At least the reporters tell us something about what a nice woman the mother was for once, and don't waste our time with garbage on how the killer was "such a great guy." Unfortunately, it is way too common for idiots to get all gushy on what a "great guy" the killer was, and how it was "such a surprise," and forget the actual victims of the "great guy's" violence entirely.
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/old.navy.shooting.2.1681451.html
May 7, 2010 6:30 pm US/Central
Man, Girlfriend Dead In Downtown Old Navy Shooting
Female Employee Shot To Death By Father Of Her Child, Who Then Committed
A man and his girlfriend are dead in a shooting at the Old Navy store on State and Washington streets in the Loop.
Police say a man shot and killed his girlfriend, then turned the gun on himself, inside the Old Navy store on State Street downtown.
Tranesha Palms, 22, and Eugene Robertson, 27, both of the 10000 block of South Walden Parkway, in the Beverly neighborhood were killed in the incident, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
A source said Robinson shot Palms multiple times before shooting himself in an employee-only area of the store's basement.
At a news conference at the scene, police Chief of Patrol Eugene Williams said officers on patrol shortly after 11 a.m. saw employees running out of the store, located at 35 N. State St. The employees told police shots had been fired inside.
"Chicago police immediately responded, went into the store and eventually ended up in the basement area, which is a restricted area for employees only, and once in that area, we found two people who were lying on the floor, deceased," said Williams.
See a slideshow of photos from the scene.
Sources say a female employee was shot to death by the father of her child. The man then took his own life.
"They knew each other. That's our understanding at this time. There's no random shooter out there. There's no lone gunman running around the Loop putting anybody else in danger," said Williams.
Williams did not know if the store had surveillance cameras, nor how the gunman got inside.
An employee who was overcome with emotion needed medical attention after the shootings happened. A witness said she was sobbing uncontrollably.
Other witnesses describe a scene of mass panic. Some heard gunshots ring out inside the store while trying to check out. Others spoke of how police entered the store with guns drawn after the call came in.
"Police officers start running in the store and they had their guns and everything and they were like, 'Get out! Get out!' and one of the managers pulled my arm and said you need to get out the store right now," said Old Navy shopper and witness Sophia Rush.
"I heard, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop," said shopper and witness Frances Campbell, who said she heard what sounded like at least five gun shots ring out. "I dropped my items and I started ushering people out the door."
Minh Dang and his wife Jessica Dang had just arrived from San Francisco early Friday morning and were shopping at Old Navy at the time of the shooting. They didn't hear the shots or see the shooting, but said that as they were shopping, employees suddenly announced that everyone needed to leave the store.
"As we were coming down the escalator to pay for our merchandise, we saw people scattering in general and then we saw cops coming in and there was a store manager at the base of the escalator yelling with a sense of urgency 'Leave. Trust me, trust me. Leave,'" Minh Dang said. "We just grabbed our merchandise, then we saw four or five cops come in with their guns pointed at us."
Minh Dang said he was carrying a camera under his jacket when police arrived, so they frisked him before they allowed him to leave.
His wife said it was a harrowing experience and, at first, they thought it was some kind of prank.
"I just kind of thought it was a joke," Jessica Dang said. "All of a sudden the store manager and other employees were sort of running around, but it all seemed all really surreal, so we thought it was kind of a joke at first, we didn't really know what was going on. And when we realized it was something real serious, when she said it with a sense of urgency and then certainly when we saw the cops come in with their guns drawn, we started taking it seriously and just tried to get out of there as soon as we can."
The Dangs said that they wouldn't let the experience spoil their visit to Chicago.
Eugene Rogers is a friend of the female victim's family.
"She's a nice, nice young lady," Rogers said. "Saw her about two or three weeks ago. She was by with her little baby and they were out here playing in the yard and stuff. I was cutting the grass and the little baby was real friendly. He was playing with the little ball. I was playing with the little kid back and forth. Really sorry to hear that, you know. Real nice family. Real nice people."
Sources say the woman that was shot and killed was a single mother who was raising her son.
Calls to Old Navy's corporate office for comment have not been returned.
Chicago police say there was an immediate response to the shooting. Sources say a Chicago police officer was patrolling in her squad car and was alerted by three people who ran out of the store.
The officer turned the corner in her squad car in traffic, getting out with her gun drawn, approaching the store, then re-holstering her gun and getting back in her squad car. She never went in. A sergeant had already gone into the store.
A police spokesperson said detectives are looking at video from cameras in the area as part of their investigation. The spokesperson added no one has claimed any wrongdoing on the part of the officer.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot and Web Producer Todd Feurer contributed to this report.
