5 Dead in Shooting at Lane Bryant
2008 February 3
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I don’t even know what to say. Five women were shot to death at a Lane Bryant in Tinley Park, IL (a Chicago suburb) today.
I know a lot of our readers have been (or are) LB employees and many more are customers; this hits awfully close to home.
Our hearts go out to the women’s family and friends.
I know. I just found out…it is unbelievable. I wonder about the motive…don’t want to speculate yet…worst thing is, I can imagine some of the comments people will be making about this. And yes, I’ve shopped at LB many times so it really hits home.
Wow, that is horrible. My thoughts go out to the families and friends of these women.
My stomach lurched when I saw this.
All I can say is Oh. My. God.
Too awful for words. I hope they find the guy soon.
How horrible :(
Ug, So sorry to hear. Senseless deaths are always so disturbing.
There are no words. Horrifying.
I just saw this on the news and immediately came here to see if you’d posted something. It’s shocking and sad. Apparently there was some kind of hostage/back room situation.
Robbery said to be the motive now. That makes very little sense.
Of course, my first thought was, “It finally happened, a fat-related lynching.” But maybe there’s more to it than that. The police officer I saw on the news described the shooter as a black guy, about 5′9″ and about 240 or 250 pounds, which would mean he was fat too.
My heart goes out to the families of the victims.
Meowser, I had the same thought and second-thought as you.
Meowser, me too. I definitely wondered if it was a hate crime — but now I’m wondering more if he had a relationship with one of the victims. Robbery makes no sense at all.
Meowser, I thought the exact same thing.
I think jumping to it being fat-related first is a symptom more of your perception of the world than the reality of the situation. Most non-FA-obsessed people are going to think things like “crazy ex-boyfriend” or “robbery” first.
We’ll see how it all shakes out in the end, but I’d like to gently suggest that the fact that your mind first went to it being an anti-fat crime says a lot about viewing things through a sometimes myopic lens.
Those poor women and their families. :( I live about 25 minutes from Tinley Park, grew up even closer, and am a Lane Bryant shopper, so I can definitely identify with the “hits close to home” comment.
Kate, I agree that simple robbery makes no sense.
It shouldn’t take shooting and killing FIVE women to grab some cash from a cash register and run.
A robbery doesn’t make sense. LB’s policy, at least when I worked for them, is that almost all of the cash in the store goes to an off-site bank at the end of each day. There wouldn’t have been that much cash in the store that early in the morning. And no one would’ve put up a fight giving the guy the cash, so I don’t see why he’d kill five people to get such little cash.
If it was a robbery, I’d be very surprised.
As to the choice of target, I think the article actually raises a couple points that make it less surprising, in their way. One is that the mall the LB was in is sparsely populated. Many of the storefronts near the LB were empty, so there would be less people in the area. The other is that the store has no security cameras, making it less likely the robber’s face would be recorded.
My guess is that the robber simply assumed the store would be an easy target. I would further guess that the amount of bloodshed involved was a result of panic rather than planning…but as I say this is pure guesswork at this point. It could certainly turn out that he was targeting a particular person. I just don’t want to jump to conclusions about the choice of target until more of the facts are in.
Sadly, my first thought when I saw that it was a Lane Bryant was exactly the same–I thought for sure there was some kind of fat-related motive.
I guess we’ll find out.
How awful.
The sources on the Chicago news are saying the police believe they know who they’re looking for – someone who in the past has been convicted of armed robbery and HOMICIDE! They haven’t mentioned any possible links to the victims.
Doesn’t it make you wonder – if this is the guy, and he has been convicted of homicide, what is he doing out on the streets to kill again?
I had that thought too, coming as this does on the heels of the news about the bill in Mississippi. From the little I’ve read so far though, it seems this store was a bit isolated from the rest of the shopping center, which would make it a target for robbery.
Devastating. Stories like this make me shudder. I hope the families of the victims can, somehow, find some peace.
I was terrified to hear that it might be a hate crime too. And, fat guys are not immune from hating on fat women.
However I’m guessing that it’s more likely to be a revenge thing on an ex, plus enough misogyny to regard the other victims as just collateral damage.
