Lane Bryant shooting

{{Short description|2008 unsolved mass murder in Tinley Park, Illinois}}

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Lane Bryant shooting

| location = Tinley Park, Illinois, United States

| coordinates = {{Coord|41.54748|N|87.79375|W|type:event_region:US-IL|display=inline,title}}

| target =

| date = {{start date and age|2008|2|2}}

| time = {{circa}} 10:45 a.m.

| timezone = UTC-6

| type = Mass murder, mass shooting, armed robbery, sexual assault

| fatalities = 5

| injuries = 1

| weapons = Glock handgun chambered for .40 S&W

| perp = Unknown

| motive = Unknown{{Infobox event

| title =

| child = yes

| outcome = Cold case}}

}}

The Lane Bryant shooting was an incident of mass murder and armed robbery at a Lane Bryant clothing outlet in the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, that occurred on February 2, 2008. The shooting resulted in five people killed and a sixth injured.

The identity of the shooter remains unknown. Police released a sketch of the suspect on February 11, 2008, receiving two dozen leads in the first 24 hours.{{cite news|url=http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/787588,CST-NWS-shoot11.article |title=Sketch of Lane Bryant suspect nets 2 dozen leads |author=Maureen O'Donnell, Chicago Sun-Times |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |date=February 11, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214161105/http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/787588%2CCST-NWS-shoot11.article |archivedate=February 14, 2008 }}

Shooting

Four customers, a part-time employee and the store manager were taken to the back of the store and shot. Five of them, all women, were killed; the part-time employee was wounded but survived. The five fatal victims had all been shot in the head execution style, and the sixth woman survived because she shifted her head right before being shot, causing the bullet to only graze her neck.{{Cite web |title=Murdered: Sarah Szafranski {{!}} Tinley Park, IL {{!}} Uncovered |url=https://uncovered.com/cases/sarah-szafranski-tinley-park-il |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=uncovered.com}}{{Cite web |last=Frankie |first=C. M. |title=The Lane Bryant Shootings: Chicago Mass Murder Still Unsolved More Than 10 Years Later |url=https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/lane-bryant-shootings-mass-murder-chicago-unsolved |access-date=2024-12-03 |website=A&E |language=en}} At least one of the victims was sexually assaulted by the perpetrator.{{cite web|title=Police: Gunman in store attack sexually assaulted victim|date=6 February 2008 |url=https://www.heraldbulletin.com/news/state_news/7-p-m-police-gunman-in-store-attack-sexually-assaulted-victim/article_ce46d9d9-d390-5eff-b96e-2b31a62e5c27.html}} Police found the victims shortly after receiving an emergency call at 10:45 a.m. The gunman was described as a black man with thick, cornrowed hair and a receding hairline,{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/store_shooting |title=5 shot dead at suburban Chicago store |author=Michael Tarm, Associated Press |publisher=Yahoo! News |date=February 3, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206113735/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/store_shooting |archivedate=February 6, 2008 }} 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.{{cite news |url=http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/02/05/news/illiana/doc2b3e9d912895e171862573e60004bd7d.txt |title=Police describe shooting suspect |author=Michael Tarm, Associated Press |work=The Times |date=February 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130204125035/http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2008/02/05/news/illiana/doc2b3e9d912895e171862573e60004bd7d.txt |archivedate=February 4, 2013 }} Police believe the attack was a robbery "gone awry", though the motive of the shooting has been a matter of debate.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0244670020080203|publisher=Reuters |date=2008-02-02 |accessdate=2008-02-02 |title=Five women killed in Chicago-area store shooting}}

The five deceased victims were:

Jennifer L. Bishop, age 34, of South Bend, Indiana;
Carrie Hudek Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort;
Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet (the store manager);
Sarah T. Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest; and
Connie R. Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor.

The police withheld the age and identity of the surviving victim, the part-time employee of the store.

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.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/02/store.shooting/index.html |title=5 dead in strip mall shooting; gunman at large |publisher=CNN |date=February 3, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206103653/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/02/store.shooting/index.html |archivedate=February 6, 2008 }}

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.{{cite news|url=http://blastmagazine.com/2008/02/lane-bryant-creates-memorial-fund-for-shooting-victims/ |title=Lane Bryant creates memorial fund for shooting victims |publisher=Blast Magazine |date=February 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208041359/http://blastmagazine.com/2008/02/lane-bryant-creates-memorial-fund-for-shooting-victims/ |archivedate=February 8, 2008 }} Lane Bryant also offered to pay for the victims' funerals.

The Steve Wilkos Show, being taped in Chicago, profiled the suspect of the shooting at the end of one episode since the incident.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-0kDw_h15I THE STEVE WILKOS SHOW: Help Steve Catch a Killer!] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804071905/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=r-0kDw_h15I |date=2010-08-04 }}

The store building itself remained unused until November 2013, when T.J. Maxx took it over for use as a retail outlet.{{cite news|last=Pratt |first=Gregory |title=Tinley Park shooting site opening as new store |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/tinley_park/ct-met-lane-bryant-store-reopens-20131107,0,414758.story |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=November 7, 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131107064216/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/tinley_park/ct-met-lane-bryant-store-reopens-20131107%2C0%2C414758.story |archivedate=November 7, 2013 }}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20081210184555/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=52877 America's Most Wanted - Unknown Tinley Park Killer]
[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/soulive-susan/_uVnI2gKFog Sketch of Lane Bryant suspect nets 2 dozen leads]

Category:2008 murders in the United States

Category:Mass murder in 2008

Category:2008 mass shootings in the United States

Category:Mass murder in the United States in the 2000s

Category:Deaths by firearm in Illinois

Category:2008 in Illinois

Category:Attacks on shopping malls in the United States

Category:Tinley Park, Illinois

Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 2008

Category:Violence against women in Illinois

Category:February 2008 crimes in the United States

Category:Female murder victims