Chicago Ridge, IL: Murder-suicide stuns onlookers at mall

Police say Chicago woman shot by ex-boyfriend, who then turned gun on self

By Bob Jaderberg

“I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I saw it happen and I just couldn’t take my eyes off it.”

Those were the words of one of four witnesses who watched a man shoot a woman, then himself, in an apparent murder-suicide Tuesday evening in Chicago Ridge, according to Chicago Ridge Police Chief Rob Pyznarski.

Police responded at 6:05 p.m. to a call of shots fired at the north end of the Westfield Mall parking lot, outside Sears near 95th Street and Ridgeland Avenue.

Tabatha Renee Oliver, 41, of Chicago, was one of several employees returning on what Pyznarski said may have been a Pace van used for carpooling. Witnesses reportedly told police that as Oliver exited the vehicle they heard her say, “Uh oh, there might be a problem, somebody might have to call the police.”

Seconds later, she was dying on the pavement, shot at least once by an ex-boyfriend, Larry Harris, at “very close range,” Pyznarski said.

Harris, 59, of the 2200 block of 80th Street in Chicago, shot Oliver with a revolver as the two approached one another, Pyznarski said. Harris had been standing near Oliver’s parking vehicle, he added.

Oliver fell to the pavement after the initial shot or shots, Pyznarski said. Harris then stood over her and shot her at least two more times, he said.

Witnesses told police there were approximately five shots fired. Precisely how many hit Oliver and where was not immediately known, though Pyznarski said he believed she was hit in the chest-abdominal area by as many as four shots.

Harris then reportedly took his own life with a gunshot to the hesd.

“He fumbled around a bit and then turned the gun on himself, delivering one fatal shot,” Pyznarski said.

Oliver and Harris both died at the scene and were transported to the Cook County Morgue.

Oliver and Harris each lived at home with their mothers, both of whom were notified of the deaths late Tuesday evening, Pyznarski said. The two dated for about eight years and broke up in February, he added. Harris reportedly had a 12-year-old son.