Just after receiving notice of termination from his job on Friday, Illinois employee Gary Martin, went on to attack his work place, killing five colleagues and injuring five policemen.
At a late-night news conference, police said it was not yet clear whether the suspect, armed with a Smith & Wesson handgun, was carrying the weapon at the time of his dismissal or whether he “went to retrieve it” before opening fire.
The 45-year-old had worked at the Henry Pratt Company for 15 years before Friday’s violence unfolded at the firm.
The chief said investigators were still looking into whether the gunman had a prior criminal history, but public records show Martin was convicted in 1995 for aggravated assault in Mississippi.
The five policemen who were struck by gunfire and a sixth employee who was also wounded were being treated at local hospitals and were expected to survive, Ziman told reporters.
Detectives were still working to establish what relationship any of the victims – all men – had to the killer and whether any were his supervisors.