Hit “post” too soon.
At this point I’m really scared to hear what the late-night shows and the Interwebs will dredge up in terms of “comedy” responses.
That is horrifying. My thoughts go out to the families and friends of the victims. I hope they get this all sorted out and find this guy.
At this point I’m really scared to hear what the late-night shows and the Interwebs will dredge up in terms of “comedy” responses.
I thought the same thing. I feel horrible that that thought even crossed my mind, but I just know that there are people who will consider this great joke fodder. God.
My heart goes out to the families of those affected; it is really, really sad. Rest in peace to those who lost their lives. :(
It’s not like Lane Bryant has tons of cash sitting in it’s register at 10am on a Saturday morning. I imagine it’s a relationship gone bad incident.
How awful. They’ll catch the bastard (if he hasn’t already shot himself.)
meowser: for what it’s worth I doubt this had anything at all to do with fat. At all.
Meowser – I thought the same too, when I first read it. Robbery doesn’t make a lot of sense, but in this day and age, who knows why people do the awful things they do. I feel so sorry for the families, this has got to be devastating for them.
Meowser, I had the same thought as well, but then I second-guessed myself.
Not yet. That’s not to say not ever, but…not yet. It doesn’t fit.
When I first heard about this, the thought that it could be some sort of fat-based lynching never occurred to me, actually. The robbery motive, too, sounds kind of far-fetched. I wonder if this wasn’t some sort of domestic violence incident – perhaps the shooter personally knew one or more of the women there.
Kate – what kind of area is this generally?
How terrible. The article had the wedding photo of one of the women – so happy and beautiful a life, and then this.
I’m inclined to think that it was something personal, too, and I hope they get tot he guy and get to the bottom of this. It’s just so awful.
How horrible. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims, and I so hope the victims themselves did not suffer too much; this is just too sad to describe, as any violent senseless death is.
I am so sorry for the families and friends of those women.
Robbery, while sounding far-fetched, is still a probable motive. I was robbed at gun point working for a mystery bookstore once. The liquor store next door had great security and we had bupkes. I thank God every day that the robber didn’t panic.
But I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the gunman was specifically targeting someone in the store.
The local news just referred to the shooting being in a “women’s clothing store”. It looks as if the horror of the incident will be the focus, not the fact that it happened in a Lane Bryant. And that’s how it should be.
Wasn’t this the store that, a year or more ago, there were protests about it’s being built in that neighborhood?
Not that this horror necessarily had anything to do with that…
How horrible. My thoughts are with the victims’ families.
I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought this might have been a fat related thing. After hearing the story about the restaurant bill they’re trying to pass in Mississippi, I guess I’ve become more sensitive about fat prejudice.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families. This is such a sad and senseless tragedy.
Senseless. That’s the only word for it.
I work at LB and its my biggest fear, opening and closing the store, that we will be robbed.
In fact I’m supposed to go in and open the store alone tomorrow. I need to not think about this, I’m pregnant and won’t be able to sleep unless I get it off my mind.
I don’t even know what to say. It sounds like the guy lost his cool big time, and those women payed the price. Just awful.
This is heartbreaking and senseless.
Peace and Blessings to the families involved as well as current employees at LBs across the country.
ugh. just awful.
I was in Tinley Park last summer.. 2 of my roomates are from there.
so hard to wrap your head around..
I agree with what Meowser said. That it was someone taking their anger out against fat people. My mom thinks it was just a robbery. However, there is no real knowledge of the motive so who knows.
I do feel for the families and the victims of this. I think that if something should come positively, from such a tragedy, if it is that this crime was motivated by fat hate. We can say, “See he killed them cause they were fat. How much more proof do you need that fat people now are what Blacks were in the civil rights movement.”
My sister used to live in Tinley Park. It’s a nice area. Robbery or domestic violence sound like likely reasons to me. Robbery, because they figured only women would be there, and that they would be an easy mark. Also, is the store easy to see from other areas, because if a store is in an inaccessible spot, that is tempting to robbers.
Oh, this is just horrific.
My heart goes out to the families of those killed.
