the end of one episode since the incident.

External links

• America's Most Wanted - Unknown Tinley Park Killer