1 killed, 7 wounded: Another Day Another Shooting

Daddy · 11-06-2009, 02:52 PM

Quote:

ORLANDO, Fla. - One person was killed and at least seven were critically wounded in a shooting inside a downtown Orlando high-rise building Friday morning, authorities said. The suspect was described as on the loose and extremely dangerous.

Quoting emergency dispatchers, NBC station WESH-TV of Orlando reported that the shooting began about 11 a.m. ET on the fourth floor of the Gateway Center at 1000 Legion Place near Lake Ivanhoe.

All of the victims were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Orlando fire Cmdr. Vicky Robles said seven people were in critical condition with gunshot wounds. An eighth person, who was not shot, was in stable condition because of a “cardiac event.”

Police Sgt. Barbara Jones identified the suspect as Jason Rodriguez, 40, a former employee in the building who she said was believed to be at large and armed. Rodriguez was believed to be wearing a light-blue polo shirt and blue jeans and driving a silver 2002 Nissan sport-utility vehicle with Florida plates D119UX, authorities said.

Police identified the suspect as Jason Rodriguez, 40, a former employee in the building.

A witness told WESH that the shooter had not worked there in more than a year. She was whisked away by police before she could say more.

“Things are still unfolding,” Jones told reporters. “We’re still trying to secure various structures around the area to make sure the shooter is not still in the area.”

Michael Droege, district chief for the Orlando Fire Department, told WESH that an unknown number of people were still in the building and could be injured. He said the SWAT team was still trying to pull people out of the building.

Some occupants were reported to have barricaded themselves in an office for protection.

SWAT officers were going floor by floor to secure the building, officials said.

Gateway Center is a 16-story office building that was built in 1999.

Interstate 4 eastbound was shut down while police converged on the area. Nearby Edgewater High School and Lake Highland Prep School were locked down.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist canceled the remaining events on his schedule and was headed to Orlando, according to his office.

Another day another shooting. It's hard to feel anything but meh about it the more it happens.

dxanman · 11-06-2009, 03:05 PM

It seems like this sorta thing happens in cycles. You can go months and months without hearing about a huge mass shooting. I think the last one was the guy who went into the Holocaust museum in the Spring. But now, within a 48-hour span, there are nearly 100 people shot and close to 10 dead because of two psychos that couldn't handle the situations life put them in.

But, like most of you all here, I've become numb to it, and I just find it exhausting. I feel for all those people that were shot and/or lost their lives.