If you have video from the UPS truck shooting, Florida agents want to talk to you

As mourners prepare to honor the UPS driver who was taken hostage by armed robbers and killed during a gun battle with police, state agents on Monday asked for witnesses to come forward.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement asked for bystanders or anyone with “video from the shooting” to call the agency, which is tasked along with the FBI to investigate the chase and shooting that was broadcast live.

Anyone with information can call FDLE’s Miami officer at 786-336-1197.

The state made the appeal four days after armed robbers Lamar Alexander and Ronnie Hill, both 41, held up a Coral Gables jewelry store, shooting one employee in the forehead before fleeing from a barrage of bullets fired by the store’s owner. Not long afterward, Alexander and Hill hijacked UPS driver Frank Ordonez, taking him hostage while driving off in his truck.

Police officers later chased the UPS truck as it weaved up Florida’s Turnpike and Interstate 75, all while the robbers fired at officers. The chase ended on Miramar Parkway near Flamingo Road, which was choked with rush-hour traffic on Thursday evening. Authorities say the robbers opened fire on police officers who rushed in to surround the UPS truck.

In the gun battle, police bullets felled Alexander and Hill. Ordonez was shot, although it remains unclear Monday whether bullets from police or the robbers killed him. A bystander, Richard Cutshaw, was also killed as he tried to drive away and was struck by an errant bullet.

A slew of videos of the shooting has made its way to social media, adding to the dramatic footage captured by TV news cameras that hovered above the shooting.

The chase and deadly shooting had led to a chorus of criticism — from the public, elected leaders, even fellow members of law enforcement — about police tactics.

Ordonez’s family has been vocal about criticizing police. He was a father of two girls who had recently been promoted at his job at UPS.

“He didn’t deserve to die the way he did, he was just going to work to provide for his two little girls, which he loved so much, which are now left without a father,” his brother wrote on a GoFundme page started to raise money for the family.

A public viewing will be held Monday night for Ordonez at Vior Funeral Home, 291 NW 37th Ave., in Miami. It will be open to the public from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 8:09 AM.