Aurora police say they can't find proof they knew about shooter's revoked FOID
Aurora police have not found any evidence they were notified by Illinois State Police in 2014 that the Firearm Owner's Identification card of the man who killed five of his co-workers Friday had been revoked.
Sgt. Bill Rowley, the department's public information officer, said that does not necessarily mean, however, they did not get one.
"We have no record of a receipt" of the notification, which in 2014 would have been sent through a statewide electronic notification system. Now, such notifications are sent by letter.
And receiving such notification doesn't require police to obtain a search warrant for the card-owner's property to look for a gun, he said. Having a FOID card does not necessarily mean a person owns a gun.
Rowley spoke at the end of a news conference Tuesday at city hall, after Mayor Richard Irvin, Police Chief Kristen Ziman and others spoke about the response to the mass shooting at the Henry Pratt Co. Ziman had left a few minutes earlier to attend a meeting elsewhere.
"The City of Lights (Aurora's official motto) went dark for a period of time, but it will shine again," Irvin said.
Irvin said he has met the families of the five Pratt workers who were killed and will attend all of their visitations.
Fire Chief Gary Krienitz said every firefighter on duty responded to the shooting scene and all off-duty personnel were called in as reserves. At least 11 other fire departments and districts dispatched aid.
Aurora firefighter/paramedics paired with police officers on 13 response task force teams, ready to retrieve potential victims.
"The sole mission was to save lives and get victims out of the buildings," Krienitz said.
Ziman said people talk about rising to meet a challenge, but it's more accurate to say officers "fall to the level of the training you have."
"We play like we practice," she said. "Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do."
She said the most severely injured officer, who had been shot in an "upper extremity," begged not to be removed from the building, saying, "Don't take me out. I want to keep going in."
Ziman said the department's officers underwent a stress debriefing Tuesday.
Ziman, Krienitz and Irvin gave special thanks to Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall and Naperville Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis. Naperville and Aurora police have recently trained together on how to respond to an active-shooter call.
The mayor and Irvin also thanked Luigi's Pizza and Fun Center. Police used the large restaurant and arcade on Prairie Street, about a block away from the Pratt site, as a command center.
Three children's birthday parties were canceled as a result and Ziman said the police department hopes to reschedule those parties.
Aurora and Naperville police are not releasing the names of the three officers who fired on the shooter during the final exchange of gunfire. All are on paid administrative leave while the Kane County Officer-Involved Shooting task force investigates.