Gary Martin, an employee of an Aurora, Illinois manufacturing company went on a rampage today, killing five people and wounding five police officers. Martin was shot dead but police say his motive is unknown at this point. From the Associated Press:
Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman told a news conference that the gunman was 45-year-old Gary Martin and said he was believed to be an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. — which makes valves for industrial purposes — in the city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago. She told reporters that officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.
Police said they did not know the gunman’s motive…
John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora, told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon. Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works for the company.
“What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it,” Probst said.
Probst said he wasn’t hurt but that another colleague was “bleeding pretty bad.”
While the AP is saying Martin was an employee, other reports suggest he was recently laid off:
NEW: Mass shooting suspect identified as Gary Martin, 45, a recently laid-off employee. His mother just told @WGNNews:
“My heart goes out to all the victims and their families” pic.twitter.com/HVCFtb10Xm— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) February 15, 2019
Martin’s mother told the Chicago Sun-Times he had recently been laid off:
The mother of the gunman who shot up an Aurora factory Friday — killing five people and injuring five cops — said her son had been laid off recently and was “stressed out” before the incident…
“He was way too stressed out,” said the woman, who declined to give her name before embracing relatives outside the Aurora police station and leaving Friday evening.
And Chicago reporter Patrick Smith spoke to Martin’s sister gave a similar account:
She said she last spoke with her brother about two days ago and he was “very depressed.” She said Aurora police told her they did not yet know if he had been killed by police or if he turned the gun on himself.
— Patrick Smith (@pksmid) February 15, 2019
The shooter in Aurora has been identified by his sister as Gary Martin. She said he worked at Henry Pratt for about 20 years, lost his job about 2 weeks ago and was very upset about it. She said police told her they were unsure if he was killed by police or took his own life.
— Patrick Smith (@pksmid) February 15, 2019
If that’s accurate it would suggest one obvious motive for the crime, i.e. he was depressed and maybe angry at his former employer. There are conflicting reports about whether Martin was shot and killed by police or if he turned the gun on himself. This recent CBS report says police sent in a robot, found he was dead, and believe he was shot by police. However, it’s still early so take all of this with the usual grain of salt:
At least five people were killed Friday after a gunman opened fire inside an Illinois manufacturing company; local police identified the gunman as 45-year-old Gary Martin, who died in a shootout with officers https://t.co/ckfDHXryyb pic.twitter.com/ZMSMVzXWfR
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 16, 2019
President Trump tweeted this reaction to the incident:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1096547516290543617
Here’s a video of the police briefing which took place a couple hours ago as I write this:
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