5 Dead in Aurora, IL Mass Shooting

5 Dead in Aurora, IL Mass Shooting

A gunman killed five people and wounded several more in a workplace violence situation on Friday in Aurora, Illinois. Here's what we know.

  • By Sydny Shepard
  • Feb 19, 2019

An HR meeting turned deadly when a gunman shot and killed five Henry Pratt manufacturing plant employees after learning that he'd been fired Friday in Aurora, Ill.

The gunman shot and killed three people who had called him into a meeting and then continued shooting and killing two more employees and injuring one before being confronted with police. Six police officers were injured in the incident, but are all expected to survive.

Police shot and killed the gunman, who open fired on them, ending the active shooter situation, which triggers a heavy police response in Aurora, just 40 miles from Chicago. 

After identifying the suspect, police told reporters that the suspect should not have had a gun, as he had previously been arrested six times and had a felony conviction in Mississippi. It is believed that the suspect knew that it was possible that he would be getting fired, and brought the gun into the HR meeting with him, according to Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman. Chief Ziman said the shooting happened right after he was fired.

Chief Ziman said the .40-caliber handgun had been purchased in 2014, weeks after he was issued a Firearm Owner's Identification Card. Days after he got the weapon, he applied for a concealed carry permit, but during the finger printing process, it was discovered that he had a felony conviction for aggravated assault. Once a felony of this caliber is found, the offender's conceal and carry permit should be reject and his FIOD card should be revoked. Chief Ziman said she believes no one followed up with the suspect's firearm.

"Absolutely, he was not supposed to be in possession of a firearm," Chief Ziman said. 

He five victims of the shooting at Clayton Park, human resources manager, Trevor Wehner, Northern Illinois University student and human resources intern, Russell Beyer, mold operator, Vincent Juarez, stock room attendant and fork lift operator, and Josh Pinkard, plant manager.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • Cloud Adoption Gives Way to Hybrid Deployments

    Cloud adoption is growing at an astonishing rate, with Gartner forecasting that worldwide public cloud end-user spending will approach $600 billion by the end of this year—an increase of more than 21% over 2022. McKinsey believes that number could eclipse $1 trillion by the end of the decade, further underscoring the industry’s exponential growth. Read Now

  • AI on the Edge

    Discussions about the merits (or misgivings) around AI (artificial intelligence) are everywhere. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find an article or product literature without mention of it in our industry. If you’re not using AI by now in some capacity, congratulations may be in order since most people are using it in some form daily even without realizing it. Read Now

  • Securing the Future

    In an increasingly turbulent world, chief security officers (CSOs) are facing a multitude of challenges that threaten the stability of businesses worldwide. Read Now

    • Guard Services

  • Security Entrances Move to Center Stage

    Most organizations want to show a friendly face to the public. In today’s world, however, the need to keep people safe and secure has become a prime directive when designing and building facilities of all kinds. Fortunately, there is no need to construct a fortress-like entry that provides that high level of security. Today’s secured entry solutions make it possible to create a welcoming, attractive look and feel at the entry without compromising security. It is for this reason that security entrances have moved to the mainstream. Read Now

Most   Popular

Featured Cybersecurity

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis. 3