I’m with the personal involvement with someone in the store camp. The guy obviously wasn’t right in the head but I doubt very much it was a fat hate crime. Like Elusis I’m inclined to think the fat hate will kick into touch with the sick jokes that are bound to arise in the wake of the incident.
I heard about it on UK radio this morning, and they were also saying it was robbery. Probably too early to tell, but anyway, my heart goes out to the families. What a horrible thing to happen.
To the person who asked what kind of area Tinley Park is, it’s a relatively nice area. It’s a bit further out distance-wise as far as suburbs go, so land/property is a bit cheaper, and I’d say it’s a good mix of blue and white collar families, but it is by no means a dangerous or ghetto area. Something like this story would come as a big shock to the community. Tinley Park is very “suburbia.”
I heard it on the radio at three yesterday, and the announcer said something about the guy “casing’ The mall. I could have heard it wrong because my dog was barking in my ear, but it sounded like he went through several stores in the mall before he started shooting in the Lane Bryant.
It’s utterly creepy how many people are trying to spin the death of five women to make it all about them.
k73: Excuse me? I used to get physically threatened nearly every day on the bus in middle school, simply because I was a fat kid. I had girls in high school who wanted to beat me up just because I was fat. When I was 14, I was walking my dog around our neighborhood and while walking across an overpass, a truck full of teenage boys slowed down and threatened to do very vile and sexually reprehensible things to me.
So, don’t tell me that this is just a cause of the fatties distorting a very tragic death to be “all about them.” Many of us have had to live with the fear of physical harm and verbal harassment for no other reason than we’re fat. When you experience this kind of harassment day in and day out, an anti-obesity lynching isn’t all that far fetched.
Tinley Park is a very nice area! This is all so schocking to me since it is my hometown. A robbery just does not seem right? When I first heard of the situation I thought to myself right away it had something to do with an ex-wife or girlfriend. When will they release the names? It is fearful being from there and hopefully not knowing anyone involved. My prayers go out to all of the families and friends of the victims.
It’s also creepy how someone would use the deaths of five women as a springboard to making snide remarks about other people.
Not to mention that mostly what I’m reading here are simply expressions of shock and condolences. Jeezus.
Oh man, stuff like this is always so scary.
And I think Elusis is spot on… the additional tragedy will come if (and I wanna say “when”) the jokes start. I don’t think anyone shoots up a store for a robbery; I’m sure there was something a little more broken going on. I doubt it was fat-related, but the response will be, which does violence both to the women’s memories and to the other fatties who are targets of the jokes.
It’s utterly creepy how many people are trying to spin the death of five women to make it all about them.
You know what? That’s how humans react to news like this. When you hear about someone shooting up a mall or school, your first thought isn’t compassion for all humanity; it’s “do I go there” and “does anyone I know go there” and “have I ever been there.” You determine your reaction relative to your experience, because otherwise you have to care equally about every tragedy and the human brain simply can’t support that. Since most of us have out of necessity been in a Lane Bryant, if not this Lane Bryant, that makes this a less distant tragedy for most of us than, say, the Omaha mall shooting.
“I doubt it was fat-related, but the response will be, which does violence both to the women’s memories and to the other fatties who are targets of the jokes.”
Yeah, that will definitely suck. I don’t watch those nighttime shows but I’m sure we’ll hear about Jay Leno’s funny funny remarks.
I’d really like to think that people will see “five dead” before “Lane Bryant” and decide not to write the material in the first place, but we’ll see.
We wouldn’t be able to empathize with other humans if we lacked the ability to relate their misfortunes to ourselves.
There was a mall shooting here (Omaha, Nebraska) over the holidays that left me shellshocked because I love going there during the holidays and just wandering around for a day. I wasn’t there when it happened, and obviously wasn’t one of the victims, but it was in a very literal way “close to home”. It’s been years since I’ve shopped in a Lane Bryant, but I can understand the reactions of those who go there regularly.
Much of the story does not add up. Can only find a report of man seen leaving the store, likely the shooter but leaving the store does not prove he did it.
I hope the families and loved ones can find some peace in all this, and hope we know what really happened – to the extant we can soon.
