Posted on 02/02/2008 7:46:53 PM PST by blam
Gunman kills five women in Chicago store
By Tim Shipman in Chicago
Last Updated: 2:36am GMT 03/02/2008
Five people were shot dead at a women's clothing store in a Chicago suburb on Saturday.
Police evacuated the mall and sealed off the car park after at least five shots were fired
The victims, all women, were killed inside the Lane Bryant store at Brookside Marketplace shopping centre at Tinley Park, south of Chicago.
Police evacuated the mall and sealed off the car park after at least five shots were fired shortly before noon.
It is thought that the shooting occurred after a robbery went wrong and there were reports that the raider had taken some of the victims hostage in the plus-sized clothing store.
Police said that security cameras in the store had allowed them to tentatively identify the man, who is understood to have a history of armed robbery and a murder conviction.
The killer fled the scene after the shooting. A police dogs unit and helicopter were last night working to track down the suspect.
Armed officers also searched neighbouring stores in the area and cars in the parking lot.
Tinley Park Police Sgt TJ Grady said that they were looking for a 5ft 8in tall black man, weighing between 16 and 20 stone and wearing a waist-length black coat, a black knit cap, dark jeans and with braids in his hair.
One victim was was taken to the nearby St James Hospital and Health Care Centres for treatment to gunshot wounds but died later.
Sgt Grady said: "Responding units entered the store and found multiple victims that had been shot and killed.
"No motive has been established. Every store was immediately canvassed and a search by air, too, has given us every indication that the offender has left the scene."
Shoppers said that they were baffled by the motive behind the shooting as it had happened relatively early in the day, about 10.45, while shops would have had quite small amounts of money in their cash registers.
Residents of the predominantly white community of Tinley Park, which describes itself as Chicago's "fastest growing suburb" and has a population of about 58,000, said that they that were shocked by the shooting.
According to FBI crime statistics there was not a single murder in Tinley Park in 2007.
The other violent crime statistics are also low - four sexual assaults, 15 robberies and 38 assaults.
Greg Grace, from nearby Frankfort, who was in the parking lot outside Lane Bryant, said that he saw several stretchers being wheeled into the store. The stretchers were later wheeled out - carrying no wounded survivors.
The mayor, Edward Zabrocki, went to the scene and - looking very shaken - said: "We're very sad about this. We're a victim of our society that we live in."
One witness at the scene described how police officers responded quickly to news of the shootings and hunted the gunman through other stores on the strip mall, with guns drawn and sniffer dogs in tow.
Another witness, Tracy Caccavella, said that she was in a nearby PetSmart store when police burst in with their guns drawn. She said that the officers ordered the store's staff not to let in any more customers before conducting a 20-minute search.
The multiple killing comes a month after nine people died in a shooting at a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska.
Nineteen-year-old Robert Hawkins killed eight people, wounded four, then shot himself at the Westroads Mall on December 5 last year.
It was the deadliest shooting in Nebraska since the rampage of Charles Starkweather, who killed 11 people in 1958.
Neither do I. What in the world happened here?
Murder conviction?!!! And he was out on the streets?!!!
I saw it posted twice earlier but for some reason it was pulled by the Mods.
-—Tinley Park Police Sgt TJ Grady said that they were looking for a 5ft 8in tall black man, weighing between 16 and 20 stone-—
WTF? 16 and 20 stone? Is the stone a popular unit of measure out Chicago way?
Why the frick don’t they tell the deserving public if the bastard is black, white, Latino, etc.? If they know who he is, why isn’t his mug shot being posted on all media??
So did I! Why would the Mods pull 2 threads?
Illinois, one of the only two states that has total prohibition of concealed carry. And this will be the last to state to ever get it (it never will). The Chicago media will see to that.
It was posted (a couple of times) earlier in the day. That said, I don’t understand this: “It is thought that the shooting occurred after a robbery went wrong ...”
Yeah, like a robbery can “go right”? The guy showed up with a gun, so he clearly was going to do whatever it took to get him the contents of the cash drawer. However, I suspect he probably knew somebody at the shop, or possibly even had been an employee at some point, and he killed them so they couldn’t identify him or possibly because he had a grudge against them.
Supposedly this guy is already a convicted felon (armed robbery), so you can see how well our justice system has protected us.
Can someone please build a wall around Chicago and keep the savages in, doubt seriously if the perp lived in Tinley Park.
“Tinley Park Police Sgt TJ Grady said that they were looking for a 5ft 8in tall black man, weighing between 16 and 20 stone and wearing a waist-length black coat, a black knit cap, dark jeans and with braids in his hair.”
From the article you obviously didn’t read.
Makes sense to UK readers of the Telegraph.
Gee, do you think Whoever let this human vermin out was a D?
Frickin’ libs...The gun grabbers will kill us all, indirectly, I mean...If I were livin’ in IL, I’d be carryin’. law or no law...Life is simply too valuable...
“the plus-sized clothing store”
Was this little bit of info really needed?
That being said, it looks like the tough anti gun laws in Chicago really worked well. The law abiding citizens are again the victims.
This is a story from the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England...across the pond.
A ‘stone’ is measured there as 14 pounds...three barley corns to the inch..
Pip pip cheerio!
Times UK????????
So rather than removing posts and warning posters the Mods deleted the whole thread??
ONE murder conviction should keep a person, at the very LEAST, in prison for life.
Since it doesn't...five UNNECESSARILY DEAD people
Why was this guy back on the streets? Liberalism is a mental disorder and innocent people die as a result.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.