Surveillance Images Show Office Shooter Inside Building
Posted: 12:05 pm EST November 9, 2009Updated: 2:22 pm EST November 9, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Surveillance photos released by Orlando police (see images) show confessed killer Jason Rodriguez wearing what appear to be two different outfits inside the Gateway Center on Friday morning, where a shooting rampage left one person dead and five others wounded. The building reopened Monday morning under tighter security.
SURVEILLANCE: Images In Building Capture Killer
VIDEO REPORT: Office Building Reopens
NEWS BRIEF: Monday Morning Update On Shooting
Police say Rodriguez will likely face even more charges. He's accusing of opening fire inside the building on Friday.Many questions remain about what happened there late Friday morning. The confessed killer played the blame game with police, pointing the finger at his former employer on the eighth floor of the building. But that employer says Jason Rodriguez is lying.Investigators have recovered a gun from Rodriguez, but will have it tested to see if it's the murder weapon.“The first-degree murder charge is just the beginning. We still have other victims we're going to be talking to once their medical needs are completed,” Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said.Rodriguez told police that Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc.(RS&H) (visit their website) engineering firm forced him out for no reason and prevented him from getting unemployment benefits. He also said he had a tough time finding work after he left the company.However, Eyewitness News learned that Rodriguez had at least two jobs since then and RS&H says it allowed him to resign rather than firing him over long-time performance issues, so that he would be able to apply for unemployment benefits. “It's not true. We could have taken different action. Instead, we worked with Mr. Rodriguez to make sure he was allowed the opportunity to voluntarily resign and be eligible for unemployment income. This was two and a half years ago. He had employment afterward elsewhere we did everything we could,” RS&H Vice President Jim Avitabile said.RS&H says it even knew Jason Rodriguez before he was hired because of his work in the industry and never had any indication he was capable of anything like what he's admitted to doing Friday morning. RS&H is calling the man they used to call a colleague deranged.
DETAILED ACCOUNTS RELEASED IN ORLANDO SHOOTINGA man who was in an Orlando office when a former employee came in and started shooting said Monday that the ordeal that left one dead and five injured lasted about a minute.Mark Davidson, a vice president at the engineering firm Reynolds, Smith and Hills, said Monday that his co-workers stayed calm Friday and didn't scream as Jason Rodriguez entered a reception area of the eighth-floor office and began shooting randomly. "Nobody was screaming or yelling," Davidson said. "It wasn't panicky."The gunman pulled a pistol from a holster under his shirt in the reception area of the U-shaped office and began shooting. At first, Davidson said he didn't know what the noise was. He thought it might be balloons popping or book shelves falling over. There is only one main entrance to the office from outside, and it was typically unlocked during business hours. The building had security guards posted at a desk on the first floor, but visitors could come and go with relative ease before Friday's shooting.The noises kept getting closer and Davidson saw other people running, and he knew something was wrong.Davidson ran to back of the office where other workers had gathered and they waited a moment, trying to piece together what was happening. They then saw the gunman from about 25 yards away as he had made his way about three-quarters through the U-shaped office. They fled."You're seeing the shooter and you put two and two together," Davidson said. "You knew we were, as a company, victims of a senseless crime."Rodriguez has been charged with first-degree murder, and Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said Monday that more charges are expected. The shooting caused havoc in downtown Orlando as authorities scrambled to find Rodriguez, who was eventually tracked to his mother's home. He surrendered peacefully, but later remarked to reporters that he went on the rampage because his former co-workers "left me to rot." An attorney for Rodriguez has portrayed the 40-year-old as a mentally ill man who fell victim to countless personal and financial problems. Rodriguez left his engineering job at the firm two years ago and hadn't been able to find comparable employment since then. He most recently made less than $30,000 a year at a Subway sandwich shop. "There were performance issues over time and there had been reviews we had with Mr. Rodriguez trying to correct the situation and trying to direct him to another level," said Lerrie Jenkins, chairman and CEO of the firm. "It just didn't work out so we agreed mutually for him to leave the company and he signed a letter of resignation." After his arrest Friday, Rodriguez told detectives that he blamed the firm for hindering his efforts to get unemployment benefits. Company officials were perplexed at that explanation given that he had worked elsewhere since leaving the firm. "We worked with Mr. Rodriguez so that he was allowed the opportunity to voluntarily resign and be eligible for unemployment income," said Jim Avitabile, a vice president at the firm. "This was not an abrupt termination."Otis Beckford, 26, was the lone fatality in the shooting. One of the shooting victims, Ferrell Hickson, was released from the hospital late Sunday. The other four victims remained hospitalized in stable condition.
