1 dead, 5 wounded in Orlando office shooting; suspect in custody

Friday, November 6, 2009




TOOLBOX
Resize
Print
BuzzYahoo! Buzz



46 Comments | View All »
if ( COMMENTS_ALLOWED )

'); document.write('

'); document.write('

'); document.write('

'); } else { document.write('COMMENTS ARE CLOSED '); } } POST A COMMENT
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Log in | Register
Why Do I Have to Log In Again?
Log In Again?
CLOSE
We've made some updates to washingtonpost.com's Groups, MyPost and comment pages. We need you to verify your MyPost ID by logging in before you can post to the new pages. We apologize for the inconvenience.



Discussion Policy
Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem.

Discussion Policy
CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

Who's Blogging

» Links to this article

by Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Friday, November 6, 2009; 3:02 PM
A 40-year-old man who was reportedly fired two years ago from an engineering firm apparently returned to that office Friday and shot six people, killing one, according to police and his former employer.
Police said Jason Rodriguez, 40, surrendered to police and was taken into custody at his mother's house outside of Orlando. He was apprehended after police had searched for him for several hours following the shooting at the 16-story Gateway Center office complex.
Rodriguez is a former employee of Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc., according to a spokesman of the company. Mike Burnoff said Rodriguez had been let go for "performance issue."
"He did transportation engineering work," Burnoff said.
Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said investigators did not know why Rodriguez targeted the firm. Orlando police spokeswoman Barbara Jones said that police believe Rodriguez is the only gunman in the incident.
Reynolds, Smith and Hills performs transportation engineering work for the Florida Department of Transportation, the Associated Press reported. It has Orlando offices on the eighth floor of the Gateway Center, company records indicate.
Orlando authorities responded to reports of shots on that floor, a fire department official told CNN.
Gerry Gilgo, who works on the eighth floor of the building, told the AP that she was meeting a co-worker at the elevators for an early lunch when the co-worker suddenly "yelled, 'There are gunshots! There are gunshots! Get back in your office.' "
Reports of the shooting came even as law enforcement and military officials were trying to come to grips with an eerily similar scene at Fort Hood in Texas, where a soldier killed 13 people and wounded dozens.
There were no indications that the two incidents were linked, and local law enforcement officials -- not federal ones -- appeared to be handling the Orlando shooting and the search for the suspect.
"This is a tragedy no doubt about it, especially on the heels of the tragedy in Fort Hood that is on our minds," Demings said. "I'm just glad we don't have any more fatalities or any more injuries than we currently have."
SWAT teams and ambulances descended on the Gateway Center after receiving reports of shots having been fired at 11 a.m. Friday, Jones said. Shortly after, she said police went into "active shooter mode," believing that the incident was still underway.

if ( show_doubleclick_ad && ( adTemplate & INLINE_ARTICLE_AD ) == INLINE_ARTICLE_AD && inlineAdGraf ) { placeAd('ARTICLE',commercialNode,20,'inline=y;',true) ; }
"That's where shots are still being fired and we're having to trace the shots," Jones told reporters even as police cordoned off several blocks around the office building and shut down parts of nearby Interstate 4.
Will Halpern, an attorney on the building's 17th floor, was among the last group to be evacuated. He told the AP that the lobby was filled with about 20 officers in SWAT gear and carrying assault weapons, ready to search.




adsonar_placementId=1483494;adsonar_pid=1900767;adsonar_ps=-1;adsonar_zw=624;adsonar_zh=225;adsonar_jv="ads.adsonar.com";
Posted by BiodunIginla at 8:40 PM Labels: bbc biodun iginla, office shootings 0 comments:

Post a Comment

Older Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)