The man who fatally shot five people and wounded six more in Aurora, Illinois, on Friday was armed with a handgun he should not have been able to purchase, local authorities have revealed.
The shooter, identified as Gary Martin, had been arrested in Aurora six times for "traffic and domestic battery-related issues," said Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman, and he was convicted of aggravated assault in Mississippi in 1995. That felony conviction should have been detected by the background check Martin underwent to purchase his gun. It was not.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 19, 2025Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - free trade, judicial pushback, and more
-
5 educational cartoons about the Harvard pushbackCartoons Artists take on academic freedom, institutional resistance, and more
-
One-pan black chickpeas with baharat and orange recipeThe Week Recommends This one-pan dish offers bold flavours, low effort and minimum clean up
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglersspeed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers
-
Judge ends Eric Adams case, Trump leverageSpeed Read Federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams were dismissed, as requested by Trump's Justice Department
-
Texas arrests midwife on felony abortion chargesSpeed Read Maria Margarita Rojas and an employee at one of her clinics are the first to be criminally charged under Texas' near-total abortion ban
-
South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squadspeed read Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said
-
Mexico extradites 29 cartel figures amid US tariff threatSpeed Read The extradited suspects include Rafael Caro Quintero, long sought after killing a US narcotics agent
-
Leonard Peltier released from prisonSpeed Read The Native American activist convicted of killing two FBI agents had his life sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden
-
Ex-Sen. Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 yearsSpeed Read The former New Jersey senator was convicted on federal bribery and corruption charges last year
-
Police ID driver of exploded Cybertruck, can't see motiveSpeed Read An Army Green Beret detonated a homemade bomb in a Tesla Cybertruck in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
