Aurora shooting: Gunman who killed five at factory was 'disgruntled employee' being fired from his job

An employee of 15 years who was being fired from a suburban Chicago manufacturing company killed five co-workers and wounded five police officers, authorities have said.

Gary Martin shot at officers as soon as they entered the Henry Pratt company building in Aurora, 40 miles west of Chicago. Police chief Kristen Ziman said that Martin, 45, was also killed.

Ms Ziman said that in addition to the five employees killed at around 1.30pm local time on Friday, a sixth worker was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

A sixth officer suffered a knee injury while police were searching the 29,000-square-foot warehouse for the gunman.

Martin was cornered by police about an hour after the shooting began and was fatally shot in a stand-off.

Ms Ziman said officers arrived within four minutes of receiving reports of the shooting and were fired upon as soon as they entered the building.

Police said they did not know the gunman's motive but Ms Ziman added: “We can only surmise with a gentleman that's being terminated that this was something he intended to do.”

The gunman's sister Tameka Martin told WBEZ that Martin had worked at Henry Pratt Co. for around 20 years before losing his job about two weeks ago.

Felicia Martin, his mother, told WGN: “My heart goes out to all the victims and their families.”

John Probst, an employee at the Henry Pratt Co., told ABC7 that he ran out of the back door as the shooting unfolded on Friday afternoon.

"What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it," he said. Mr Probst said he was not hurt but that another colleague was "bleeding pretty bad".

Local resident Mary McKnight stepped out of her car at home to find a flurry of police cars and officers.

"This is a strange thing to come home to," she said. Ms McKnight had just learned that the shooter lived close by and his unit in the complex had been taped off by police.

"In Aurora, period, we'd never thought anything like this would happen," Christy Fonseca, another local resident, said near the Henry Pratt building, which makes valves for industrial purposes.

Speaking after the shooting, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker said at a news conference: "May God bless the brave law enforcement officers who continue to run toward danger.”

"It's a shame that mass shootings such as this have become commonplace in our country,” Aurora mayor Richard Irvin added. “It's a shame that a cold and heartless offender would be so selfish as to think he has the right to take an innocent life.”

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.

Mr 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.