At least one dead in shooting at Orlando high-rise (Roundup)

Nov 6, 2009, 19:22 GMT

Washington - At least one person was killed and five others injured in a shooting Friday at a high-rise office building in Orlando, Florida.

The suspect, Jason Rodriguez, opened fire in the morning at the offices of his former employer in downtown Orlando, police said. Rodriguez fled the scene and was apprehended later at his mother's residence.

Authorities said Rodriguez was a former employee of engineering firm Reynolds, Smith & Hills, which has offices in the 16-storey Gateway Center. A spokesman for the company said he had been let go two years earlier for 'performance reasons.'

Orlando police were forced to shut down much of the city centre for hours as part of a desperate search to find Rodriguez. The five injured were all in stable condition at nearby hospitals.

The incident comes just one day after a shooting at the Army base at Fort Hood, Texas, where an Army psychiatrist killed 13 people and injured 30.