(KNX 1070) — Police have apprehended a suspect who opened fire inside the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois, killing five people and wounding five police officers before he was fatally shot, police said.
Aurora, Illinois, Police Chief Kristen Ziman told a news conference that the gunman was 45-year-old Gary Martin and said he was believed to be an employee at the Henry Pratt Co. in the city about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Chicago. She told reporters that officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the 29,000-square-foot manufacturing warehouse.
Police said they did not know the gunman's motive.
May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger," Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at the news conference.
Hospitals reported treating at least seven patients from the shooting, though their conditions weren't released. Two of the officers were airlifted to trauma centers in Chicago, Ziman said. She said a sixth officer suffered a knee injury. Officials did not say the total number of people injured other than the police officers.
Dozens of first responder vehicles converged on the building housing the company in Aurora after police received multiple calls about an active shooter at 1:24 p.m. CST.
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.
Several ATF teams also responded to the shooting and were at the scene, according to the agency's Chicago spokeswoman, and the FBI said it also responded.
#BREAKING Active shooting situation reported at business in southwest suburban Aurora in Illinois. Watch #LIVE developments here: https://t.co/DkYyRQQHEf
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) February 15, 2019Henry Pratt employee John Probst told ABC Chicago he saw a co-worker carrying a pistol and heard several gunshots before running out the back of the building. "One of the guys was up in the office, he said this person was shooting, and, he comes running down and he was bleeding pretty bad, and the next thing you know he was walking back and forth, I heard more shots, and we just left the building," Probst said.
Henry Pratt Company has been in its Aurora for over 100 years and is one of the countries largest steel valve manufacturers. Holy Angels School is currently on "soft" lockdown for safety, ABC Chicago reported.
The White House said President Donald Trump was briefed on the shooting and monitoring the situation as he prepared to depart for a weekend trip to his home in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump tweeted his thanks to law enforcement officers in Aurora and offered his condolences to the victims and their families. "America is with you," he said.
Presence Mercy Medical Center was treating two patients and a third had been transferred by helicopter to another hospital, spokesman Matt Wakely said. Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital each had one patient from the shooting, spokeswoman Kate Eller said. Rush Copley Medical Center received three patients from the shooting and all are being treated for non-life threatening injuries, spokeswoman Courtney Satlak said.
Associated Press contributed to this story.
