The Latest: Police say workplace gunman was being fired

The Associated Press
The Associated Press

AURORA, Ill. (AP) — The Latest on a shooting at a business in Aurora, Illinois (all times local):

9:50 p.m.

Police say the gunman who killed five people at a suburban Chicago business was a 15-year employee who was being fired.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman says 45-year-old Gary Martin “was being terminated” Friday afternoon before he opened fire at the Henry Pratt Co. warehouse in Aurora.

Five police officers also were shot and wounded before Martin was located in the warehouse. Ziman says Martin was shot and killed.

Aurora is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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7:10 p.m.

Police have taped off a suburban Chicago apartment unit where the suspect in the fatal shootings of five people in an industrial warehouse was believed to have lived.

Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman identified the gunman Friday as 45-year-old Gary Martin. She said he was believed to have been an employee at Henry Pratt Co. Ziman said Martin killed five people before he was fatally shot by police.

Neighbors gathered on sidewalks near Martin’s unit talking and wondering among themselves if they knew or had come in contact with the shooter. The multi-unit complex is a mix of apartments and condos.

Mary McKnight stepped out of her car with a cherry cheesecake purchased for her son’s birthday, to a flurry of police cars, officers and media trucks. “This is a strange thing to come home to,” she said.

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6:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump says law enforcement officers did a “great job” handling an active shooter situation at an industrial park in suburban Chicago.

Police say the gunman killed five people and shot and wounded five police officers Friday afternoon at the Henry Pratt Co. plant in Aurora.

Authorities then shot and killed the suspect, who has been identified as 45-year-old Gary Martin.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman says a sixth officer was wounded but not by gunfire.

Trump sent a tweet as news of the casualties was unfolding, sending his “Heartfelt condolences to all of the victims and their families,” adding “America is with you!”

Trump is spending the weekend at his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

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6 p.m.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has commended the “amazing” work of law enforcement officers who responded to the scene of a shooting in suburban Chicago that left five people dead and five police officers shot and wounded.

Pritzker told reporters after the shooting in Aurora Friday afternoon that the officers “rushed toward danger, and in doing that … saved countless lives.”

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Zimen said a sixth officer was hurt but not hit by gunfire.

Pritzker extended his sympathies to the victims’ families, saying there is nothing he can say to reduce their pain, but that they should “know our state grieves with you”

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5:50 p.m.

Police have identified the gunman who killed five people at a suburban Chicago business and shot and wounded five police officers.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman told reporters that 45-year-old Gary Martin also shot and wounded five police officers in the attack Friday afternoon at the Henry Pratt Co. warehouse in Aurora.

Ziman says Martin was shot and killed.

Workers at the plant earlier said Martin was employed there.

Aurora is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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5:45 p.m.

The chief of police says five people were killed and five officers were wounded in a shooting at a business in suburban Chicago.

Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman told reporters that the officers were fired upon Friday afternoon as soon as they entered the Henry Pratt Co. building in Aurora.

Ziman says the gunman was also killed.

Aurora is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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4 p.m.

A spokesman for the coroner’s office says at least one person is dead following a shooting at a business in suburban Chicago.

Kane County coroner’s office spokesman Chris Nelson says at least one person was killed in the attack Friday afternoon at the Henry Pratt Co. building in Aurora.

City spokesman Clayton Muhammad earlier told ABC7 that the suspect had been “neutralized.” He did not elaborate.

Muhammad also says four officers were wounded in the shooting and are in stable condition.

Muhammad did not say the officers had been shot or if anyone else was hurt.

Aurora is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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3:50 p.m.

A city spokesman says four police officers were wounded in a shooting at a business in suburban Chicago.

Clayton Muhammad, the director of communications for the city of Aurora, told ABC7 that the officers are in stable condition following the shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. building Friday afternoon.

Muhammad did not say the officers were shot or if anyone else was hurt.

Authorities say a suspect has been apprehended.

Aurora is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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3:40 p.m.

The White House says President Donald Trump has been briefed on a shooting in Illinois and is monitoring the situation.

Spokesman Sarah Sanders issued her statement Friday as Trump prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Authorities in Aurora, Illinois, have been monitoring an active shooter situation at an industrial park. City officials report that a shooter has been apprehended.

Police have not said if anyone has been shot. Aurora is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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3:17 p.m.

A suburban Chicago school district is keeping all of its students in their classrooms as police investigate an active shooter situation at an industrial park in Aurora.

West Aurora School District 129 says on its webpage that officials Friday afternoon are “holding all district students in place for their safety.”

The district also says that per directions from the county sheriff, the district has been advised to go into soft lockdown situation and that “teaching will continue with reduced movement.”

A building housing that houses the Henry Pratt Co. has been swarmed with police and paramedics after reports of the shooting.

It isn’t clear if anyone has been wounded in the shooting.

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3:15 p.m.

City officials in Aurora, Illinois, say a shooter has been apprehended.

The city sent a tweet Friday afternoon saying there was an active shooter in an industrial park and that police were on the scene.

They say the shooter is in custody and the area still is on lockdown.

Live TV reports show dozens of first responder vehicles outside a building housing the Henry Pratt Co.

Police have not said if anyone has been shot.

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3:05 p.m.

An employee at the Illinois company where a shooting has been reported says the gunman is a co-worker.

John Probst told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door of the Henry Pratt Co. building in Aurora as the shooting unfolded Friday afternoon.

Probst says he recognized the gunman and that he works at the company. He said the gunman has “a pistol with a laser.”

Probst says he wasn’t hurt but that another colleague was “bleeding pretty bad.”

Aurora is 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago.

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14:45 p.m.

City officials say there is an active shooter situation at an industrial park in Aurora, Illinois.

The city sent a tweet Friday afternoon saying police are on the scene.

Live TV reports show dozens of first responder vehicles outside a building housing the Henry Pratt Co.

Police have not said if anyone has been shot.

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