A father of five allegedly shot his wife and three adult daughters to death inside the family’s home in a Chicago suburb Sunday morning, according to police and reports.
The four women were fatally wounded in what officials described as a “domestic-related shooting” inside a home on 173rd Street in Tinley Park just before 11:30 a.m., according to Tinley Park Public Safety and ABC 7 Chicago.
A man inside the home reportedly called 911 to report the mass slaughter and was taken into custody at the scene, according to cops and a dispatcher call obtained by WGN News.
“A male subject said his wife was shot. The line disconnected. He wasn’t really cooperative,” the dispatcher said.
The dispatcher later called the scene “a massacre” when requesting more units.
When officers arrived, they found the bodies of the four women identified by the Cook County Medical Examiner as Majeda Kassem, 59; Halema Kassem, 25; Zahia Kassem, 25; and Hanan Kassem, 24, according to the local station. Each had suffered gunshot wounds.
They took a man, who is believed to be the husband and father of the victims, into custody at the scene, where they also recovered a firearm, according to the local reports.
A neighbor who knew the family — made up of the husband and wife, the three adult daughters, and two grown sons — said the news of the grisly crime was “shocking” to wake up to Sunday morning, given that the victims and alleged killer were “such a good family that had a bright future.”
“My daughter knows them,” Charlotte Vaitkus told ABC 7. “She went to school with the oldest son, and she employed the twin sisters. She always talked about how they were all very intelligent, and they had very high goals in life.”
Some of the children had dreams of becoming a pharmacist or a doctor, she added.
There were no prior law enforcement calls to the home, Village Manager Patt Carr said.
The murders were the deadliest incident to hit Tinley Park, a village southwest of Chicago, in nearly two decades.
But Car stressed that there was no threat to the public.
“This was isolated to the home,” he told reporters at a press conference on the shooting. “The scene is secure. There is only one suspect at this time.”