Neighbors reveal Aurora gunman who killed five co-workers was creepy loner

The gunman who killed five at a warehouse in Aurora, Illinois before dying in a police standoff has been described as a troubled loner by neighbors and family members.

Shooter Gary Martin, 45, was terminated from his job of 15 years at the Henry Pratt Co. industrial valve manufacturing plant on Friday, shortly before he opened fire, police said.

'He kept to himself a lot, and he was always on his porch,' Jeremy Sherman, a neighbor of Martin's at Acorn Woods Condominium Complex, about 40 miles west of Chicago, told Newsweek's Daily Beast website. 

'Even when he wasn't doing nothing, he'd be out there sitting. I'd be out there, sometimes one, two in the morning and he'd be there just sitting all in the dark, [in the] shadows.' 

Sherman described his neighbor as a loner with whom he sometimes chatted and smoked marijuana, without ever learning anything about Martin's work life or his past. 

'I'd say something to him sometimes and he'd be like 'rorh rorh rorh,' mumbling under his breath. I don't know if he heard me or…I don't know. He seemed a little off the wall, a little off his rocker, you know? Not like mentally crazy, but something about him was just a little bit different,' Sherman said. 

Sherman said he never saw Martin with weapons - or with guests. 

He said that Martin could often be found outside playing with his remote-control toy cars and drones.

Another neighbor, Jennifer White, said that she often saw Martin playing with his drones near the apartment complex. 

'He would wave at us or stare at us. Kinda creepy,' White told WBBM-TV. 'He always kept to himself.'

Martin's mother told the Chicago Sun-Times that her son had been 'way too stressed out' recently.

Public records showed Martin had a criminal past, a 1995 conviction for aggravated assault for stabbing a woman in Marshall County, Mississippi.

Aurora Police Chief Ziman said authorities did not know if he had legally purchased the gun he used, a Smith & Wesson revolver. Convicted felons are barred from buying firearms.

In Illinois, Martin's record included minor offenses, including illegally altering car speakers and squealing his tires, the Sun-Times reported. He was also sued by a landlord. 

Police say Martin opened fire inside the warehouse just before 1.30pm local time Friday, fatally shooting five people and injuring multiple others. 

A fellow employee and eyewitness John Probst told CNN that Martin fired his pistol with a green laser sight at fellow workers. 'What I saw was the guy running down the aisle with a pistol with a laser on it,' he said. 

Police responding to reports of the shooting were met with a hail of gunfire in which five officers were shot and wounded.  

Martin then hid inside the 29,000-square-foot warehouse. When police finally located him 90 minutes later, a gun battle ensued and Martin was shot dead.  

Chief Ziman revealed what details investigators have been able to confirm at two press conferences on Friday evening. Another press conference is scheduled for 10am CST Saturday.

Ziman said it is unclear whether Martin's attack was premeditated, but that initial reports suggest he may have been motivated by his firing.  

The gunman's sister Tameka Martin told https://twitter.com/pksmid/status/1096543810467844097 that Martin had worked at Henry Pratt Co. for about 20 years before losing his job about two weeks ago. 

His mother, Felicia Martin, told WGN: 'My heart goes out to all the victims and their families.' 

It is unclear how many civilians were wounded in the shooting, but early reports indicated that a dozen had been shot. None of the victims, all of whom were said to be male, have been identified pending notification of family members.