Vicente Juarez, 54, was killed on February 15, 2019, in a mass shooting at the Henry Pratt Company in Aurora, Illinois. Juarez had worked there 13 years as a forklift operator and was one of five employees shot when a former worker opened fire after being terminated.

The shooter, identified as Gary Martin, had a prior felony aggravated assault conviction from 1995. Despite that record, Martin obtained a firearm owner’s identification card and purchased the weapon used in the attack; the family later pointed to a failure in the background check system. Police officers engaged Martin and killed him in a gun battle at the scene.

Juarez’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Illinois State Police alleging the firearm license should not have been issued. He is remembered by relatives as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather who loved working on cars. Does anyone have memories of Vicente or information about security and background-check failures at Henry Pratt?