Who Was Gary Montez Martin? What To Know About The Illinois Mass Shooter

The gunman who on Friday killed five co-workers and wounded six police officers in a shootout at a manufacturing plant in Aurora, Illinois, was a factory employee who had brought a Smith & Wesson handgun to a meeting where he was being fired.

The gunman was identified by police as 45-year-old Gary Montez Martin, who had worked for 15 years at the Henry Pratt Company, a manufacturing business located roughly 40 miles west of Chicago.

Aurora Police on Saturday said that Martin had been legally barred from owning a gun because of a 1995 felony conviction aggravated assault in Mississippi. He had also previously been arrested six times by local police in what was described as "traffic and domestic battery-related issues" and for violating an order of protection, according to reports.

According to Aurora police chief Kristen Ziman, Martin's last arrest was in 2017 in Oswego, Illinois, for disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.

There was a laser sight on his handgun and he had several magazines of ammunition, according to Ziman.

Martin mother told the Chicago Sun-Times that "he was way too stressed out."

Mary McKnight, Martin's next door neighbor at an Aurora apartment building, described Martin as "very friendly," according to reports.

"He said hi to a lot of people who came and went, I'm kind of shocked I guess," McKnight said. "I'm sad and shocked, and you kind of never know."

Neighbors said Martin flew drones and worked on his car.

"He seemed perfectly fine," neighbor Jennifer White told CBS 2 Chicago. "He always kept to himself."

A neighbor also said that Martin "would wave at us or stare at us — kind of creepy.”

Martin's LinkedIn profile identifies him as a large valve assembler at Henry Pratt.