Since most of us have out of necessity been in a Lane Bryant, if not this Lane Bryant, that makes this a less distant tragedy for most of us than, say, the Omaha mall shooting.
And we have complicated fancy monkey brains (TM, my husband) and our minds fly in many different directions when we hear terrible news. It’s quite possible to have a mental reaction like: “How awful. Glad it wasn’t me. Oh, the poor families. Thank goodness my family is safe. I wonder who did this? Oh, god, the poor families. What does this mean for fat acceptance – people better not be assholes about it! Why am I so paranoid? There’s no such thing as paranoid. Where was mall security? Oh, my god, they were all young. I wonder how many had kids?” all in the space of about 5 seconds.
Jesus. Those poor women.
I’d really like to think that people will see “five dead” before “Lane Bryant” and decide not to write the material in the first place, but we’ll see.
I have to say I find it unlikely that a shooting in a suburban store will be the target of jokes aimed at the victims, even if the victims were fat. Not that comedy can’t be cruel, but usually not towards dead victims. (Plus, I’m not sure how many people hear “Lane Bryant” and think “everyone there must be fat”, so I’m not sure how strong the association is.)
We can say, “See he killed them cause they were fat. How much more proof do you need that fat people now are what Blacks were in the civil rights movement.”
With all due respect, this isn’t a game of misery poker, and the shooting is a tragedy even if it has nothing to do with the size of the women killed.
I am a former employee of Lane Bryant. I live less than 10 minutes from the Tinley Park store where the tragedy occured, yesterday. I knew the manager of the store, if she was one of the victims she leaves behind a chid less than a year old, I believe. My daughter went to high school with one of the vicitms. Her name is Sarah and she was just 22 years old.
Very little info has been released. There is a press conferance schduled for 2 pm today. Hopefully more info will be devulged.
The killer is still on the loose.
If you want additional info on this google Southtown newspaper. This is the local paper for this area.
God bless the victims and their loved ones..
Tiney Park is a very nice area and when something happens in that area, you don’t hear much about it in the news. They are very hushed about it.
Where was mall security?
It is a rther large strip mall there is no security there.
Plus, I’m not sure how many people hear “Lane Bryant” and think “everyone there must be fat”, so I’m not sure how strong the association is.)
Most people associate Lane Bryant with fat. I worked for them for two years and I am slender. People would ask me why I worked there since i am slender. Customers would be offended that I was not plus sized.
BTW somene asked if this was the store that a community didn’t want there. The answer to that is no. That store is about 45 minutes north of Tinley Park in Oak Park Ill, And it wasn’t the community that didn’t want Lane Bryant it was the head of the city government. He felt LB didn’t fit the image of the city since they were named one of the sexiest cities in America.
Well, usually there’s not much to say after things like those.
You can only hope that people that will learn a thing or two from tragedies like that, but that never happens, judging by amount of similar stories.
My sister actually called me to make sure I was ok – she knows that I tend to, um, frequent clothings stores more often than I should.
Man, my heart really goes out to the families and the victims. This is just so terribly tragic and AWFUL. Just awful.
Kate, you are right: This does hit awfully close to home. How many times have I heard about shootings elsewhere and not even flinched, but this has given me the chills and a sad, blue funk.
May they rest in peace.
Far too many handguns in the hands of the wrong people and far too little fear of the law by the scumbags that use them. It is always the innocent who suffer from a culture of violence. These women would have been safer from gun violence in almost any other country on earth. Why has America become the land of the gun?!
I think that if something should come positively, from such a tragedy, if it is that this crime was motivated by fat hate. We can say, “See he killed them cause they were fat. How much more proof do you need that fat people now are what Blacks were in the civil rights movement.”
I know this was said with good intentions but no.. just no. Fat people have never been sold into slavery, lynched or institutionally terrorized in the way that black people have in this country or elsewhere. We don’t get treated fairly but the comparison to the black American experience just doesn’t make sense.
And I highly doubt that this crime was spurred by fat hate. We don’t even know if all of the women in the store were fat. Lane Bryant doesn’t have a “no thin employees” rule and I’ve seen and worked with women in the company of all shapes and sizes.
