To Our Mueller Family:
It is with profound sadness that I am writing to you regarding the tragic shooting that took place at our Henry Pratt facility in Aurora, Illinois. Our hearts are with the victims and their loved ones, the first responders, the Aurora community and the entire Mueller family during this extremely difficult time.
I am on-site in Aurora, along with several members of the Mueller leadership team, to be with our colleagues. Our focus right now is on the health and well-being of our colleagues and the families of the victims. We are committed to providing them any and all support.
As we continue to work closely with law enforcement, I want to share with you what we know:
- Tragically, we lost five members of our Mueller family:
- Josh Pinkard joined Mueller 13 years ago in the Albertville, AL facility and relocated to Aurora in the Spring of 2018 to lead the team as Plant Manager.
- Russ Beyer was an employee of Henry Pratt for more than 20 years, during which time he held most of the different jobs in the plant. He served as Union Chairman.
- Vicente Juarez joined Henry Pratt in 2006. He was a member of the shipping and warehouse team in Aurora, and had held several other jobs previously in the warehouse.
- Clay Parks joined the Henry Pratt team in November 2018 as HR Manager responsible for Aurora, Hammond, and Denver.
- Trevor Wehner joined the Mueller team as an HR Intern on Friday. He was a student at Northern Illinois University with an expected graduation date in May 2019.
- One more of our colleagues was injured and is receiving treatment at a local hospital. We are maintaining his wishes for privacy and hoping for a speedy recovery.
- The shooter, Gary Martin, was an employee at the facility. He was shot by law enforcement on the scene and died.
- Six police officers were injured as they responded to the scene. Some are still being treated at nearby hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries. Our thoughts – and our thanks – are with them, too.
- Mueller is pulling together a wide range of resources to help the families of the victims and our teammates. We will be providing additional details for how you can take advantage of these resources at or near your facility in the near future.
- Law enforcement’s investigation remains ongoing, and we have pledged to continue to work closely with all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies involved. We are grateful to them for their swift and tremendous response efforts.
As you know, there has been and will continue to be a lot of news media attention. Out of respect for the families of the victims, in the event you receive an inquiry or speak with the media, please immediately share that with Yolanda Kokayi (ykokayi@muellerwp.com or 404-984-9281).
I know that all of us are impacted by this tragedy. As we grieve together, we will provide information in the coming days on the counseling services and support we will be offering to the families of the victims and to all of our colleagues.
We know many of you have questions, and we will continue to provide updates as we learn more. In the meantime, please know there are employee assistance resources available to you at 1-800-388-6449.
I encourage us all to use this time to support one another and come together as one Mueller family.
Scott