AURORA - The Aurora Historical Society is honoring five people who were killed three years ago in a mass shooting at Henry Pratt Co. with a memorial art exhibit which runs through Feb. 26 at the David L. Pierce Art and History Center in Aurora.

The exhibit opened Friday on the second floor within the “Aurora Story” section of the history center, 20 E. Downer Place, Aurora. Visitors are welcome anytime the historical society is open: Wednesday, Thursday or Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free. Masks are required.

The exhibit features a timeline of news coverage from the tragic day, and white crosses for each of the victims: Trevor Wehner, 21, of Sheridan, Clayton Parks, 32, of Elgin, Russell Beyer, 47, of Yorkville, Vicente Juarez, 54, and Josh Pinkard, 37, of Oswego.

“I look at this and it still knocks your eyeballs back,” said Mary Clark Ormond, president of the board of trustees of the Aurora Historical Society.

Wehner, a Northern Illinois University senior, was killed on the first day of his internship at the Henry Pratt plant, a post-college gig he had landed with help from Parks, a 2014 NIU grad. Parks was the plant’s HR manager and had taken Wehner into a meeting to let 45-year-old Gary Montez Martin know he was being terminated. Martin opened fire in the room after after he was told about the termination, about 1:20 p.m. Feb. 15, 2019. He later died in a shootout with police.

The five crosses on display at the exhibit built by the late Aurora-based carpenter Greg Zanis, who died from cancer in May 2020. The crosses were displayed at the factory after the mass shooting in 2019 also.

During Friday’s opening, organizers said they expect traffic to pick up throughout the month.

“From time to time we do hear from family members,” Clark Ormand said. “Every year I send out an email to the families, if you want to come privately, just let me know, we will be here.”