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1 killed, 5 injured in Florida shootings; suspect held
1 killed, 5 injured in Fla. shootings; suspect held - Crime & courts- msnbc.com
ORLANDO, Fla. - A suspect was in custody Friday afternoon after a man opened fire in the offices of an Orlando architecture company that fired him 2½ years ago, killing one person and wounding five others, police and the company said.
Orlando police Chief Val Demings identified the suspect as Jason Rodriguez, 40. Police said he was arrested peacefully at his mother’s home.
Asked by a reporter outside the police station why he did it, Rodriguez replied: “Because they left me to rot.”
The incident comes just a day after an Army psychiatrist opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 13 soldiers and wounding 30 others in the worst mass shooting on a U.S. military base.
“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.”
Fired for ‘performance issue’
All of the victims worked for Reynolds, Smith and Hills, an architecture firm. One was dead and five others were in stable condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center with gunshot wounds, police said.
About 50 employees work in the offices of the company on the eighth floor of the Gateway Center, an 18-story office building that was built in 1999.
Mike Bernos, a spokesman for the company, told NBC News that Rodriguez worked for the company until June 2007, when he was terminated for what he said was a “performance issue.”
Rodriguez was an entry-level engineer who was fired after working there for a year, Bernos said. “His performance wasn’t up to our standards, so we terminated him,” Bernos said. There had been no contact between the company and Rodriguez since then.
Gerry Gilgo, who works on the floor where the shooting occurred, said she had been meeting a co-worker at the elevators for lunch.
“She yelled: ‘There are gunshots! There are gunshots! Get back in your office,’” Gilgo said.
Will Halpern, a lawyer on the building’s 17th floor, was among the last group to be evacuated. He said the lobby was filled with about 20 officers in SWAT gear, carrying assault weapons, ready to search.
Second mass shooting in two days
Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson, who represents Orlando in the House, noted the timing of Friday’s shootings, which took place about a mile from his district office a day after the Fort Hood slayings.
“For the second time in as many days, this country must deal with a heinous act of violence. Sadly, this time it is in the place we call home,” Grayson said. “My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families.”
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist canceled the remaining events on his schedule and was headed to Orlando, according to his office.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said 517 people were the victims of homicide in U.S. workplaces last year, 413 by gunshot.
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