Orlando Shooter's Mom: 'I Am So Sorry'

Suspect's lawyer calls him 'very, very mentally ill'
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 7, 2009 1:25 PM CST
Orlando Shooter's Mom: 'I Am So Sorry'
Jason Rodriguez makes his first appearance before Circuit Judge Walter Komanski at the Orange County Jail on Saturday.   (AP Photo/Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda, Pool)

The lawyer of the man accused of killing one and wounding five during yesterday's shooting spree in Orlando says his client is "very, very mentally ill." He offered few details but said Jason Rodriguez's alleged shooting spree "looks like a classic stress overload" set off by a chemical imbalance, reports the Orlando Sentinel. The suspect's mother, meanwhile, tearfully apologized. "I am so sorry for everything that's happened," she said. "This is very, very hurtful."

Police shed little new light on the case today. It appears that Rodriguez entered the offices of Reynolds, Smith and Hall, an engineering and architectural firm, and opened fire at random. Rodriguez told police that he blamed the company, which fired him as an engineer two years ago, for his current financial straits. A judge today declared him destitute and ordered him held without bail. (More Jason Rodriguez stories.)

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