Jason Rogriguez
Photo: Orlando Police Department
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by Nada Taha
ORLANDO, FLA.
Police are reporting that shooting suspect Jason Rodriguez surrendered to SWAT team members at an apartment complex on Curry Ford Road Friday afternoon, just hours after shooting six people at a downtown Orlando high rise.
According to police, one person is dead and six people were injured after the shooting at the Gateway Center at 1000 Legion Place.
Police Chief Val Demings said Rodriguez surrendered to police at around 2:20 p.m. at the Hollowbrook Apartments at Curry Ford Road after officers saw him through a window and asked him to come out. As Rodriguez was led into the Orlando Police Department, he reportedly said, "They left me to rot."
Four patients from the scene are at Orlando Regional Medical Center, hospital spokesperson Joe Brown said. The patients all appear to be stable.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Barbara Jones said that a motive has not been determined but Rodriguez was a former employee at Reynolds, Smith and Hill, an architectural engineering firm.
According to a company spokesman, Rodriguez was released 2007 for performance issues, but did not say why. The company performs engineering work with the Florida Department of Transportation. RS&H has 11 offices across Florida, including in DeLand, Merritt Island and Tampa.
Records show Rodriguez filed for bankruptcy in Orlando in September and that he was divorced in October 2006. He has two children, an 8-year-old son and a daughter who lives in Puerto Rico. Her age could not be immediately determined.
Police said they received a call at around 11 a.m. where there reports of a shooting on the eighth floor.
Witnesses said numerous ambulances and dozens of police cars and fire engines have arrived at the scene and gurneys were seen being wheeled into the building. Police, the SWAT team, the FBI and numerous other law enforcement agencies were on the scene.
Due to the incident, I-4 was reopened in both directions after being closed from John Young Parkway to the 417 and tolls are still suspended on the 408 and 417 to help deal with traffic. All public school lockdowns were lifted shortly after 2:00pm.
Click here to watch a video of the police arresting the suspect.
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