Jury Seeks Death for Slasher
Jason Rodriguez Goes on Shooting Rampage at Orlando Office Building
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 10:43 am
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| Jason Rodriguez was fired two years ago for poor performance |
Police say Jason Rodriguez, 40, a former employee at a business in a downtown Orlando office building, went on a shooting rampage there this morning. The details are still breaking, but at least eight people have been injured.
Some workers barricaded themselves in offices while others tried to flee after hearing shots. An unknown number of people are still in the Gateway Center office building, and rescue workers don't know how many could be injured. A SWAT team is currently trying to get them out...
The building is still not secure, and investigators have yet to find Rodriguez. They say he may be driving a 2002 silver Nissan SUV with license plate D119UX.
"I would consider him
armed and dangerous," spokeswoman Barbara Jones told the Associated Press. Five
people have already been taken to the hospital, and more could be
injured. Interstate 4 has been closed and nearby school are on
lockdown.
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| Rodriguez blamed his former employer for his spiraling money problems |
UPDATE: Jason Rodriguez was captured at his mother's house after shooting up an architecture firm he used to work for.
He apparently still held a grudge against Reynolds, Smith and Hills, which is housed ion teh Gateway Center in downtown Orlando. Police say he came into the company's office and started firing today, killing one and wounding five.
Rodriguez was fired in 2007 for "performance issues," according to the company. He was arrested without a struggle at his mom's house this afternoon.
Rodriguez apparently has a history of mental problems -- or at least problems with anger. He was fired last year by Orange County Public Works after just four months of working as an engineering inspector. He apparently just stopped showing up for work.
In September he filed for bankruptcy.
UPDATE II: Jason Rodriguez blamed an architectural for his spiraling money problems.
Workers immediately recognized their former coworker when he walked into the firm's eighth-floor lobby, pulled a gun from his pants, and shot 26-year-old Otis Beckford at least two times, killing him. He then walked into the offices and shot five other people, though all are expected to survive.
He was unemployed for more than a year until landing a job at Subway, but then decided to quit and file for unemployment because they couldn't give him enough hours.
But he was apparently having problems with unemployment -- which is kinda what happens when you quit your job. And he somehow blamed that on the architecture firm for making him look incompetent, he told reporters.
But he's also a wife-beating nutbag, if you listen to his ex-wife's mom, America Holloway. She told the Associated Press that Rodriguez was married for six years to her daughter and they have an eight-year old son who Rodriguez rarely visits. During their marriage, mom says Rodriguez abused her daughter and once threw all her clothes in the street.
"I used to tell my daughter he was crazy," Holloway said. "He was always fighting, always yelling. There was always problems."
Tags: Florida
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