FIVE SLAIN IN SHOOTING
Man opens fire on co-workers in Aurora, Ill.; seven wounded
The “heartless” slaughter of five people has left another American city reeling from senseless violence, this time in a suburb of Chicago.
“It’s a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country,” said Aurora, Ill., Mayor Richard Irvin at a press conference Friday after the shooting.
“It’s a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life. But we as a society cannot allow these horrific acts to become commonplace,” Irvin added.
A 45-year-old employee of Henry Pratt Co. opened fire at the plant Friday, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was fatally shot, police said.
John Probst, a Henry Pratt employee, told a local TV station he saw the shooter begin his murderous rampage.
“The guy was running down the aisles with a pistol with a laser on it,” Probst said. “I was all the way in the back, and like I said, we were just scared. He was shooting everybody.
“As soon as I heard it I took off,” he added. “We were standing outside and then we heard more and more again coming from the front somewhere.”
Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman — who sent her prayers to the wounded officers and praised the response from all over the county — said the shooter was Gary Martin. She added cops were on the scene within 4 minutes.
“May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.
Hospitals reported treating at least seven patients from the shooting, though their conditions weren’t released. Two of the officers were airlifted to trauma centers in Chicago, Ziman said. She said a sixth officer suffered a knee injury. Officials did not say the total number of people injured other than the police officers.
Dozens of first responder vehicles converged on the building housing the company in Aurora after police received multiple calls about an active shooter at 1:24 p.m. CST.
Several ATF teams also responded to the shooting and were at the scene, according to the agency’s Chicago spokeswoman, and the FBI said it also responded.
President Trump tweeted out his support, tweeting: “Heartfelt condolences to all of the victims and their families. America is with you!”
Kids were kept in their classrooms and news stations broke away from programming to carry news of the latest shooting to hit the country.
The attack follows an endless list of mass shootings in the country — including a dozen killed in November at a country music bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif., and 11 slain in October at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh during Shabbat morning services. It was the deadliest attack on Jews in the country’s history.
“This is terrible,” said Ed Davis, former Boston police commissioner. “It’s a national problem, and Congress needs to work out logical strategies to keep guns out of the hands of people who are suicidal, homicidal or have fantasies of mass murder.” Davis, who said he’ll never forget speaking to loved ones who lost family members to senseless violence, said Washington, D.C., “just can’t move.”