ORLANDO, Fla. — A gunman opened fire Friday in the offices of an engineering firm where he was let go more than two years ago, authorities said, killing one person and injuring five others.

Jason Rodriguez, 40, surrendered 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.

Asked by a reporter outside the police station why he did it, he replied: “Because they left me to rot.”

Demings said Rodriguez brought a handgun to the firm in a downtown office tower where he once worked as an engineer, but investigators are not sure what his motive was.

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

Charles W. Price, an attorney who represented Rodriguez in a bankruptcy case, declined to comment.

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 is stable,” she said. “He’s just hurting real bad in the back.”

Everyone who was shot was in the offices of Reynolds Smith & Hills, on the eighth floor. The five survivors were in stable condition, Demings said.

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

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

He said he was thankful the shooting was not worse and said the victims “felt very lucky and blessed to be alive.”

Reynolds Smith & Hills spokesman Mike Bernos said Rodriguez was an entry-level engineer who was fired in June 2007 after working there for a year.

“His performance wasn’t up to our standards, so we terminated him,” Bernos said. There had been no contact between the company and Rodriguez since then.

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.

“It was a little scary, a little unnerving,” Vella said. “We were afraid the guy was still in the building and making the rounds.”

——-

8 Injured In Orlando Office Building Shooting [November 6, 2009 1:51pm]

ORLANDO, Florida — Officials said at least eight people were hurt in a shooting at a downtown Orlando office building Friday and a gunman was on the loose.

People streamed out of the high-rise building around lunchtime and some told local television stations they had barricaded themselves inside their offices.

Orlando Fire Department District Chief Michael Droege said an unknown number of people were still in the building and could be wounded. He said a police commando team was still trying to pull people out.

“The building is not secure now,” he said. “It’s still unfolding.”

The mass shooting occurred one day after a U.S. Army psychiatrist allegedly opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, in a rampage that left 13 people dead.

Orlando police were searching for an armed man wearing a light blue polo shirt and jeans, said Orange County Sheriff’s Spokesman Jim Solomons, whose department was called in for backup.

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.

Orlando Police Sgt. Barbara Jones confirmed there had been a shooting and multiple people were hurt but she couldn’t say how many. She said there is believed to be only one shooter.

The Orlando Fire Department told WESH-TV that at least eight people were wounded. 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.

RELATED STORIES

UPDATE: Portrait Of Suspect In Fort Hood Shooting Emerges

Obama Calls Fort Hood Shootings “Horrific Outburst Of Violence”

News One Links