A Tinley Park man is facing four counts of first-degree murder after police say he shot and killed his wife and three daughters in their suburban home. Maher Kassem, 63, was charged Tuesday morning with the brutal killings that occurred during what officials have described as a "domestic-related incident," as reported by NBC Chicago.
The shooting happened Sunday morning, at approximately 11:20 a.m. at Kassem's residence on 173rd Place in Tinley Park. Kassem called the police shortly, after the incident claiming that someone had been shot. Responding officers discovered four women with gunshot wounds, all of whom were pronounced dead at the scene, WGN-TV reported.
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, the victims have been identified as Kassem's 53-year-old wife Majeda, and their daughters, Halema and Zahia, both 25, and Hanan, 24. In a press release, Tinley Park Police Department said the suspect had fatally shot his family members during a verbal argument. "Words cannot describe how deeply saddened I am at this horrible tragedy," Tinley Park Mayor Michael W. Glotz said in a statement obtained by NBC Chicago, "A mother and her three daughters are gone, murdered in a senseless act of domestic violence."
Detailed information about the events leading up to the shooting has not been released, as Tinley Park Police Chief Tom Tilton explained the ongoing investigation is "very complex." During the press conference, Tilton declined to comment on the specific nature of the weapon recovered at the scene and emphasized the police department had no prior calls to the home. "We don’t want to say anything that’s going to negatively impact the investigation, or impact the charging decision," Tilton told NBC Chicago.
Authorities and community leaders have underscored that this tragic event is an issue of domestic violence, unrelated to religion. "This is about power and control, This is about gender-based violence. This is about the power of one person over other family members," said Itedal Shalabi, co-founder and executive director of Arab-American Family Services, in a press conference. The shock of the violent act has reverberated through the Tinley Park community, where neighbor Charlotte Vaitkus, who had known the victims for 15 years, expressed disbelief to NBC Chicago, "We’re still in shock hours later. I can’t believe that this happened a block away from me to people that we knew."
