Solved case · 2019
The short answer
On February 15, 2019, a former employee shot and killed five workers at the Henry Pratt Company plant in Aurora, Illinois, before being fatally shot by responding police officers after a roughly 90-minute exchange of gunfire.
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Suggest coverage for 2019 Aurora, Illinois shootingOn February 15, 2019, a mass shooting occurred at the Henry Pratt Company manufacturing plant in Aurora, Illinois. The first reports reached authorities at 1:24 p.m., and the first officers arrived within four minutes. Witnesses reported seeing the shooter carrying a handgun fitted with a green laser sight. The incident prompted a multi-agency law enforcement response, including the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service, alongside local police. The shooter exchanged gunfire with law enforcement for approximately 90 minutes before officers reported at 2:59 p.m. that he had been shot and killed, struck a total of six times, including a shot to the forehead.
Five plant workers were killed: 32-year-old human resources manager Clayton Parks, 37-year-old plant manager Josh Pinkard, 46-year-old mold operator Russell Beyer, 54-year-old stock room attendant and forklift operator Vicente Juarez, and 21-year-old Trevor Wehner, a Northern Illinois University student who was on his first day as a human resources intern. A sixth plant employee was hospitalized with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Six police officers, ranging in age from 23 to 59, were also injured — four by gunshot, one by shrapnel, and one from a non-gunshot injury sustained while responding — none of which were life-threatening.
The perpetrator was identified as Gary Montez Martin, a 45-year-old former Henry Pratt employee born April 28, 1973, and raised in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He had been released from his position at the company roughly two weeks before the shooting according to relatives, though other reporting indicated he was being fired on the day of the shooting and that the attack began during the termination meeting. Martin had a 1995 felony aggravated assault conviction in Mississippi, for which he served two-and-a-half years in prison, making him legally barred from possessing a firearm in Illinois. He also had six prior arrests with the Aurora Police Department, including for domestic violence and violating a restraining order, plus a 2017 arrest in Oswego, Illinois for disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.
Despite his felony record, Martin was issued an Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification (FOID) card in 2014 and used it to purchase a gun from a licensed Aurora dealer that March. When he later applied for a concealed carry license, a fingerprint check revealed his felony conviction; the Illinois State Police rejected the application, cancelled his FOID card, and demanded he surrender the gun, which he did not do.
A search of Martin's home after the shooting initially found no evidence of advance planning, but further investigation revealed he had made threats before being fired, reportedly telling a coworker, "If I get fired, I'm going to kill every motherfucker in here" and "I am going to blow police up." The coworker who heard these remarks did not report them, saying Martin made such comments regularly. On May 1, 2019, it was reported that Martin had entered the workplace intending to open fire.
Public officials, including Senators Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin, Governor J.B. Pritzker, President Donald Trump, and Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin, responded with statements thanking law enforcement and offering condolences to victims' families.
Gary Montez Martin was convicted of felony aggravated assault in Mississippi and served two-and-a-half years in prison.
Martin purchased a handgun from a licensed dealer in Aurora using an Illinois FOID card issued despite his felony record.
Martin was arrested in Oswego, Illinois for disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.
Shooting began at the Henry Pratt Company plant in Aurora, Illinois; first reports came in at 1:24 p.m.
Police reported at 2:59 p.m. that the shooter had been shot and killed after a roughly 90-minute exchange of gunfire.
It was reported that Martin had planned the attack and entered the workplace intending to open fire.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
32-year-old human resources manager killed in the shooting.[3]
37-year-old plant manager killed in the shooting.[3]
46-year-old mold operator killed in the shooting.[3]
21-year-old Northern Illinois University student killed on his first day as a human resources intern.[3]
54-year-old stock room attendant and forklift operator killed in the shooting.[3]
Identified by Aurora police as the gunman who killed five coworkers at the Henry Pratt plant on February 15 2019; killed at the scene by responding police officers, so was never prosecuted.[3]
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UNSOLVEDListenAlongside Interstate 88, between Naperville and Warrenville, Illinois · 2000s
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Image recordEditorial useSourceUNSOLVEDListenPlainfield, Illinois, United States · 2000s
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Credit: N328KFCC BY-SA 4.0SourceSOLVEDListenPlainfield Township, Illinois, United States · 2020s
On October 14, 2023, six-year-old Palestinian-American Wadea al-Fayoume was fatally stabbed and his mother critically injured by their landlord, Joseph Czuba, in Plainfield Township, Illinois, in an attack authorities determined was motivated by anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Czuba was convicted on all charges in February 2025 and sentenced to 53 years in prison; he died in prison in July 2025.
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On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, identified by police as the gunman, shot and killed 49 people and wounded 58 others at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, during a Latin Night event, before being fatally shot by police after a three-hour standoff.
Credit: Canadaolympic989CC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenSandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut · 2012
On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot his mother at their Newtown, Connecticut home, then killed 20 children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School before killing himself as police arrived.
Credit: AlgrCC BY-SA 3.0SourceSOLVEDListenCentury 16 theater (now Century Aurora), Aurora, Colorado · 2012
On July 20, 2012, James Eagan Holmes opened fire during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at a Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. He was convicted in 2015 of 24 counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
