Police have identified the mass shooter who killed five workers at the Henry Pratt company in Aurora Friday afternoon.
According to CBS Chicago, the police have stated that the man was 45-year-old employee Gary Martin, a 15-year employee at Henry Pratt company.
Martin was being terminated at his job on Friday when he shot and killed his co-workers. He also injured five officers and an employee. All of the victims were identified as men, but their names have yet to be revealed, CNN states.
The gunman, who was killed, opened fire with a Smith & Wesson handgun at employees before exchanging shots with officers who arrived at the 29,000 square-foot building four minutes after calls were received about the active shooter around 1:30 p.m., according to Aurora Police Chief, Kristen Ziman.
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John Probst, 40, an employee of the manufacturing business and a survivor said Martin “running down the aisle” with a pistol that had a green laser sight on it.
“As soon as I saw the green thing and heard the shots, we left,” said Probst “He started opening up on the room, and he was just shooting everybody.”
Five officers were struck by gunshots and another officer hurt his knee. All of the officers were taken to local hospitals, and two of them were airlifted to trauma centers. Ziman said all of the officers were shot within five minutes of responding. The officers and the one worker who was shot, injuries are not life-threatening, Ziman said.
Illinois Governor, J.B. Pritzker released a statement regarding the horrific incident.
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“There is no way to prepare,” Pritzker said. “There are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams and their futures,” he said in the statement. “There are no words to express our gratitude to the families of the officers who were injured in the line of duty as they responded within moments to the gravest kind of danger that they can face.”
Ziman said a Kane County Sheriff’s Office task force from the will investigate Martin’s death.
