Pritzker Leaves Out Aurora Shooting: 'It Hasn't Happened Here'

AURORA, IL — Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker raised some eyebrows Monday in Chicago when he was asked to comment about mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and failed to mention the Feb. 15 shooting that claimed five lives in Aurora.

Pritzker's response was "Thank God that it hasn't happened here," the Associated Press reported.

Jordan Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for Pritzker, offered up an explanation for the apparent gaffe, which also left out the shooting at Northern Illinois University on Feb. 14, 2008. Abudayyeh suggested that the governor specifically meant that there have been no shootings by white nationalists in Illinois.

The weekend's shootings, which took place at a bar in Dayton, Ohio, and a WalMart in El Paso, Texas, claimed 31 lives. A member of the"What's Happening In Aurora, IL?" Facebook group shared a photo of Aurora resident Greg Zanis as he headed down the highway to deliver handmade crosses for some of those killed in the deadly shootings, tragedies that for many Aurora residents, hit too close to home.

Pritzker also said that after the weekend's mass shootings, he spoke with his staff about gun control measures that could be put in place in Illinois.

"Just over the weekend I huddled with my senior staff to talk about what it is we can do in the state of Illinois," Pritzker said, according to the State Journal-Register. "There are a number of things," he added, but did not elaborate on what those measures might be, saying the most effective gun control measures would need to come from Congress.