$5,000 reward for help tracing shooting suspect's steps

Sunday, November 8, 2009

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There's $5,000 offered for information on Jason Rodriguez's whereabouts on Friday.

ORLANDO -- Investigators have asked for the public's help to trace the movements of the suspect in Friday's deadly downtown shooting spree.

CrimeLine released a bulletin late Saturday containing surveillance photos of Jason Rodriguez, plus photos of his car and license plate.

Police said they want to know where Rodriguez went during the 2½ hours between the time he allegedly shot six people inside the Gateway Center office building, from where he was fired two years ago, and the time he was arrested at his mother's home.

If you can help, call CrimeLine at (800) 423-TIPS (8477).

You may be eligible for a $5,000 reward.

Rodriguez, 40, remains locked up at the Orange County Jail. He was denied bond at his first court appearance Saturday.

His attorney said Rodriguez is very mentally ill, and he remains under suicide watch.

The family of Rodriguez's ex-wife said they had no doubt he had troubles in his life.

Rodriguez's former mother-in-law describes him as a man who could be charming -- as long as he was on his medication.

When he refused to take it, she said he became an angry and often violent man.

The woman who opened her home to Rodriguez for five years said if he is convicted, she does not think he should be put to death.

"I'm nobody to judge," Rodriguez's ex-mother-in-law said. "I believe -- he has some kind of mental trouble and he needs help. I don't know what happened, when he did, what he did, but I believe he wasn't right at the time."

"No excuse, I will never excuse something like that, but I wonder if he was sick. Did he know what he was doing?" she said.

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Rodriguez's ex-wife's mother said she was especially concerned for her 8-year-old grandson, who watched some of Friday's news reports. She also said the boy wanted to know why his father "shot all those people."

About the shooting victims

Six people were shot Friday at the office of Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc.

Otis Beckford, 26, was killed. Five others were wounded:

Keyondra Harrison, 27
Ferrell Hickson, 40
Gregory Hornbeck, 39
Guy Lugenbeel, 62
Edward Severino, 34

One of the surviving victims was taken to Florida Hospital. The other four were recovering at Orlando Regional Medical Center Saturday.

Five of the victims, including Beckford, worked at Reynolds, Smith and Hills, on the eighth floor of the Gateway Center building.

Hickson worked for the Florida Department of Transportation and was at the office on business, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Meanwhile, Beckford's fiancée said she is waiting for the medical examiner to release his remains so she can begin making funeral plans.

Family members told the Sentinel they did not believe Beckford knew Rodriguez, saying Beckford began working at the firm after the suspect was fired in June 2007.

The family said Beckford will be buried in West Palm Beach, where he graduated from high school and worked before taking the job at Reynolds, Smith and Hills as a computer draftsman.

Back to work

Workers were allowed back into the Gateway Center this weekend to pick up belongings left behind when they were forced to evacuate the building Friday.

The building will reopen Monday, but the doors to Reynolds, Smith, and Hills will remain closed.

Employees of the firm will instead report to the College Park Baptist Church, located at 1914 Edgewater Drive, where grief counselors will be on hand to help those impacted cope with the violence.

This story is from our Bright House Networks partner, Central Florida News 13.