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Tinley Park Shooting

* Lane Bryant Shooting In Tinley Park
Women Killed By Gunman In Mall Shop Identified
Carrie Hudek Chiuso’s husband was waiting for her to return home from a quick shopping trip to a nearby Lane Bryant clothing store Saturday when he saw the news report: There had been a multiple shooting at the store.

Even worse, he recognized her car parked in front of the store.

Soon after, her family learned the tragic news: She was one of five women gunned down in a robbery turned deadly at the Brookside Marketplace shopping center in Tinley Park.

The killer was still on the loose Sunday morning.

The Frankfort woman’s family “is brokenhearted,’’ said Hudek Chiuso’s sister-in-law, Jennifer Hudek.

“That son of a bitch took more than just her,’’ she said of the gunman. “He took a piece of each of us.’’

Officials said the women — a store manager and four shoppers whose ages ranged from 22 to 37— were herded to the back room of a clothing store during a botched robbery attempt.

In addition to Hudek Chiuso, 33, the other four victims were between the ages of 22 and 37, said Tinley Park Police Chief Mike O’Connell. They were identified Sunday as: Connie R. Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor; Sarah T. Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest; Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet; and Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of South Bend, Ind.

The Will County coroner’s office said all five died from gunshot wounds.

A sixth woman was injured in the shooting but survived, sources said. She was taken to St. James Hospital and Medical Centers in Olympia Fields.

“We did receive one female victim from the Tinley Park shooting. This person was received yesterday,” said hospital spokesman Sherry Sissac.

She would not release any more details, but sources said she was released from St. James early Sunday.

On Saturday, authorities said no one had survived the attack. When pressed about a possible survivor during a news conference Sunday, Tinley Park Police Chief Mike O’Connell refused to comment.

The robbery unfolded in the full-figured women’s retail store, near 191st Street and Harlem Avenue just south of Interstate 80. At 10:44 a.m., police received a call reporting gunshots inside the store. O’Connell said police arrived on the scene within minutes.

Inside, they found mayhem.

“There is no question it was a horrific scene,’’ a police source said. The women’s bodies were found in a back room.

A witness who saw the gunman leave the store described him as a medium complexion black man, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing between 230 and 290 pounds, police said.

The man was wearing a waist-length black coat, a black knit cap and dark jeans.

Tinley Park Police Sgt. T.J. Grady said police were “pretty sure’’ the shooter acted alone.

Why the shooter targeted the small store in the strip mall is anyone’s guess.

“It’s not a place where you would find a lot of cash,’’ a police source said, adding that the man did make off with some valuables.

Also unknown is how and why the robbery turned deadly.

The store did not have its own security camera, O’Connell said, but authorities are checking for cameras within a few miles of the sprawling center.

Built in 2005, Brookside Marketplace includes some storefronts that have not opened yet, making the Lane Bryant store more isolated, the police source said.

“We’re checking every possible means of getting out of this area,” Grady said.

After Tony Chiuso saw his wife’s car in news reports, he left their Frankfort home for the Tinley Park police station. There, he eventually learned the tragic news.

“He’s not doing too good,’’ said his father, Tony Chiuso.

There are at least 40 investigators working on the case. Police searched neighboring stores and cars in the parking lot and used a police helicopter to search the surrounding area, Grady said.

Police even locked down stores in the center, including a Super-Target, PetSmart and Office Max, searching each with guns drawn.

“We are very comfortable that the offender is out of the area,’’ O’Connell said.

Shopper Charlotte Vaitkus, an area resident, said she wanted “to issue a statement to the mayor because of the frequency of crime off Interstate 80. We just don’t feel safe.”

Mayor Edward Zabrocki said that after the shooting, Tinley Park sent extra police patrols into the residential neighborhoods nearby.

“We’re very sad about it,” a clearly shaken Zabrocki said from the scene. “We’re a victim of our society that we live in.”

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office released a statement Saturday in which the governor pledged the state, “stands ready to assist Tinley Park law enforcement in any way they need.” The governor also stated, “There is no imaginable justification for the deadly and random violence that stole those innocent lives in Tinley Park today. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims and the many people who witnessed the tragedy.”

Police are offering a $1,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the gunman.

Lane Bryant’s parent company, Bensalem, Pa.-based Charming Shoppes Inc. said it was offering a $50,000 reward for information that could lead investigators to the gunman

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