Authorities at a press conference Monday in Tinley Park called the killing of a mother and her three adult daughters over the weekend at a Tinley Park home a "senseless" act of domestic violence.
"Words cannot describe how deeply saddened I am at this horrible tragedy," Tinley Park Mayor Michael W. Glotz said. "A mother and her three daughters are gone. Murdered in a senseless act of domestic violence."
Glotz went on to say that the responding officers were receiving mental health resources after responding to the scene Sunday morning.
"It's difficult to process a senseless tragedy like this," Glotz said, "especially for the first responders who are called on to deal with this situation as it's all unfolding."
According to Tinley Park Village Manager Pat Carr, the shooting was reported at around 11:20 a.m. in the 7400 block of 173rd Place. A man had called police and said that someone inside the residence had been shot.
Four women were wounded in the incident, and all were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
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One suspect was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Tinley Park Police Department.
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, the victims were identified as Majeda Kassem, 53, and her adults daughters: Halema, 25, Zahia, 25 and Hanan, 24.
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"We're in the middle of a very complex investigation," Tinley Park Police Chief Tom Tilton said during the update, though he stopped short of confirming "specifics" regarding the suspect, or the suspect's relationship to the victims.
"We don't want to say anything that's going to negatively impact the investigation, or impact the charging decision," Tilton added.
Tilton also said that weapon had been recovered at the scene, though he would not elaborate on what kind.
"I'd rather not right now," Tilton said.
According to Tilton, the Tinley Park Police Department did not have a history of calls to the home. Tilton also said a charging decision was expected to occur in the near future.
Tilton declined to provide further information about the suspect, or 911 call, citing an "active investigation."
According Pam Kostecki, Executive Director of the Crisis Center for South Suburbia in Tinley Park, a "domestic violence" incident occurs when "persons within the household lose their lives to someone else in the household."
"That's what domestic violence is, when violence occurs within a household," Kostecki said during the update. "Whether related or not related to one another."
Itedal Shalabi Co-founder and Executive Director of Arab-American Family Services, added that the the family is of Arab and Palestinian descent.
"They are Muslim," Shalabi said. "At this point, this has nothing to do with Islam, or any other religion," Shalabi said. "This is about power and control. This is about gender-based violence. This is about the power of one person over other family members."
Charlotte Vaitkus, who lives nearby the victims, said she knew the victims for the past 15 years through her daughter.
"We’re still in shock hours later I can’t believe that this happened a block away from me to people that we knew," she said.
Vaitkus said the family consisted of seven people - a father, mother, three daughters and two sons.
“Never known there to be any problem with them," the neighbor said. "They were very intelligent girls.”
