* The Henry Pratt Company mass shooting was three years ago today. This story is from earlier in the month…

In an upcoming exhibit, the Aurora Historical Society will pay tribute to the five lives lost in the 2019 shooting that took place at the Henry Pratt Company manufacturing and warehouse building in Aurora. Opening Feb. 4, the month-long event will mark the third anniversary of the tragic shooting.

On Feb. 15, 2019, Pratt employees Russell Beyer, Vicente Juarez, Clayton Parks, Josh Pinkard and Trevor Wehner lost their lives after a fellow employee shot at them. Five Aurora police officers and another Pratt employee were injured before the 45-year-old shooter was fatally shot by police, Patch previously reported.

Five white crosses that stood in memory of the victims at the factory’s gates will be the centerpiece of the Aurora Historical Society’s exhibit, titled “We Remember February 15,” which will run through Feb. 26. The memorial will be installed on the second floor of the Pierce Art and History Center, at 20 E. Downer Place in downtown Aurora, within the “Aurora Story” exhibit.

Late Aurora carpenter Greg Zanis built the crosses and donated them to the historical society. Along with the crosses, memorabilia left by mourners on the sidewalk outside the factory will also be displayed, according to a news release.

* Daily Herald…

Axel Parks was just 8 months old when his father was taken from him, shot to death at the Henry Pratt Co. in Aurora three years ago today.

The boy has no memories of his dad. But he is learning about the kind of man Clayton Parks was.

“We mention Clay every day,” said Abby Parks, Clayton’s widow. “(Axel) asks where his father is.”

Five workers and the gunman died during the mass shooting on Feb. 15, 2019. Another worker and five Aurora police officers were injured.

Parks, of Elgin, was the human resources manager for the facility. He was in a conference room with union chairman Russell Beyer of Yorkville; Josh Pinkard, the plant manager, of Oswego; Timothy Williams, union steward, of Aurora; and Trevor Wehner of Sheridan, who was working his first day as an intern for the human resources department. They were having a disciplinary meeting with a fellow employee when the man pulled out a handgun and started firing.

The gunman then left the room and shot co-worker Vicente Juarez. Next he fired at Aurora police officers as they pursued him throughout the building; he hit five of them.

Eventually, a Naperville police officer, part of a massive mutual-aid response, shot and killed the man.

* The horrific event was the catalyst for these upgrades and reforms highlighted by the ISP today…

Today marks the three-year anniversary of the 2019 fatal shooting at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois. Since this mass shooting, the Illinois State Police (ISP) continues to advance the cause of greater safety from gun violence on numerous fronts.

ISP continues to close historical gaps in firearms-prohibiting records review and analysis. This includes nearly eliminating the long-standing backlog of potential firearms-prohibiting information from state and federal databases that could correlate with persons attempting to obtain firearms including criminal records and mental health records. Unanalyzed records have been reduced by 97% with ISP reviewing over 140,000 records in two years since 2019. In 2021 alone, the ISP thwarted over 25,000 attempts to illegally obtain a firearm – a record number.

The ISP also revoked over 70% more FOID cards in 2021 than 2019, with 17,457 cards revoked in 2021. With the signing of bi-partisan gun safety legislation (PA 102-0237) by Governor Pritzker, submission of fingerprints has been incentivized which will enhance the precision of prohibiting records analysis and further strengthen the ability of law enforcement to identify prohibited persons.

“No one in the Illinois State Police will ever forget the souls lost and the scars left behind from the horrible events of that day,” said ISP Director Brendan F. Kelly. “Stable budgeting, increased hiring of personnel, improved technology, changes in the law, and the heartfelt commitment of the ISP have led to these steady advances, but we will never let up. All who know the pain of that day deserve nothing less.”

The ISP is also expanding its work to enforce firearms safety laws. There are 779 Illinois law enforcement agencies now using the ISP firearms web portal that includes expanded firearms details about prohibited persons, including recent purchase patterns and reason for revocation. This allows state and local law enforcement to identify and prioritize the most high-risk threats. ISP firearms enforcement details have increased 82% since first being started by the ISP in 2019. Through these efforts, the number of firearms seized by ISP has increased every year since 2019. Additionally, the number of citizens previously prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition by the FOID Act that are now in compliance with firearms reporting requirements are at an all-time high, nearly double 2019, reaching 5,364 in 2021. In 2021 alone, 595 revoked FOID card holders were brought into compliance with reporting requirements. PA 102-0237 will further provide an estimated additional $1.7 to $2 Million annually to state and local law enforcement specifically for firearms enforcement.

The ISP has increased the analysis of guns used in crimes and helped strengthen laws that prevent the transfer of crime guns. Over 8600 National Integrated Ballistics Information Network submissions were completed by in 2021 (digital images of spent bullets and shell casings from crime scenes), which was double the number of submissions from the previous two years. Under PA 102-0237, the serial numbers of all firearms reported stolen will be provided on a publicly facing database. Under PA 102-0237, universal background checks will also be required by law in 2024 to include private transfers, not just sales at firearms dealers.

The town’s mayor is, of course, now running for governor as a Republican and, as the Richard Irvin campaign recently disclosed, an attorney at Irvin’s law firm defended the eventual shooter a decade earlier. Irvin claims no knowledge of the client.