Illinois gunman obtained firearm permit despite felony conviction
AURORA, Ill: The gunman who killed five co-workers and wounded five policemen at an Illinois factory was a violent felon who nevertheless obtained a state permit to buy a firearm despite being legally barred from owning one, authorities said on Saturday.
Gary Martin, 45, who carried his pistol to work on Friday apparently suspecting he faced dismissal from his job, opened fire after being told of his termination in a meeting at the Henry Pratt Company plant in Aurora, Illinois, about 64 km west of Chicago, police said.
The dead included the plant manager, a human resources supervisor, a human resources intern and two other workers.
A sixth employee and five police officers responding to the scene were wounded, and the gunman himself was slain about 90 minutes later in a gunfight with police who stormed the building.
Martin had purchased the murder weapon, a .40-caliber Smith Wesson handgun with a laser sight, in March 2014 from a local gun dealer, Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman told reporters on Saturday.
Despite his criminal history, the weapon was lawfully sold to Martin two months after he was issued a state Firearm Owners Identification, or FOID card, a document used to designate people eligible to own and buy guns.
Friday’s bloodshed marked the latest spasm of gun violence in a nation where mass shootings have become almost commonplace, and came a day after the first anniversary of the massacre of 17 people by a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
The siege in Illinois unfolded over an hour and a half, although the gunman’s victims, including the wounded policemen, were struck by gunfire in the first several minutes, police said.
Officers eventually found Martin in a machine shop at the back of the 30,000-square foot building, and he died after a short gunfight. — Reuters