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Aurora shooting: Five killed by sacked man at Illinois firm | Aurora shooting: Five killed by sacked man at Illinois firm |
(about 4 hours later) | |
A man being fired from his job has shot dead five people and injured several police officers at his workplace in the US state of Illinois. | |
The gunman was killed during an exchange of fire with police. The five victims have now been named. | |
The shooting took place at a manufacturing firm in Aurora, a suburb about 40 miles (64km) west of Chicago. | |
Police named the suspect as Gary Martin, 45, who had worked at the Henry Pratt company for 15 years. | |
Aurora police chief Kristen Ziman said the suspect had armed himself and then attended a meeting at which he was being sacked. | |
Who are the victims? | |
Police named the five as: | |
Three of the victims died in the room where the suspect's termination from his job was being announced, a fourth close by and the fifth on another floor. | |
Mr Pinkard's family described him as "a loving husband and father who deeply impacted the community". | |
In a Facebook post by a family friend, Mr Wehner was described as a "big brother to many". | |
Who is the suspect? | |
Gary Martin was a 15-year veteran of the Henry Pratt company | |
The Chicago Sun-Times newspaper reported his family as saying he was "stressed out" at being made redundant by the company, which makes valves for large water pipes. | |
Clerks at a local store told USA Today that Martin regularly came in for cigars and was a happy and engaging customer who appeared fine on the day of the shooting. | |
Steve Spizewski, who lived near Martin, told the paper he considered him a friend who had consoled him when his mother died and that he was in "shock" at the reports. | |
Ms Ziman said Martin had bought a gun in 2014 before authorities realised he had a conviction from 1994. | |
She said police were investigating why he had not been forced to give it up. | |
What happened at Henry Pratt? | |
Police received a number of reports of an "active shooter" in an industrial park in Aurora at about 13:24 local time (19:24 GMT) on Friday. | |
Officers were immediately confronted by the suspect, who was armed with a Smith & Wesson handgun, and two of them were shot and wounded. | |
Three more officers were shot as they tried to rescue people from the building. None of the wounded officers are in a critical condition. | |
Officers located the suspect in the large complex after about 90 minutes and he was shot dead. | |
Chris Southwood of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police described the Aurora officers who attended and were shot as "courageous". | Chris Southwood of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police described the Aurora officers who attended and were shot as "courageous". |
"[These] officers and their colleagues did not hesitate to literally put their lives on the line today to stop further bloodshed," Mr Southwood. | |
How did witnesses describe the scene? | |
John Probst, who works at Henry Pratt, told broadcaster ABC7 that he saw the attacker, whom he recognised as a colleague. | |
He said the man was carrying a handgun equipped with a laser sight. | |
"One of the guys was up in the office [and] he said this person was shooting, and, he come running down and he was bleeding pretty bad... I heard more shots, and we just left the building," Mr Probst said. | "One of the guys was up in the office [and] he said this person was shooting, and, he come running down and he was bleeding pretty bad... I heard more shots, and we just left the building," Mr Probst said. |
An employee at nearby Capitol Printing told ABC7 that they hid in a closet when the shooting began. | |
Others in nearby buildings said they locked themselves in. | Others in nearby buildings said they locked themselves in. |
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth said: "This is a scary, sad day for all Illinoisans and Americans." | Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth said: "This is a scary, sad day for all Illinoisans and Americans." |
President Donald Trump posted a message on Twitter offering his condolences to the victims and their loved ones. | President Donald Trump posted a message on Twitter offering his condolences to the victims and their loved ones. |
The incident on Friday came a day after the first anniversary of a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 dead. |