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Shock as gunman kills 5 at Aurora plant: ‘I’ve seen it on the news happening someplace else. But never here in Aurora.’

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A 15-year veteran of a manufacturing business who was being terminated opened fire inside the company’s Aurora plant Friday afternoon, killing five people and wounding five police officers who responded to the scene, police said.

Authorities said the gunman, 45-year-old Gary Martin, of Aurora, was also killed in the shootout at Henry Pratt Co., a manufacturer of industrial valves. The names of the victims were not released Friday evening. A sixth officer suffered a knee injury. It wasn’t clear how he was injured, but he wasn’t shot.

Aurora police Chief Kristen Ziman said the department received multiple calls at 1:24 p.m. about a shooting at the company, located at 641 Archer Ave. on the city’s west side. Officers arrived four minutes later and immediately drew fire, she said — two of the first four officers entering the building were shot. Ziman said the shooter was armed with a Smith & Wesson handgun and fired shots from a window as authorities approached.

More officers arrived, and three more were shot, she said. As some tried to care for gunshot victims, she said, others tracked Martin through the 29,000-square-foot building.

“When they located the offender, they engaged in gunfire with him, ultimately killing him,” Ziman said at a news conference.

Police said two of the wounded officers were airlifted to Chicago-area trauma hospitals. Local hospitals said they were caring for at least 10 patients hurt in the shooting. More than 200 employees work at the plant, but Ziman could not say how many were there Friday. The police chief added that the shooter acted alone, and hundreds of law enforcement officers from various agencies helped at the scene.

“Everybody runs towards the gunfire,” she said. “Again, that was the whole point, to try and keep our citizens safe.”

Local businessman Bob Gonzalez was having a conversation with a client Friday afternoon when he saw a few police cars fly past, bound for the nearby manufacturing plant. He thought at first they were responding to a fire, but the cars just kept coming — Aurora police, state police, even a vehicle from the Department of Homeland Security.

He soon realized the emergency was a mass shooting in an industrial park a few hundred feet from his office.

“I’ve seen it on the news happening someplace else, but never here in Aurora,” said Gonzalez, an insurance agent who also serves as the board president of West Aurora School District 129.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker, standing with Aurora officials at the news conference, said there was no way for him to prepare for this kind of event, the first tragedy of his administration.

“There are no words for the kind of evil that robs our neighbors of their hopes, their dreams and their futures,” he said. “There are no words to express our gratitude to the officers who were wounded in the line of duty as they responded to the gravest kind of danger they could face.”

President Donald Trump sent a tweet as news of the incident was unfolding, sending his “Heartfelt condolences to all of the victims and their families,” adding “America is with you!” He said law enforcement officers did a “great job.”

Tiffany Probst, whose father works in the building, told the Tribune she first heard about the shooting when her friend alerted her to a Facebook post. She jumped in her car and drove toward the scene, but couldn’t get close.

Her father doesn’t carry a cellphone, so she had no way to reach him. She sat in her car and watched the police response on her phone.

“We’re sitting there staring at the screen and watching SWAT about to go in,” she said.

Finally, after about 15 minutes, her father managed to find someone with a phone and called her, and relief replaced her growing panic.

As the investigation continued, a Kane County sheriff’s office bomb squad vehicle could be seen outside what was believed to be Martin’s apartment building in the 1900 block of Selmarten Road.

Neighbor Tammy Kurtz said she’s lived down the hall from Martin for years, describing him as a quiet, friendly guy who was kind to her 8-year-old grandson.

“I’m in shock,” she said. “This guy was very nice. I can’t believe that this happened.”

Kurtz added that she had heard about the shooting at work before the gunman was identified, and was surprised to return home in the evening to see caution tape lining the perimeter of her building and a helicopter hovering overhead. She was able to enter her unit and said a law enforcement officer in a camouflage uniform knocked on her door and told her she was safe, but she should be prepared to evacuate soon.

“He said I’m not in any danger,” she said, but added that authorities on the premises didn’t give her any more information.

People at the home of a relative of the Martin family in the western suburbs were visibly emotional and upset Friday evening. They asked for privacy to mourn.

“We are mourning for the victims, and we are mourning for our families,” said one woman, who declined to be identified but spoke on behalf of the family. “We need peace. … We’re worried about the other people who were killed and hurt. Our family has to mourn too because we lost one too.”

Officials with Henry Pratt could not immediately be reached for comment. The company began in 1901 as a metal fabricating shop, according to the company’s website. Its administrative headquarters are located in Aurora, and the company also has manufacturing plants in Aurora, Washington and Indiana.

The company is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Mueller Water Co.

“Mueller Water Products is shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific tragedy that occurred today at our Henry Pratt facility in Aurora, Illinois,” the company said in a written statement. “Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones, the first responders, the Aurora community and the entire Mueller family during this extremely difficult time.”

Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen attended the news conference with Pritzker and other officials to show his support and pray for the police officers, sheriff’s deputies, paramedics and civilians involved in the shooting.

“I express my sympathy for all the employees and family who will go through the worst suffering any of us could imagine,” Lauzen said.

Lauzen said he grew up a few blocks away from Henry Pratt Co. and still lives nearby with his wife, Sarah.

“This is more than just Kane County, this is home,” Lauzen said.

Contributing: Megan Jones, Steve Lord, Sarah Freishtat and Denise Crosby of the Aurora Beacon-News; Rafael Guerrero of the Courier-News; Erin Hegarty and Suzanne Baker of the Naperville Sun; John Keilman, Angie Leventis Lourgos, Stacy St. Clair, Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas, Madeline Buckley, Dawn Rhodes and Kate Thayer of the Chicago Tribune; freelance reporters Linda Girardi and Clifford Ward; and The Associated Press.