Man who killed 5 in Illinois not supposed to own a gun

An Illinois manufacturing company’s background check didn’t turn up a felony conviction and domestic charges filed against a 15-year employee who gunned down five co-workers after getting fired, authorities said Saturday.

The five victims were fatally shot Friday after a human resources meeting with Gary Martin, who’d just learned he was being let go at the Henry Pratt Co.

Police said Martin (photo) opened fire with a Smith & Wesson handgun at the company’s office in the Chicago suburb of Aurora, shooting at fleeing employees before exchanging gunfire with responding law enforcement officers.

On Saturday, authorities identified those killed as human resources manager Clayton Parks, mold operator Russell Beyer, stock room attendant Vincente Juarez, plant manager Josh Pinkard and Trevor Wehner, a Northern Illinois University student working his first day at the company as an HR intern.

They were all found in the same area of the building and were already dead when authorities arrived on the scene, authorities said.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said five police officers also were struck in the gunfire and another was injured. They were all in stable condition.

Martin was also killed inside the facility amid a gun battle with responding law enforcement about 90 minutes after the chaos first erupted. He had worked at the Henry Pratt Co., one of the largest valve manufacturers in the country, for 15 years.

Ziman said Saturday that Martin was issued an Illinois Firearm Owner’s Identification Card (FOID) in January 2014 and a month later purchased the handgun used in Friday’s deadly attack. He also applied for a concealed carry permit, but the background check turned up a felony charge of aggravated assault in Mississippi.

The shooter was convicted in 1995 for assaulting a woman in Marshall County, according to public records.

“It should be noted that this conviction would not necessarily have shown up on a criminal background check conducted for a FOID card,” Ziman said, adding that his concealed carry permit was later rejected and FOID card revoked by Illinois state police.