Criminal and Social Justice Charter Club hosts filmmaker Charlie Minn at USF

Cold cases. Something that pesters many investigators across the United States. Many of these cold cases are tied to one of the most severe crimes of all. Homicide. According to Project: Cold Case, 37% of homicides that happen in the United States go unsolved. One of the most famous of these occurred not too far from the University of St. Francis (USF). 

On a quiet February morning in Tinley Park, Illinois, tragedy struck at the Lane Bryant store in the Brookhaven Marketplace. Six women were taken hostage in the store, with five of them ultimately being executed. The sixth narrowly escaped death by playing dead as the shooter fled the store. All together, the crime took over 40 minutes from start to finish. Ultimately, police were not able to identify a suspect for the shooting, and the case has remained unsolved for the past 18 years.

While the case has largely left the public eye, save for a yearly remembrance on the anniversary of the murders, one man is looking to bring more awareness, and ultimately a conclusion, to this case. 

Charlie Minn, a filmmaker from New York, has taken it upon himself to try and reignite the flame for the case. Formerly a producer on America’s Most Wanted, Minn has produced 45 independent films, most of them being true crime documentaries. Some of his most famous films include “8 Murders a Day” and “77 Minutes” as he covers a variety of different crime topics in his documentaries.

His newest one may hit close to home for some residents. Titled “Who Killed These Women?” Minn goes in depth into the Lane Bryant shooting that happened 18 years ago, trying to inform people who may not know about the mass killing, while also trying to provoke anyone to come forward with information regarding the case. 

In an effort to promote his newest film, which will be shown at various locations across the Chicagoland area, Minn was invited to USF as a guest speaker. He appeared in multiple Criminal Justice classes throughout the week, and also did an interview with the USF TV Club on his film prior which can be found here.

This all culminated in the main event, a presentation open to the entire USF community about his film and his thoughts about this case hosted by the Criminal and Social Justice Charter Club. During this presentation, Minn said that one of the ways he feels the case will be solved is through the use of social media, such as TikTok or Instagram. While this is more of a new school thing per say, he thinks that the power of social media will be used to bring more attention and lead to more evidence being uncovered with the case.

Minn then showed the audience a video of his former works, which included his first film about the mass killing at a bowling alley in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The video then shifted over to showing crime scene footage of the McDonald’s massacre in San Ysidro, California. It was at this point Minn stopped the video and explained that he has never, and will never, show the name of a criminal in films, only referring to them as shooter or criminal. His reasoning behind this is to not publicize their image more as that’s what most criminals are speaking, and wishes that all media would follow that same sentiment.

He then finished by showing the trailer to “Who Killed These Women?” After the video finished, he went on to talk about the five women who were killed in the crime and gave more details on the case. In the film, he has many interviews from first responders on the scene, families of the victims and law enforcement from the city of Chicago. To his dismay, he was never able to get the cooperation of Tinley Park’s police department while making his film. 

While the film is being released now in 2026, Minn first planned on making it eight years ago. After some setbacks, he scrapped the idea. Now a decade later, he has come back to Chicago to finish the job. He feels that when people walk out of his film, they should be asking themselves “are you more informed?” as opposed to “did I like the film?”

Minn’s inspiration as a filmmaker has been Oliver Stone, the writer of the famous film “Scarface.” His main goal with producing documentaries is not for his enjoyment, but instead to inform, educate and raise awareness about the topics he chooses to film on. He compared his life to a hockey game, and encouraged the audience to keep shooting the puck because eventually, one will go in. 

The film “Who Killed These Women?” will begin screenings today, including at locations near USF such as the AMC New Lenox and Marcus Theatres in Orland Park. For more information regarding the film or Charlie Minn, you can visit the film’s website at https://thetinley5.com.