Man in custody in connection with mother's Oak Forest stabbing death after Tinley Park standoff
Lauren Pikor had restraining order against estranged boyfriend, now in police custody: sources
OAK FOREST, Ill. (WLS) -- A lengthy standoff in a Tinley Park neighborhood is over on Saturday after a man was taken into custody in connection with the stabbing death of 30-year-old Lauren Pikor near her Oak Forest home the night before.
"It was crazy, like out of a movie. And, it was in our neighborhood. Like, how can that happen?" said Ida Hussein, a Tinley Park resident.
The situation began when suburban police attempted to execute a search warrant overnight at a home near Glen Swilly Circle just off of 182nd Street in relation to the woman's Friday evening slaying.
Authorities said that happened shortly after officers in Oak Forest responded to calls about a domestic disturbance in the 5300 block of Diamond Drive around 10:15 p.m. Friday.
"I heard somebody screaming, and I thought it was the neighbor kids, but it just didn't sound right," one neighbor said. "So, I went to my sliding glass door, looking onto the street, and I saw someone on the ground."
Investigators said Pikor, the mother of a young daughter, had been stabbed multiple times and died at the scene.
Sources close to the investigation said the man who held police at bay is the estranged boyfriend of Pikor, who had a restraining order against him.
The hours-long standoff lasted well into late Saturday afternoon.
"I thought they were trying to get him out, and they were shouting through loud speaker, 'Come out, come out,'" a neighbor said.
Residents said they heard loud flash bangs as a SWAT team attempted to end the standoff.
Salma Hussein lives just three down from where the man was holed up. The college student recorded that part of the police operation on her cellphone.
"It was pretty loud. It did sound like gunfire, but I really didn't know what to think at the time," Hussein said.
After talking with negotiators for hours, the man surrendered to waiting police.
Pikor is being remembered as a sweet person and wonderful mother to her daughter.
"I mean, we knew each other as neighbors, but you couldn't have met a nicer person," an Oak Forest neighbor said.
Police asked anyone with information to contact Detective Sergeant Ryan Burnett at 708-687-1376.
You can contact the Illinois domestic violence hotline at 1-877-863-6338 click here for more information.