The other thing with hate crimes is that there’s usually evidence that it was a hate crime. People who commit hate crimes are trying to make a POINT. Why would he try to cover it up by taking some valuables if he was trying to show the world just how much he hates fat women?
I’m very saddened by this event and it does hit very close to home for many of us but I think we might want to wait and see what the coppers say before we jump to conclusions about this guy’s intent.
I heard it was a robbery gone wrong. If the store was not that busy and the guy was casing the mall before he chose LB, it would make sense he would target the store. Many men do target women’s clothing stores for robbery and/or rape because of the people that work and shop there.
I’m sure fatness had nothing to do with it. Even with all the spotlight on fat acceptance lately, it sure is a very scary coincidence. I also hope this tragedy will not become another tiresome fat joke.
Charming Shoppes issued a statement here.
Colleen the difference is we have an opportunity to stop things before they get to that point. It’s not relatable to the African American experience now, but if we just sit by and do nothing it could end up that way. Don’t you see any correlation at all between them trying to ban fat people from resturants?
I’m sorry but black people aren’t the only group of people who have ever suffered, even though it seems that way from people like you.
If I compared this to the Jews and the Holocaust would that be better? I’m Jewish, so I would think that perhaps it’s a bit strong. However, we’re already having people medically experiment on the fat via WLS surgery, so really are we that far off?
If we don’t use comparisons to help people understand how dire our situation is, most likely they will not understand. I don’t want to be sitting around worrying about semantics, while people are trying to put laws into place curtailing fat people’s rights.
The press conferance revealed that the store manager, Rhoda McFarland was killed (not the younger girl that I thought it might have been) along with 4 customers. I did not know Rhonda, but I’m sure she was an awesome woman, all LB managers I ever met were truely remarkable people.
LB has a policy that two employees MUST be in the store while it is open. Mangers are allowed to come in 2 hours before another associate arrives, but being in a store alone once it’s open is a really no no. Perhaps the 2nd associate called in sick or cuts were made to save on payroll. I know the DM for that store and she is a stickler for following proceedure, so I find it odd that the manager was the only employee there at the time of the shooting.
There was a spokesperson from a local hospital that has said a shooting victim from the LB store had been treated there, but refused to comment if the person was treated and released or if they passed away. Police also refused to comment about this.
One story, from the local paper, said all 5 were bound, gagged, hearded into the backroom of the store and shot in the back of the head.
LB has offered a 50K reward for any information leading to the arrest of the shooter. They also kept all of their Chigagoland area stores closed today in mourning.
Yet another story about a man flipping out and killing women. Betcha we’ll be told this isn’t an example of male violence against women. Just like every other story like this. I read one of them — at least one — in the news every day. It’s just sick.
I can’t believe what happened. It just so happens that one of the women I went to HS with! And she was 2 years behind me I totally remember her… *sigh* Crazy. I feel so sorry for the families of all of them… What is the world coming to…. Why? It it seems so senseless….
This was terrible. I hope they get his guy. I’m also of the mind that it likely was domestic. If I were a cop, I’d be checking out ex-boyfriends like crazy. It’s common knowledge among thieves you don’t get much out of retail store. Everyone uses credit cards. …
I currently work for LB, not in Illinois but this has still hit me. Knowing policies and procedures and what kind of cash we usually have on hand, I have a lot of questions and speculations just as all of you do. But jumping to conclusions and assuming things does nothing but overshadow the tragic deaths of these five women.
First thing yesterday morning I was pulled aside by my manager and told about it. I didn’t think as much of it until I tried to sleep and realized I’d be opening and closing today and I didn’t sleep a wink.
It is a tragedy for our LB family. And what’s sad is that if his sole motive was robbery, those 5 women lost their lives for a mere few hundred dollars. Completely senseless.
Please keep your focus on this as a tragedy and not pointing the finger at what you can only assume was the motive.
How awful!
Scary stuff, I used to do call centre work for the chicago region and spoke to many people from Tinley park.
