A police officer guards the perimeter of the Shetland Business Park as the investigation continues into yesterday's shooting at the Henry Pratt Company on February 16, 2019 in Aurora, Illinois.Scott Olson/Getty Images
Five workers who were killed in a shooting at a suburban Chicago factory on Friday included some of the company’s most experienced workers but also its newest.
Among the dead, identified by police Saturday, were Josh Pinkard, who was the plant manager of the Henry Pratt Co. warehouse in Aurora, Illinois, and also Trevor Wehner, who was a student at Northern Illinois University and an intern in the company’s human resources department.
Also killed, the police said, were Vicente Juarez, stockroom attendant and forklift operator; Clayton Parks, human resources manager; and Russell Beyer, mold operator.
The shooting, inside the company warehouse, killed five workers and injured six people, including five police officers who had run inside after reports of a shooting began streaming in. The gunman also died after exchanging gunfire with police, officials said, after a long, tense search for him through the enormous warehouse building.
The man police have identified as the shooter, Gary Martin, 45, was in illegal possession of the handgun used in the shooting, said Police Chief Kristen Ziman. The gunman’s state weapon permit had been revoked, officials said, but he still had a handgun.
Police first received several 911 calls at 1:24 p.m. Friday, as frantic callers said there was a shooter at the warehouse.
Four minutes later, police arrived and were confronted by the gunman. Two of the first four officers to arrive were shot and transported to hospitals with injuries that were not life-threatening.
According to police, Martin then retreated into the 29,000-square-foot building. It took about 90 minutes for officers to find, shoot and kill him.
Family members of Martin arrived at the Aurora Police Department on Friday afternoon, weeping and hugging one another after officers told them that he was dead.
“He was the shooter,” said Tameka Martin, who said she was Martin’s sister. “He shot officers. If they did shoot him and kill him, they were, I guess, defending themselves.”
Martin said that her brother had told his family that he had lost his job at Henry Pratt. At dinner a few nights ago at their mother’s home, Martin would barely speak about it. He was “very depressed,” she said.