WORKERS RETURN TO BUILDING TERRORIZED BY GUNMANDuring a morning news conference, Reynolds, Smith & Hills CEO Leerie Jenkins (visit their website) said they are providing counseling for employees and their families after a shooting at their downtown Orlando office killed one Friday.Jenkins said the families of RS&H employees are asking for privacy (watch full news briefing). He said he was encouraged by reports from the hospital regarding victims recovering and said the company was sticking by them through the entire healing process.Mayor Buddy Dyer spoke briefly, saying it’s a shock to the community and that the city also supports the victims and will be involved in the healing process.
POLICE OFFER REWARD FOR INFOMonday morning, security guards removed the crime tape around the Gateway Center in downtown Orlando, but the investigation into the shooting continues.The blood in the elevators will be washed away, but the horror of what happened three days before will still be haunting the minds of workers who survived the deadly Gateway Center shootings -- the worst in modern Orlando history.The Gateway Center opened its doors for the first time since police say a former employee stormed in and opened fire, but it will be just too soon for many employees to walk into a building where bullets ripped through six co-workers.
FIRST APPEARANCE: Shooter Faces Judge
SHOOTER'S FRIEND: "He's Not A Monster"
FORMER IN-LAWS: Talk To WFTV
Because of that, the church that opened its doors for family members to cope on Friday did so once again Monday. Grief counselors are on hand at College Park Baptist Church on Edgewater Drive (see map).Investigators released a picture of Rodriguez's silver Hyundai (see car, other photos), because they need to figure out where he was from the time he left the shooting scene at approximately 11:45am Friday until 2:15pm, when SWAT crews talked him out of his mother's apartment on Curry Ford Road.Again, detectives will not release specifics about why they need to know, but police are offering a reward up to $5,000 through the Crimeline program for information that can shed more light on Rodriguez and what he was doing while the victims were rushed into surgery.On Sunday night, investigators returned to the apartment complex to search a dumpster and the area around it but did not say what they were looking for.
"CLASSIC CASE OF STRESS OVERLOAD" When Jason Rodriguez was caught at his mother's house, he told police he was going through tough times and records corroborate his story. His marriage long ago went sour, he had lost his home to foreclosure, his job to incompetence and he had filed for bankruptcy.
RAW VIDEO: Killer Taken To Jail
TEAM COVERAGE: No Bond For Killer
FAMILY MOURNS: Young Father Dies In Shooting
IMAGES: Shooting Victim Otis Beckford
DOCUMENT: Charging Affidavit
As more information about Rodriguez surfaced, it seemed everything he worked towards ended in failure -- except his alleged plot to kill.
SUSPECT IN CUSTODY
AT PD: Raw Video | See Images
ARRESTED: Aerial Images | Aerial Video The 40-year-old, whose life seemed to just keep getting worse, did so again Saturday when he faced a judge (watch video) on charges of first-degree murder, accused of killing one and wounding five Friday at his former office. He said nothing in his brief court appearance, but his attorney portrayed him as a mentally ill man who fell victim to countless problems. "This guy is a compilation of the front page of the entire year -- unemployment, foreclosure, bankruptcy, divorce -- all of the stresses," said the public defender, Bob Wesley. "He has been declining in mental health. There is no logic whatsoever, which points to a mental health case. It looks like a classic case of stress overload."Police refused to say anything more Saturday about their investigation into the shooting. But as Rodriguez remained on suicide watch at the Orange County jail, a portrait of his crumbling life began to emerge. He couldn't pay the child support he owed for his 8-year-old son. He was nearly $90,000 behind on bills, his bankruptcy file showed. A once-promising, but short-lived career at an engineering firm faded into a job at a fast-food chain. Wesley described his client as "very, very mentally ill" but offered no specifics. His former mother-in-law, America Holloway, said he was a schizophrenic who was constantly paranoid, blaming others for all of his woes and who always thought everyone disliked him.
