7252 W 191st St., Tinley Park, IL 60487
Author: Jewls Krueger
On the morning of February 2, 2008, a gunman walked into a Lane Bryant clothing store in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, Illinois, herded six women into a back room, and shot all six of them execution style. Five were killed and one survived.
Despite more than 7,500 tips, a $100,000 reward, and the involvement of multiple federal agencies, the case remains officially unsolved more than 18 years later. It is widely considered the largest unsolved mass shooting in modern American history.
The Lane Bryant store was located in the Brookside Marketplace, an open air shopping plaza at 191st Street and Harlem Avenue in Tinley Park, a quiet middle class suburb about 30 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. The store opened most mornings at 10 a.m. and on this Saturday in early February was just beginning its day.
The five women killed inside the store were:
The sixth woman, a part-time store employee whose identity has been protected by police, survived after being shot in the neck. She has never spoken publicly about the attack.
At approximately 10:00 a.m. on February 2, 2008, a man entered the Lane Bryant through the back door of the store, posing as a delivery driver. According to investigators, he made small talk with one or more of the women in the store at first, then grew increasingly agitated.
He announced a robbery, pulled out a .40 caliber Glock handgun, and forced the four customers and two employees into a back room of the store. He bound their hands behind their backs with duct tape, made them lie face down, and shot each of them in the head.
Store manager Rhoda McFarland was able to dial 911 before being shot, telling the dispatcher there was an armed robbery in progress. The sixth woman, the part-time employee, survived by turning her head at the moment the gunman pulled the trigger, causing the bullet to graze her neck rather than strike her skull. She then played dead until the gunman left the store.
Tinley Park police arrived at the scene within two minutes of the 911 call, but the gunman was already gone. He had reportedly spent roughly 40 minutes inside the store and is believed to have walked away from the shopping center on foot. Police also confirmed that at least one of the victims had been sexually assaulted before the killings.
Police sketch of the suspect - Public Domain
Tinley Park police, the FBI, the Illinois State Police, the Will County State's Attorney's Office, and the Illinois Attorney General's Office have all worked the case over the years. Investigators have publicly stated they believe the killer acted alone.
Based on the survivor's description, the gunman was described as a Black man between 25 and 35 years old, between 6 feet and 6 foot 2 inches tall, with a husky build and broad shoulders. He had thick, cornrowed hair with a receding hairline and one braid that hung down the right side of his face that was decorated with four light green beads on the end. A police sketch based on the survivor's account was released on February 11, 2008.
A $100,000 reward was offered, half of it donated by Lane Bryant's parent company Charming Shoppes Inc. Police have received more than 7,500 tips over the years, but no arrest has ever been made. Tinley Park Police Chief Mike O'Connell, who led the original investigation, told a reporter before his death in 2011 that the case was the first thing he thought of every morning and the last thing he thought of every night.
In February 2026, on the 18th anniversary of the murders, a documentary by filmmaker Charlie Minn titled "Who Killed These Women? The Tinley Park 5" was released in an effort to renew public attention on the cold case.
The Lane Bryant store itself remained closed and empty for roughly six years after the murders. In 2014, the storefront was renovated and reopened as a T.J. Maxx, which still operates at the location.
The Brookside Marketplace shopping plaza remains a busy open air shopping center at the corner of 191st Street and Harlem Avenue, anchored by major retailers and restaurants. There is no permanent memorial at the site itself.
Please be respectful of the shoppers and businesses currently operating at the plaza, follow all posted signage during your visit, and avoid drawing attention to the surviving victim or to victims' families who may live nearby.
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