Authorities provide detailed account of Warehouse shooting

AURORA, Ill. — Hundreds of officers swarmed the scene Friday after receiving reports that there was a man shooting people at a suburban Chicago manufacturing warehouse.

Authorities on Saturday provided a detailed account of the harrowing events that unfolded Friday afternoon at the Henry Pratt Co., when they say 45-year-old Gary Martin began shooting his colleagues after finding out that he was being fired.

Aurora police Deputy Chief Keefe Jackson said Saturday that eight tactical teams responded after the initial call was received at 1:24 p.m. All told, he said, roughly 35 agencies, consisting of 200 to 300 federal and local officers, would flood the scene. Jackson said there were eight “contact teams” of six to eight officers used to search for Martin, who hid after shooting and wounding five of the first officers to arrive at the 29,000-square-foot facility. There also were 13 rescue task force teams, eight officers and three medics from the fire department, the deputy chief said.

Here is a timeline provided by the Aurora, Illinois Police Department (all times CDT):

1:24 p.m. – The first 911 call is received about an active shooter and officers are sent to the scene. A second call is received and the caller tells dispatchers “shots fired, employee being terminated.”

1:25 p.m. – Two shots are fired inside the warehouse.

1:25 p.m. – Shots are heard over the phone.

1:26 p.m. – More shots are fired.

1:27 p.m. – More shots are fired.

1:28 p.m. – The first officers respond to the scene. A determination is made to activate the Aurora Police Department’s special response team.

1:30 p.m. – The first report of an officer being shot is made.

1:31 p.m. – Police are told there are four dead victims upstairs and a dead victim in a bay area.

1:32 p.m. – More shots are fired. A second officer reports being shot.

1:33 p.m. – More shots are reported as being fired by police officers.

1:34 p.m. – A third officer reports being shot.

1:35 p.m. – A fourth officer reports being shot.

1:37 to 1:52 p.m. – Personnel respond to remove wounded officers from the scene.

1:52 to 2:57 p.m. – Teams search the warehouse but don’t encounter Martin.

2:58 p.m. – Officers indicate that they have found Martin.

2:59 p.m. – Martin exchanges gunfire with officers and is killed.

The Associated Press