Officers had swept through neighbouring shops, aisle by aisle and with guns drawn, shortly after the shootings in search of a man. -- PHOTO: AP

A man was seen leaving the Lane Bryant on Saturday morning before police found the store's manager and four customers shot to death.

Authorities have released few details about the brazen killings in the busy shopping centre.

'This has been an extremely sensitive investigation,' said Tinley Park Police Chief Mike O'Connell.

The dead were identified Sunday as Connie R. Woolfolk, 37, 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, Indiana.

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

'Our emotions are raw. And we are still in shock,' Ms Szafranski's 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.'

Ms Chiuso was a social worker at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where she graduated 1993.

'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.'

Officers had swept through neighbouring shops, aisle by aisle and with guns drawn, shortly after the shootings in search of a man a bystander reported fleeing the store. Police later used dogs and a helicopter equipped with infrared sensors in their search but did not find the suspect.

The Lane Bryant store did not have a camera, but Tinley Park police Sgt T.J. Grady said investigators were trying to determine whether there was video from security cameras mounted at nearby stores.

Chicago-area Lane Bryant stores were closed on Sunday in honour of those who died. The store's parent company, Bensalem, Pennsylvania-based Charming Shoppes Inc, said it was offering a $50,000 (S$70,730) reward for information.

'The employees of Charming Shoppes and Lane Bryant are deeply saddened by the loss of life resulting from this horrific event,' the company said in a statement. 'We grieve for the innocent victims and our primary concern at this time is for the families and loved ones of those fatally injured.' Police tape flapped in the wind in front of the boarded-up store, while mourners erected a makeshift memorial of five white crosses and flowers in the parking lot.

People never thought it could happen
A tear rolled down Ms Cindy Sorenson's cheek as she brought a bouquet of bright red roses to Lane Bryant, which is part of a cluster of stores that sit across a large blacktop parking lot from big retailers, including Target and Best Buy.

Ms Sorenson, who works as a store manager at a nearby mall in this suburban community of nearly 60,000 people, said she did not know the victims, but could not stop thinking about the women who died.

'Your job is your home,' the 34-year-old Tinley Park resident said. 'You spend so much time in a store and you never think anything like this will happen.'

Mr David Korbel knelt down on one knee and bowed his head by a curb in front of the store.

'I simply prayed for the families and for the authorities, so that they would get the man who did this,' said Mr Korbel, who lives in nearby Frankfort.

Saturday's attack was unsettling for residents of Tinley Park, a growing suburb of nearly 60,000 people where only one murder was reported between 1999 through 2006, according to annual reports compiled by Illinois State Police.

Tinley Park Mayor Edward Zabrocki said he ordered flags to be flown at half-staff on municipal buildings for five days - one day for each of the victims.

'This tragedy should not have happened in any town,' he said. -- AP