Suspected Orlando Office Shooter Jason Rodriguez Captured at Mom's House

Nov. 6, 2009— -- A fired worker allegedly burst into a downtown Orlando office building Friday, shooting one person dead and wounding five others. He was later captured after a city-wide manhunt that locked down schools, businesses and highways.

The shooting suspect was identified as 40-year-old Jason Rodriguez, a former employee of one of the building's offices. He was apprehended at his mother's house several hours after the shootings, Orlando authorities said today.

When asked by reporters why he did it, Rodriguez, being led into the Orlando Police Department, snarled "They left me to rot," according to ABC's Orlando affiliate WFTV.

He also told reporters he was "angry."

The lone victim, identified by police as 26-year-old Otis Beckford, was gunned down by at least two bullets.

Mike Bernoff, spokesperson for Reynolds, Smith & Hills --- a consulting firm in the 16-story Legion Place Gateway Center -- told ABCNews.com today that Rodriguez was a former transportation engineer who was terminated in June 2007 for performance issues.

According to The Associated Press, Rodriguez believed his efforts to obtain unemployment benefits had been blocked and that his bosses at Reynolds, Smith and Hills had fired him two years ago without cause.

He said he filed for unemployment but an expected check didn't come and he blamed his former employers, reports the AP.

Company employees were "obviously very shocked like anybody else in that situation would be, totally shocked," Bernoff said. "He walked into office and it's all I know."

Three men and one woman were taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesman. One patient has gone to surgery and the three others are potential surgical candidates, but are still being evaluated and assessed. The victims range from 23 to 49 years old.

The shooting comes one day after a massacre at Fort Hood, Texas, where 12 soldiers and one civilian were gunned down at a military processing center.

Public records show that Rodriguez filed for bankruptcy in May. His lawyer in the case, Charlie Price, declined to comment today.

In his bankruptcy filings, Rodriguez listed his assets as less than $50,000 and his liabilities as between $50,000 and $100,000. He is listed as living with a girlfriend and having an income of just $890 a month.

CLICK HERE to review Jason Rodriguez's 2009 bankruptcy filing.

Included in his debts are $28,912 to student lending giant Sallie Mae and $25,000 in education loans to Wachovia as well as more than $24,000 to a Florida credit union and $2,415.21 in back taxes from 2005 and 2006. He also owes $11,085 in child support payments, almost $1,500 in back rent and several hundred dollars in medical, cell phone and credit card bills.

Shooting Victims Described as 'Trauma Red' Patients

Immediately after the shooting, employees at the Legion Place Gateway Center had immediately begun locking themselves in their offices, not knowing where Rodriguez was or where he was headed.

"We've got everybody in one office, with the door barricaded with a chest of drawers," one woman told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel newspaper. "There are about 20 of us in here. We're scared." A witness told ABC affiliate WFTV that a former employee walked into the building and opened fire.

About 20 people were led out of the building, distraught and crying, according to ABC reports. Others are still barricaded in the office building.

Five victims were transported to the local hospital and described as "trauma red" patients, according to Orlando police and fire departments.

One witness said he saw someone screaming at him to get out of the building immediately.

There were approximately 50 paramedics responding to the incident, which began at 11:30 a.m.

All of the victims worked at the firm of Reynolds, Smith and Hills, where Rodriguez was an entry-level engineer for 11 months before he was let go in June 2007, the company said.

Police said Rodriguez used a handgun in the shooting, but they did not release additional details, including how he got inside the building, whether he said anything to people in the office or how he initially escaped.

The five wounded people were in stable condition at Orlando hospitals. The person who died was not identified.

Rodriguez worked on drawings in the firm's transportation group, but his supervisors said his performance was not up 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."

He did not know why Rodriguez would say the company had left him "to rot."

"It's been 2 1/2 years," Jacobson said. "We don't know where he's been or what he's done."

But Rodriguez' bankruptcy filing and his former mother-in-law suggested he was plagued by money woes.

Les Winograd, a spokesman for Milford, Conn.-based Subway Restaurants, said Rodriguez had worked for one of the company's sandwich shops in the Orlando area until six weeks ago. He would not say whether Rodriguez had left or was fired.

His mother-in-law, America Holloway, told The Associated Press that Rodriguez and her daughter, Neshby, were married for about 6 1/2 years before divorcing several years ago. They have an 8-year-old son who lives with Neshby in Kissimmee, about a half-hour away.

Holloway said the couple lived with her in Orlando for several years while they were married and that Rodriguez abused her daughter and once threw all her clothes into the street.

"I used to tell my daughter he was crazy," Holloway said. "He was always fighting, always yelling. There was always problems."

After the divorce, Rodriguez seldom saw his son, but he called last week while the child was at Holloway's house and the boy asked his father why he did not come over, too.

"He said, 'Because I don't have any money. I don't have a job. I don't have anything to eat. When things get better, I'll come see you,'" Holloway said Rodriguez told his son.

Police Chief Val Demings said investigators did not know why Rodriguez targeted the engineering firm.

"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, referring to an Army psychiatrist suspected of opening fire on fellow soldiers at a Texas military base Thursday in an attack that killed 13 people and wounded 30.

Charles Price, an attorney who represented Rodriguez in his bankruptcy case, said he could not comment on specifics of the matter. He had not seen Rodriguez since the summer.

A somber Gov. Charlie Crist visited some of the wounded at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

"They're obviously traumatized," he said. "At the same time, I was impressed with their spirit and strength."

Camille Previlon told The Associated Press her uncle, engineer Guy Lungenbel, was shot in the back and was able to talk but had not said much about the shooting.

"He's just hurting real bad in the back," she said.

After the lunchtime shooting, some people streamed out of the Legion Place building while others holed up in their offices. A major highway was closed, and nearby schools were locked down.

Greg Cross, who works in a real estate office on the 12th floor, said he and his co-workers barricaded themselves inside after hearing about the gunman on television.

"We were terrified," he said. "We locked the door and put a filing cabinet in front of the door and just waited."

Mark Vella, who works in a different office on the same floor, said he and five co-workers also pulled a filing cabinet in front of their door. They prayed and talked about what to do if the gunman showed up.

"We were afraid the guy was still in the building and making the rounds," Vella said. .

The Associated Press contributed to this report. ABCNews.com's Susan James and Huma Khan contributed to this report.