SUSPECT'S MOTHER: "I'M REALLY VERY SORRY"The suspect's own mother struggled Saturday for words to defend her son. She could only muster an apology. "Sorry for the families involved," Ana Rodriguez said. "I'm really very sorry, it is very hurtful." Police said Rodriguez himself also offered words of remorse as he was handcuffed Friday, explaining he was just going through a tough time. But it offered little solace to victims, all of whom worked at Reynolds, Smith and Hills, where the suspect was an entry-level engineer for 11 months before being fired in June 2007.Eyewitness News was there when Jason Rodriguez was taken to the Orange County jail (watch video) Friday night. Eyewitness News also talked to a friend of Rodriguez (watch interview) who says he isn't a monster."I couldn't believe that, that was him that would do that because he's not that type of person. He's not a monster," said friend Ricky Falco. His former in-laws spoke out in an interview with Eyewitness News (watch interview)."I'm not surprised that they picked him up," said Rodriguez' former father-in-law.
SURVEILLANCE: Images In Building Capture Killer
VIDEO REPORT: Office Building Reopens
NEWS BRIEF: Monday Morning Update On Shooting
Police say Rodriguez will likely face even more charges. He's accusing of opening fire inside the building on Friday.Many questions remain about what happened there late Friday morning. The confessed killer played the blame game with police, pointing the finger at his former employer on the eighth floor of the building. But that employer says Jason Rodriguez is lying.Investigators have recovered a gun from Rodriguez, but will have it tested to see if it's the murder weapon.“The first-degree murder charge is just the beginning. We still have other victims we're going to be talking to once their medical needs are completed,” Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said.Rodriguez told police that Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc.(RS&H) (visit their website) engineering firm forced him out for no reason and prevented him from getting unemployment benefits. He also said he had a tough time finding work after he left the company.However, Eyewitness News learned that Rodriguez had at least two jobs since then and RS&H says it allowed him to resign rather than firing him over long-time performance issues, so that he would be able to apply for unemployment benefits. “It's not true. We could have taken different action. Instead, we worked with Mr. Rodriguez to make sure he was allowed the opportunity to voluntarily resign and be eligible for unemployment income. This was two and a half years ago. He had employment afterward elsewhere we did everything we could,” RS&H Vice President Jim Avitabile said.RS&H says it even knew Jason Rodriguez before he was hired because of his work in the industry and never had any indication he was capable of anything like what he's admitted to doing Friday morning. RS&H is calling the man they used to call a colleague deranged.
DETAILED ACCOUNTS RELEASED IN ORLANDO SHOOTINGA man who was in an Orlando office when a former employee came in and started shooting said Monday that the ordeal that left one dead and five injured lasted about a minute.Mark Davidson, a vice president at the engineering firm Reynolds, Smith and Hills, said Monday that his co-workers stayed calm Friday and didn't scream as Jason Rodriguez entered a reception area of the eighth-floor office and began shooting randomly. "Nobody was screaming or yelling," Davidson said. "It wasn't panicky."The gunman pulled a pistol from a holster under his shirt in the reception area of the U-shaped office and began shooting. At first, Davidson said he didn't know what the noise was. He thought it might be balloons popping or book shelves falling over. There is only one main entrance to the office from outside, and it was typically unlocked during business hours. The building had security guards posted at a desk on the first floor, but visitors could come and go with relative ease before Friday's shooting.The noises kept getting closer and Davidson saw other people running, and he knew something was wrong.Davidson ran to back of the office where other workers had gathered and they waited a moment, trying to piece together what was happening. They then saw the gunman from about 25 yards away as he had made his way about three-quarters through the U-shaped office. They fled."You're seeing the shooter and you put two and two together," Davidson said. "You knew we were, as a company, victims of a senseless crime."Rodriguez has been charged with first-degree murder, and Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said Monday that more charges are expected. The shooting caused havoc in downtown Orlando as authorities scrambled to find Rodriguez, who was eventually tracked to his mother's home. He surrendered peacefully, but later remarked to reporters that he went on the rampage because his former co-workers "left me to rot." An attorney for Rodriguez has portrayed the 40-year-old as a mentally ill man who fell victim to countless personal and financial problems. Rodriguez left his engineering job at the firm two years ago and hadn't been able to find comparable employment since then. He most recently made less than $30,000 a year at a Subway sandwich shop. "There were performance issues over time and there had been reviews we had with Mr. Rodriguez trying to correct the situation and trying to direct him to another level," said Lerrie Jenkins, chairman and CEO of the firm. "It just didn't work out so we agreed mutually for him to leave the company and he signed a letter of resignation." After his arrest Friday, Rodriguez told detectives that he blamed the firm for hindering his efforts to get unemployment benefits. Company officials were perplexed at that explanation given that he had worked elsewhere since leaving the firm. "We worked with Mr. Rodriguez so that he was allowed the opportunity to voluntarily resign and be eligible for unemployment income," said Jim Avitabile, a vice president at the firm. "This was not an abrupt termination."Otis Beckford, 26, was the lone fatality in the shooting. One of the shooting victims, Ferrell Hickson, was released from the hospital late Sunday. The other four victims remained hospitalized in stable condition.
