UPDATE: Memorial Hospital nurse among those shot and killed in suburban Chicago store

by Troy Kehoe (tkehoe@wsbt.com)

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5 women shot and killed at Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Ill. including Jennifer Bishop

Greg Zanis, of Sugar Grove, Ill., puts up five crosses and leaves flowers in front of the Lane Bryant store at the Brookside shopping center in Tinley Park, Ill., Sunday, Feb. 3, 2008. A gunman fatally shot five people at a store in a suburban Chicago strip mall and fled Saturday, prompting police to sweep through neighboring shops looking for the suspect as terrified customers looked on. (AP Photo/Jerry Lai)

By WSBT News1

SOUTH BEND -- Shock and disbelief hit hard for friends and family after word that one of the five victims murdered in a suburban Chicago clothing store Saturday is from South Bend. Police identified her Sunday as 34-year-old Jennifer Bishop.

It's been just over 36 hours since that gunman opened fire, killing five women inside the Lane Bryant Clothing Store in Tinley Park, Ill. -- about 30 miles south of Chicago.

Police identified the victims Sunday afternoon.

They are:

-Connie R. Woolfolk, 37, of Flossmoor, Ill.
-Sarah T. Szafranski, 22, of Oak Forest, Ill.
-Carrie A Chiuso, 33, of Frankfort, Ill.
-Rhoda McFarland, 42, of Joliet, Ill.
-Jennifer L. Bishop, 34, of South Bend

Bishop worked as an intensive care nurse at Memorial Hospital for more than 10 years, and the news of her death hit friends and co-workers there very hard. The hardest part, say those closest to Bishop, is that there are still very few answers to the questions surrounding exactly what happened.

Investigators did release some additional information during a press conference outside the mall late Sunday afternoon, but wouldn't go into any detail. They are still describing the shootings as a "robbery attempt gone bad," but have now confirmed that all 5 women -- including Bishop -- died from gunshot wounds at the scene.

Several Chicago newspapers were also reporting late Sunday afternoon that a sixth woman was also shot. She survived, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, and is being treated at a south suburban hospital, where both newspapers cite sources who say she is expected to survive.

Police have not confirmed that yet, or released any new information on the suspect, evidence or what they have learned from witnesses, citing the ongoing investigation into what happened.

That news has made it even harder for Bishop's friends and family to understand why her death happened. So they are focusing on her life instead.

"She was an amazing person," said Memorial Hospital Nurse Wyndy Berndsen, who worked with Bishop in Memorial's Intensive Care Unit for more than 10 years. "She was an exceptional nurse. She has three children, and she was an amazing mother, and a very supportive and loving wife."

"Her three kids lost their mom," added ICU nurse Sarah Paturalski, who has been close friends with Bishop for about three years. "She had a little girl who's going to be a teenager. And all little girls need their mom. He took that from them," she trailed off, fighting back tears.

Memorial spokeswoman Ruth Linster says staff throughout the hospital are "absolutely devastated." She says Memorial is looking into providing grief counselors for those employees, but as of Sunday evening, they had not been brought in.

Cook County, Ill. Crimestoppers is offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of a suspect in this case. Lane Bryant has also posted a reward of $50,000 for information that leads to the conviction of that suspect.

If you have anything that could help police capture that suspect, call the Tinley Park Police Department at 708-444-5394 or Cook County Crimestoppers at 800-535-7867.

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