Police investigate the scene of a shooting at the Lane Bryant store Saturday at the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Ill. Police Sgt. T.J. Grady confirmed that five women were shot to death Saturday morning in the store.

Tinley Park, Ill. ? A gunman fatally shot five women in a robbery at a store in a suburban Chicago strip mall and fled Saturday, prompting police to sweep through neighboring shops as terrified customers watched.

The victims, including at least one employee, were killed at a Lane Bryant clothing store at the Brookside Marketplace, police Chief Mike O’Connell said.

Officers found the victims at the back of the store after getting a 911 call about 10:45 a.m. Police said a bystander told them that a man came out of the store and gave them a description.

Authorities said robbery was believed to be the motive. Police searched for the gunman using dogs and a helicopter equipped with infrared sensors but concluded he left the stores off Interstate 80 southwest of downtown Chicago.

“We do not want to compromise any evidence that may be out there … I ask we keep family of the victims in our thoughts and prayers,” O’Connell said.

Tinley Park police Sgt. T.J. Grady said investigators were trying to determine if there was video from security cameras mounted at nearby stores. O’Connell said the Lane Bryant store did not have a camera.

O’Connell would not identify the victims, but said they ranged in age from 22 to 37. Four were from suburban Chicago and one was from South Bend, Ind.

The police chief added that no further information would be made available until this afternoon, after forensic exams were completed.