WORKERS RETURN TO BUILDING TERRORIZED BY GUNMANDuring a morning news conference, Reynolds, Smith & Hills CEO Leerie Jenkins (visit their website) said they are providing counseling for employees and their families after a shooting at their downtown Orlando office killed one Friday.Jenkins said the families of RS&H employees are asking for privacy (watch full news briefing). He said he was encouraged by reports from the hospital regarding victims recovering and said the company was sticking by them through the entire healing process.Mayor Buddy Dyer spoke briefly, saying it’s a shock to the community and that the city also supports the victims and will be involved in the healing process.
POLICE OFFER REWARD FOR INFOMonday morning, security guards removed the crime tape around the Gateway Center in downtown Orlando, but the investigation into the shooting continues.The blood in the elevators will be washed away, but the horror of what happened three days before will still be haunting the minds of workers who survived the deadly Gateway Center shootings -- the worst in modern Orlando history.The Gateway Center opened its doors for the first time since police say a former employee stormed in and opened fire, but it will be just too soon for many employees to walk into a building where bullets ripped through six co-workers.
FIRST APPEARANCE: Shooter Faces Judge
SHOOTER'S FRIEND: "He's Not A Monster"
FORMER IN-LAWS: Talk To WFTV
Because of that, the church that opened its doors for family members to cope on Friday did so once again Monday. Grief counselors are on hand at College Park Baptist Church on Edgewater Drive (see map).Investigators released a picture of Rodriguez's silver Hyundai (see car, other photos), because they need to figure out where he was from the time he left the shooting scene at approximately 11:45am Friday until 2:15pm, when SWAT crews talked him out of his mother's apartment on Curry Ford Road.Again, detectives will not release specifics about why they need to know, but police are offering a reward up to $5,000 through the Crimeline program for information that can shed more light on Rodriguez and what he was doing while the victims were rushed into surgery.On Sunday night, investigators returned to the apartment complex to search a dumpster and the area around it but did not say what they were looking for.
"CLASSIC CASE OF STRESS OVERLOAD" When Jason Rodriguez was caught at his mother's house, he told police he was going through tough times and records corroborate his story. His marriage long ago went sour, he had lost his home to foreclosure, his job to incompetence and he had filed for bankruptcy.
RAW VIDEO: Killer Taken To Jail
TEAM COVERAGE: No Bond For Killer
FAMILY MOURNS: Young Father Dies In Shooting
IMAGES: Shooting Victim Otis Beckford
DOCUMENT: Charging Affidavit
As more information about Rodriguez surfaced, it seemed everything he worked towards ended in failure -- except his alleged plot to kill.

AT PD: Raw Video | See Images
ARRESTED: Aerial Images | Aerial Video
SUSPECT'S MOTHER: "I'M REALLY VERY SORRY"The suspect's own mother struggled Saturday for words to defend her son. She could only muster an apology. "Sorry for the families involved," Ana Rodriguez said. "I'm really very sorry, it is very hurtful." Police said Rodriguez himself also offered words of remorse as he was handcuffed Friday, explaining he was just going through a tough time. But it offered little solace to victims, all of whom worked at Reynolds, Smith and Hills, where the suspect was an entry-level engineer for 11 months before being fired in June 2007.Eyewitness News was there when Jason Rodriguez was taken to the Orange County jail (watch video) Friday night. Eyewitness News also talked to a friend of Rodriguez (watch interview) who says he isn't a monster."I couldn't believe that, that was him that would do that because he's not that type of person. He's not a monster," said friend Ricky Falco. His former in-laws spoke out in an interview with Eyewitness News (watch interview)."I'm not surprised that they picked him up," said Rodriguez' former father-in-law.
Previous Stories:
- November 9, 2009: Workers Return To Building Terrorized By Gunman
- November 7, 2009: Victim Identified, Shooter To Face Judge
Copyright 2009 by WFTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


















Pump Patrol
Theme Park Guide
Central Florida's Medical City
Bored Room
Buy It For Half 