I can’t believe people are thinking this was a fat hate crime . Most black men seem to love larger women! I think it was just some evil moron trying to rob the store. I was just at the Lane Bryant in Oakbrook last weekend, can’t get this story out of my head. God Bless those women and their families.
beachgirl — It’s not a mall; It’s just a strip mall, and isn’t something that truly warranted any kind of security–namely because of it being in Tinley Park.
I didn’t know what had happened originally–I thought there was just a huge accident in the area, since I was in i-80 at the time.. But I was just shocked to hear what had happened, and not only that, but my best friend almost went to that store that morning to shop before work.
It’s going to be hard knowing WHY he did it until he gets caught, and I’m hoping he will, although things are look really bleak, granted it’s only the next day. I’m just in shock. I mean, shit, I worked at the Best Buy right next to LB. It’s fucking weird.
We are mentioned here!
http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/775105,CST-NWS-roep04.article
Read down to the bottom of the article, which ends on an unexpected note.
I didn’t mean that like, “Wheeee! We’re famous!” I was just very surprised at the sudden change in direction the article took, even if briefly.
I can’t believe people are thinking this was a fat hate crime . Most black men seem to love larger women!
Wow. I mean, you’re right that it’s unjustified to think it’s a hate crime, and you’ll find on careful reading that most of us don’t — note that people are talking about their first reactions, which are often different from considered reactions. But of all the reasons. Seriously.
Mochi Hada- that was an interesting twist, and really kind of awesome the way he phrased it. The message is starting to get out there and get into people’s consciousness.
Of note: there was a 6th person who survived the shooting.
The Roeper column is a little odd, but probably only in the sense that it was dashed off quickly, like so many of our comments here were too.
But I am VERY encouraged by his tone at the end, especially after all of the Dove commercial hoo-hah he instigated last year. I think this means that on some level we may be making a difference.
But of all the reasons. Seriously.
Yeah, seriously. Basing speculation about motive on stereotypes of African-American men, any stereotypes, is really not cool.
It was on TV here too (Switzerland). It’s so awful.
And yet, the police say robbery was the motive, after all.
As far as I know, they haven’t caught the guy yet. He was stupid and evil, it didn’t matter that there wasn’t much money there.. Lined five women up in the back room – where they stood and were shot.
Moral: do NOT obey a person with a gun if you are in a group – he can’t shoot all five of you as you rush him and rush the door!
FYI, folks: I can’t speak for Kate or SM, but if I see any more speculation on the guy’s motives from brand-new commenters, especially based on his race, I’m not going to be letting them through. (I say this because I deleted a couple today.) It leaves a bad taste in my mouth to have non-readers using this space to speculate on Chicago race relations or treat the story as an unsolved mystery. Delightful lurkers should please either just express sympathy or choose a different post to start with.
I live just a mile from this store and worked at an arts and crafts store in the same plaza. My husband and I passed by the plaza on Saturday at noon to see the numerous police cars in the area. We were horrified to find out the reason for the activity and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the vctims.
Even though original information released said that it was a “robbery gone bad,” this just didn’t make sense to me, the store had JUST opened, it’s not likely there would be much cash in the register. The most recent information suggests this seemed to be premeditated as this “person” brought duct tape with him. My imagination reels with what plans he could have had planned!
Unfortunately, there has been a senseless loss of life, but maybe this will kick lawmakers into REQUIRING surveillance equipment in ALL businesses in hopes of preventing these types of occurrences, or at least having video evidence to help in the persuit and capture of the bad guys.
Bad news for him is that one survived and she’ll hopefully be able to give enough information to bring him to justice!
This whole thing is just so so sad and close to home. I live about 20 minutes away and work at another Lane Bryant in the SW Suburbs. One of the victims mother works with my mother. I just can’t understand how someone could be so evil and callous.
This article says he made sexual advances before shooting the women: [url]http://www.arcamax.com/newsheadlines/s-298391-264376[/url]
Might make more sense than robbery or fat-hatred.
This article says he made sexual advances before shooting the women. http://www.arcamax.com/newsheadlines/s-298391-264376
Might make more sense than robbery or fat-hatred. To a psychopathic killer, I mean.
