AURORA: The gunman who killed five co-workers and wounded five police officers at an Illinois factory was a violent felon who had just been fired, and the plant manager and a young intern were among his victims, authorities said last night.
Gary Martin, 45, armed himself with a handgun, which he owned illegally, before reporting for a meeting at the Henry Pratt Company where his employment was terminated, Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman said.
He was later killed in a shootout with SWAT-team officers who stormed the sprawling plant 65km west of Chicago.
Martin had bought the gun he used, a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun with a laser sight, in 2014 before authorities realised he had a prior felony conviction, Ziman said.
“The fact remains that some disgruntled person walked in and had access to a firearm that he shouldn’t have had access to,” Ziman said at the news conference.
Investigators were seeking to determine why Martin was not forced to relinquish his gun before the shooting, Ziman said.
He should have been barred from owning a handgun because he had a 1995 conviction for aggravated assault in Mississippi.
He also had several prior arrests in Illinois, Ziman said, including for suspicion of domestic violence and criminal damage to property.
The bloodshed came a day after the first anniversary of the massacre of 17 people by a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.