Two bystanders are dead after a hostage situation in south Florida, and it is police who are being scrutinized. Footage from media outlets are circulating online, showing the fatal incident in which two robbery suspects had taken a UPS driver and his truck hostage. Gunshots were fired. It appeared that the hostage, identified as 27-year-old father of two Frank Ordonez, and at least one of the suspects tumbled out of the vehicle. Some blame police for the victim’s death.
You can see footage of the incident here. Please note that it is graphic and disturbing.
“They caught the fucking UPS guy, I’m telling you,” said a viewer in the footage above.
RELATED: Stepfather of UPS Driver Slain During Hostage Situation Says Police ‘Murdered’ Him
The second victim has been identified as 70-year-old Richard Cutshaw.
Here’s another vantage point reviewed by Brandon Friedman, a former official at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Obama administration:
Friedman, a former captain in the U.S. Army, knocked the police response.
CBS 4 investigative reporter Jim DeFede was more diplomatic and even-keeled, but nonetheless said questions need to be asked about this frightening rush-hour shootout.
Officially speaking, it’s unclear whose bullets ended the lives of Ordonez and Cutshaw, who was in a nearby vehicle.
In a joint press conference with police Thursday night, FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro said two armed suspects robbed the Regent Jewelers in Coral Gables during the afternoon. Shots were fired as they fled the scene.
The suspects hijacked a UPS truck and kidnapped the driver, Piro said. A high-speed pursuit continued through Broward and Miami-Dade counties, and ended in the city of Miramar, he said.
“The armed suspects engaged law enforcement, opened fire,” he said. “There was exchanged fire between law enforcement and the suspects, and unfortunately the suspects are now deceased, but two additional innocent civilians were also deceased.”
The FBI is leading the investigation. Piro didn’t say whose bullets hit the victims.
“As I mentioned earlier, it is very, very early on in the investigation, and it would be completely inappropriate to discuss that,” he said, adding that suspects had opened fire on law enforcement as they were fleeing officers. He said that the investigation on this was ongoing, and providing information would be “inappropriate at this time.”
Ordonez was identified as the father of two girls. A GoFundMe spokesperson told Law&Crime about two verified campaigns in his name: 1) by his brother; and 2) from a person identifying themselves as a UPS driver from New York.
[Screengrab via CBS This Morning]