Gunman opened fire after losing his job, police say

AURORA, Ill. — The man who killed five co-workers and wounded five police officers at a suburban Chicago manufacturing warehouse brought his gun to a meeting in which he was going to be fired, authorities said Saturday.

Because Gary Martin brought his gun to Friday’s meeting at the sprawling Henry Pratt Co. warehouse in Aurora, he probably knew it was possible he was about to lose the job he had held for 15 years, police Chief Kristen Ziman said at a news conference.

Ziman said she didn’t know what had been conveyed to Martin or why he was being fired. But she said as soon as he was fired, he pulled his handgun and began shooting. Three of the five co-workers he killed were in the room with him, and the other two were just outside, she said. A sixth employee and five police officers were shot but survived.

Frantic calls to 911 started pouring in from frightened workers at 1:24 p.m., and officers arrived at the scene within four minutes, authorities said. Martin fired on the officers when they arrived, striking one outside and another near the building’s entrance. The other three wounded officers were shot inside the building. None of their wounds is considered lifethreatening, Ziman said Saturday.

Martin then hid inside the 29,000-square-foot building and a search ensued. He fired on an officer about an hour later and police fired back, killing him, authorities said.

Police identified the five slain workers as human resources manager Clayton Parks of Elgin; human resources intern and Northern Illinois University student Trevor Wehner of DeKalb; plant manager Josh Pinkard of Oswego; mold operator Russell Beyer of Yorkville; and stock room attendant and forklift operator Vicente Juarez of Oswego.

The wounded worker, whose name wasn’t released, was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not lifethreatening.

Martin had been arrested six times in Aurora over the years, including for domestic battery, Ziman said. In 2014, he was able to buy the Smith and Wesson .40-caliber handgun he used in the attack because an initial background check didn’t catch that he had a previous felony conviction in Mississippi, the chief said.

It wasn’t until he applied for a concealed carry permit and went through a more rigorous background check that his 1995 felony conviction for aggravated battery was flagged and his firearm owner’s ID card was revoked, she said.

The shooting shocked the city of 200,000, about 40 miles west of Chicago.

“For so many years, we have seen similar situations throughout our nation and the horrible feeling that we get when we see it on the news. To experience it firsthand is even more painful,” Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said Friday.

Don Babwin and Caryn Rousseau are Associated Press writers.

Scott Olson / Getty Images Police guard the perimeter of the industrial park in Aurora, Ill., where a man fatally shot five co-workers and wounded five police officers. The gunman died in a shootout with officers.