ORLANDO -- One of the victims in Friday's downtown Orlando shooting has now been released from the hospital.
Forty-year-old Ferrell Hickson was shot Friday afternoon at the Gateway Center in Downtown Orlando.
News 13 learned he was released from the hospital Sunday.
$5,000 Reward For Help Tracing Shooting Suspect’s Steps
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.
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News 13 linked up with “The Cop Doc,” Dr. Richard Weinblatt, to ask him what you should do if you find yourself in the middle of a shooting.
Cop Doc On Surviving The Worst
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 lawyer 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.
News 13 spoke with Rodriguez’s former mother-in-law, who 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 told News 13. “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.
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 told News 13 the boy wanted to know why his father “shot all those people.”
About The 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
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.
Four of the surviving patients remain in stable condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Two underwent surgery Friday.
Praying For The Victims -- And The Suspect
When family members had no way of knowing whether their loved ones inside the building were OK Friday, College Park Baptist Church opened its doors, and plan on doing it again Monday.
The congregation stopped and remembered those who were still suffering Sunday during its regular service.
Pastor Sean King read the names of the six victims shot just blocks away, each named followed by the toll of a bell.
“I think it’s really sad that that happened,” said Nancy Hall, a member of the College Park Baptist congregation. “There’s a lot of hurting people out there.”
Those hurting from the tragedy can find sactuary at this sactuary. While the eighth floor of the Gateway Center will remain closed Monday, employees of the firm will instead report to the the church, located at 1914 Edgewater Drive, where grief counselors will be on hand to help those impacted cope with the violence.
“I just feel terrible for them. They certainly have my sympathy,” said church member Ginny McBride.
Some church members even showed some sympathy for the accused gunman, who is under a suicide watch.
Joe Pipkin said has experience with people like Jason Rodriguez.
“He has all kinds of things that have him going in different directions, that have him all kinds of confused. So I feel for the man,” Pipkin told News 13.
Other churchgoers said they did not understand Rodriguez, but would still pray for him.
“It’s just hard to believe that anyone could possibly do anything like that,” McBride said. “How is that a solution? I don’t know.”
“There’s so much distress and evil in the world, and there’s so much love,” Hall told News 13. “It just seems like Satan is winning us over some how, but he won’t in the long haul.”
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