A gunman opened fire Friday in the offices of an engineering firm where he was let go more than two years ago. At least one person was killed and five others injured in the shooting at a downtown Orlando office building.

The shooting suspect, Jason Rodriguez, 40, surrendered to police about three hours later, after officers saw him through the window of his mother's home and asked him to come outside, Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said.

She said investigators did not know why Rodriguez targeted the engineering firm where he once worked.

"This is a tragedy no doubt about it, especially on the heels of the tragedy in Fort Hood that is on our minds," she said. "I'm just glad we don't have any more fatalities or any more injuries than we currently have."

People streamed out of the high-rise building at Gateway Center near Orlando's Lake Ivanhoe around lunchtime and some told local television stations they had barricaded themselves inside their offices.

All of the victims were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center and the hospital said some of the patients are critical, according to WESH TV.

Orlando police spokeswoman Barbara Jones said Rodriguez was an employee of Reynolds, Smith & Hill, a transportation consulting firm.

Jones confirmed witnesses told police the shooting started at Reynolds Smith & Hill.

Company spokesman Mike Bernof told CNN all the people shot were in the firm's office.

Rodriguez was released in June 2007 for performance issues, Bernof said. He could not say why. The firm performs transportation engineering work with the Florida Department of Transportation.

Gerry Gilgo, who works on the floor where the shooting occurred, told The Associated Press she was meeting a co-worker at the elevators for lunch.

"She yelled there are gun shots! There are gun shots! Get back in your office," Gilgo said.

Will Halpern, an attorney who works 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.

Interstate 4 was closed in both directions through downtown and a nearby school was locked down.

Rows of ambulances lined up outside the building as police snipers took up positions around the building and officers on foot and horseback searched the area.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@