This one expands on the same possible motive slightly – http://www.nbc5.com/news/15227060/detail.html?rss=chi&psp=news
They say he may have chosen a women’s clothing store to avoid confrontation with men, that he carried duct tape and the gun, and made sexual advances to at least one of the women before killing anyone. That doesn’t sound like robbery, if it’s accurate.
Yeah that’s foul. The manager was a friend of our family. Damn too many people dying over bs. I mean you murdered 5 people over $1500 at the most. Terrible!
One thing I appreciated about the Roeper article is how he pointed out that – while many of us may have had an initial reaction of wondering if this might be an anti-fat hate crime – the general consensus of the thread is that it wasn’t. Too often a group that suffers from the kind of discrimination and bigotry that we do is ridiculed for having that kind of a reaction, so it was nice to see that he not only recognized that, as a group, we weren’t making any kind of a leap to a “hate crime” conclusion as the most likely scenario, AND that our wondering if it *might* be a hate crime wasn’t entirely unreasonable. It may not be a huge deal overall, but I think maybe it’s at least a decent step in the right direction.
I have grown up in this area and lived there for 23 years -my parents still reside there- I can’t stress enough how INSANELY strange this is, tor this to happen here! I understand it can happen anywhere, but it shouldn’t happen at all! This is a SICK individual who hopefully comes forward or SOMETHING so that these families can have some kind of closure! It’s days later, and I still can’t believe what had happened…you just feel like you wish you could do something to help…y’know?! God Bless, be safe, and pray for those families!!
Being an LB employee, I agree that robbery makes no sense simply because of our policies and the situation, but beyond that, keep in mind that this man took all 5 women into the backroom, tied them up, and shot them execution-style. That is NOT a panic reaction… that man planned on killing those women before he ever entered that store.
Regardless of what this monster’s motives were, he has successfully ruined uncountable lives… let’s just hope that includes his own.
Just to make this even more miserable, apparently the hatemongers from Westboro Baptist “Church” (you know, godhatesfags.com) are planning to picket the victims’ funerals. Why? Rumor has it that LB caters to cross-dressers. I’m told that the funerals are on their schedule, but I can’t bring myself to check the site.
I live less than 5 mins from this location. My family and I regularly shop at that mall. We were shocked, horrified, and apalled to hear the very tragic news of what occured that day. I definitely do not that that a robbery makes sense. I have talked to people who know officers working on this case and there are a couple other stories that make much more sense. I don’t want to publically state them, because I don’t want gossip jeopardizing this case. My heart is broken for the victims and their families. They are constantly in my thoughts and prayers. I don’t know if it is because a close family member of mine was murdered in 98, but I feel very close to these women and their families. I pray that this guy is caught and that justice is served. It will never bring them back, but I know from experience that it will help bring some comfort and peace of mind to the families and to the community that he can’t harm anyone else.
I think that the comments worrying about people making jokes about this tragedy are obsurd and inappropriate…. I don’t know of one person, no matter how crude they can be, that has heard this news and felt anything but horror and sympathy for everyone involved. I do not think it had anything to do with weight discrimination….. the suspect was of a heavier frame and weight, himself. It is insulting to the victims and their families to even make such remarks. I think that kind of nonsense should be dismissed and left alone…. it has no place here at all.
This was obviously something else that happened in this case. The truth will be unveiled in time.
Why Layla, how positively sunny of you. I hope those words taste good.
Am I weird for feeling an amount of distaste and frustration over the chump change reward Lane Bryant posted? (I think it’s 50-60K.) Especially as the days and weeks are starting to tick by…someone is almost certainly protecting the guy who did this. Give them more of an incentive to turn him in! There’s a couple of things I really need, but I am holding off buying anything there for now.
To all of the family’s and friends that are still suffering so much from this senseless act of violence. My heart is hurt for all of you. I do know what it is like to live this nightmare my cousin was taken from us 12/28/1990 and the man that killed her was just sentenced today 18 years later. The pain will subside with time but the broken heart will always be there. All you can do is keep their memories alive and talk to them often they will always be with you, find strength in each other it’s together that you will rise above.