Family members mourn 5 women killed in clothing store

TINLEY PARK -- When 62-year-old Melvin Woolfolk heard that his daughter had been fatally shot with four others in an attempted robbery at a suburban Chicago clothing store, he says his knees buckled.

"She went shopping and stopped in to pick something up and was going back to do some work," he said of 37-year-old Connie R. Woolfolk. "She was just a loving person who would help anybody. Nobody deserved what happened."

As family members mourned the five women slain at the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, police searched Monday for the gunman, described as a stocky black man, about 5-foot-9, who was wearing a black winter coat, a knit cap and dark pants.

Authorities have offered few details about their investigation and refused to answer questions Sunday about a reported sixth victim -- and potential witness -- who survived the brazen attack.

"This has been an extremely sensitive investigation," said Tinley Park Police Chief Mike O'Connell. "We need to keep ... information confidential."

The dead included the plus-size clothing store's manager, a nurse, a high school social worker, a real estate broker and a paralegal.

They were identified Sunday as: Woolfolk of Flossmoor; Sarah T. Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest; Carrie H. Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort; Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet; and Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of South Bend, Ind.

Mourners erected a makeshift memorial of five white crosses and flowers outside the store. A handwritten note had been stuck into the snow next to an angel figurine. It read: "God Bless you all."

The Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, citing unnamed sources, reported that the surviving woman was treated at St. James Hospital in Olympia Fields. The Sun-Times said the woman was released Sunday.

Hospital spokeswoman Sherry Sissac confirmed that the facility received one female shooting victim Saturday but declined to give further information.

Mayor Edward Zabrocki ordered flags be flown at half-staff on municipal buildings for five days -- one for each of the victims.

Connie Woolfolk worked for the village of Park Forest and as a real estate broker. Her father said she was devoted to her two sons, one of whom had severe leg deformities from birth and had undergone numerous operations.

Szafranski was a 2007 graduate of Northern Illinois University who was working as a paralegal, according to a Web site that appeared to be her Facebook page.

"Our emotions are raw. And we are still in shock," her family said in a statement. "Sarah was loved by all who knew her and we are counting on that love to sustain us while we mourn."

Chiuso, a 1993 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, was a social worker at the school.

"Carrie was deeply loved by faculty and staff," said school spokesman Dave Thieman in a statement. "She had a real touch with students. The entire H-F family is deeply saddened."

Bishop was a nurse in the intensive care unit at Memorial Hospital of South Bend, according to spokeswoman Ruth Linster.

"She was a wonderful person -- an exceptional human being and a wonderful nurse and a wonderful mother," said Nancy Pemberton, a hospital nursing supervisor.

For two years, McFarland managed the Lane Bryant store. Her best friend, Sandra McGhee of Joliet, said she was a hopeful, prayerful woman who doted on her employees.

"Because I know her so well, I think to the end Rhoda might have even tried to talk to this man, tried to help him," McGhee said. "Even with her last breath, I believe she would have been forgiving him and trying to help him. That's what gives me peace in all of this."

The victims

A look at the five victims who died in Saturday's shooting at the Lane Bryant store at Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park:

• Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of South Bend, Ind.: Bishop was a part-time nurse in the intensive care unit at Memorial Hospital of South Bend, Ind. Nursing supervisor Nancy Pemberton called Bishop, "An exceptional human being and a wonderful nurse and a wonderful mother."

• Carrie H. Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort: Chiuso was a 1993 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where she was a social worker.

• Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet: McFarland's best friend Sandra McGhee of Joliet said McFarland worked for two years as the Lane Bryant store manager. McGhee said McFarland was an ordained minister and worked closely with young girls at her church.

• Sarah T. Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest: Szafranski's family said in a statement that they are in shock and their emotions are raw. According to a Web site that appears to be her Facebook page, she was a 2007 graduate of Northern Illinois University and worked as a paralegal.

• Connie R. Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor: Woolfolk, a mother of two boys, worked as a real estate broker. "She was just a loving person who would help anybody," her father Melvin Woolfolk said. "She was a lovely person."