Suspect in 6 US shootings says his old colleagues had 'left me to rot'
Source: Agencies |
November 8, 2009, Sunday
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EMPLOYEES at an engineering firm recognized their former co-worker when he drew a handgun from under his shirt, Florida police said, and shot his first victim dead in the reception area. He then walked into the office and unloaded several more rounds, wounding five other employees at the company that fired him two years ago.
Jason Rodriguez was taken into custody several hours after the shooting on Friday at a downtown Orlando office tower, and police say he will be charged with first-degree murder and other crimes.
Police said Rodriguez told detectives he blamed the firm for recent trouble he had receiving unemployment benefits. As officers led him handcuffed into a police station, a reporter asked the divorced 40-year-old why he had attacked his former colleagues.
"Because they left me to rot," said Rodriguez, who recently told a bankruptcy judge he was making less than US$30,000 a year at a Subway sandwich shop and had debts of nearly US$90,000.
All the victims worked at the firm of Reynolds, Smith and Hills, where Rodriguez was an entry-level engineer for 11 months before he was fired in June 2007, the company said.
Witnesses told police Rodriguez entered the company's eighth-floor lobby, pulled a handgun from a holster and fatally shot an employee standing next to the receptionist's desk. The slain victim, identified by police as 26-year-old Otis Beckford, was hit by at least two bullets. The gunman then went into the common work area and opened fire on his other victims.
The five wounded people were in stable condition at Orlando hospitals and police say all are expected to survive.
Hours after the shootings, police tracked Rodriguez to his mother's home and ordered him to come out. He surrendered peacefully, apologizing as officers handcuffed him, police said.
"I'm just going through a tough time right now. I'm sorry," officers quoted him as saying.
Rodriguez worked on drawings in the firm's transportation group, but his supervisors said his performance was not up to their standards, and when he did not improve, he was fired. The company did not hear from him again.
"This is really a mystery to us," said Ken Jacobson, the firm's general legal counsel and chief financial officer. "There was nothing to indicate any hard feelings."
Rodriguez told detectives that the company had fired him without cause. He told them he was unemployed for a year and a half before getting a job at a Subway, where he worked until recently.
Rodriguez' bankruptcy filing and his former mother-in-law suggested he was plagued by money woes.
His ex-wife's mother, America Holloway, said that Rodriguez and her daughter, Neshby, were married for about 6 1/2 years before divorcing several years ago. They have an eight-year-old son who lives with Neshby in Kissimmee, Florida.
Holloway said the couple lived with her in Orlando for a few years.
"I used to tell my daughter he was crazy," Holloway said. "He was always fighting, always yelling. There was always problems."
Jason Rodriguez was taken into custody several hours after the shooting on Friday at a downtown Orlando office tower, and police say he will be charged with first-degree murder and other crimes.
Police said Rodriguez told detectives he blamed the firm for recent trouble he had receiving unemployment benefits. As officers led him handcuffed into a police station, a reporter asked the divorced 40-year-old why he had attacked his former colleagues.
"Because they left me to rot," said Rodriguez, who recently told a bankruptcy judge he was making less than US$30,000 a year at a Subway sandwich shop and had debts of nearly US$90,000.
All the victims worked at the firm of Reynolds, Smith and Hills, where Rodriguez was an entry-level engineer for 11 months before he was fired in June 2007, the company said.
Witnesses told police Rodriguez entered the company's eighth-floor lobby, pulled a handgun from a holster and fatally shot an employee standing next to the receptionist's desk. The slain victim, identified by police as 26-year-old Otis Beckford, was hit by at least two bullets. The gunman then went into the common work area and opened fire on his other victims.
The five wounded people were in stable condition at Orlando hospitals and police say all are expected to survive.
Hours after the shootings, police tracked Rodriguez to his mother's home and ordered him to come out. He surrendered peacefully, apologizing as officers handcuffed him, police said.
"I'm just going through a tough time right now. I'm sorry," officers quoted him as saying.
Rodriguez worked on drawings in the firm's transportation group, but his supervisors said his performance was not up to their standards, and when he did not improve, he was fired. The company did not hear from him again.
"This is really a mystery to us," said Ken Jacobson, the firm's general legal counsel and chief financial officer. "There was nothing to indicate any hard feelings."
Rodriguez told detectives that the company had fired him without cause. He told them he was unemployed for a year and a half before getting a job at a Subway, where he worked until recently.
Rodriguez' bankruptcy filing and his former mother-in-law suggested he was plagued by money woes.
His ex-wife's mother, America Holloway, said that Rodriguez and her daughter, Neshby, were married for about 6 1/2 years before divorcing several years ago. They have an eight-year-old son who lives with Neshby in Kissimmee, Florida.
Holloway said the couple lived with her in Orlando for a few years.
"I used to tell my daughter he was crazy," Holloway said. "He was always fighting, always yelling. There was always problems."
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