Police shoot dead UPS driver being held hostage

A UPS driver held hostage after a jewellery heist has been shot dead along with two robbers and another bystander, the FBI said.

Two armed thieves targeted Regent Jewelers store in Coral Gables, South Florida, before stealing a truck driven by 27-year-old Frank Ordonez and leading the police on a chase.

The truck got stuck in traffic and the pursuit ended in gunfire at a busy intersection during rush hour, according to the FBI.

Around 200 rounds were fired by police during a shoot-out with the suspects.

Both robbers were shot and killed, including a bystander who was in a nearby vehicle.

Television news helicopters showed first responders tending to at least one person who fell out of the UPS truck, moments after several shots were fired when the chase ended.

Mr Ordonez was only on the first day of the job and leaves behind a one-year-old daughter, the Mail Online reports.

FBI Special Agent in Charge, George Piro, said during a news conference on Thursday night: “It’s very early in the investigative process.

“There are a lot of questions that are still unanswered.”

In Coral Gables, where the incident began, police said a jewellery store worker was also injured but did not say if she had been shot. There was no immediate update on her condition.

The incident began at around 4pm when police in Coral Gables received a silent alarm at the Regent Jewelers store in the city’s Miracle Mile area, about 5 miles west of Miami.

Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak said during a news conference that two suspects were at the store and that shots were being fired when police, summoned by a silent alarm from inside the store, arrived.

The suspects fled in a truck, then carjacked the UPS delivery truck and its driver not long afterward.

They started to flee into the southern portion of Broward County, running red lights and narrowly avoiding some crashes along the way.

The UPS truck finally stopped in one of the middle lanes of a busy roadway, caught behind a wall of other vehicles waiting for a red light to turn green.

Television footage showed several officers on foot, some with guns drawn, approaching the truck from the rear and the driver’s side once it stopped.

Witness Katherine Gonzalez said officers were in front of her vehicle, a few feet away from the UPS truck, when the shoot-out started “out of nowhere” – describing it as “shocking”.

News helicopters were following the chase and at least one showed the conclusion live.

It was unclear if the shots were fired from inside the truck, from law enforcement who were moving in or a combination.

Mr Piro was asked if there was a chance that either the driver or the bystander may have been hit by a bullet fired by police.

He replied: “It is very, very early on in the investigation and it would be completely inappropriate to discuss that.

“We have just begun to process the crime scene. As you can imagine, this is going to be a very complicated crime scene.”

During the robbery, a bullet hit a window at Coral Gables’ City Hall, which was locked down, Mr Hudak said.

He added that no one inside City Hall was believed to be injured.

The police chief said officers responded within 90 seconds, including one officer on foot who was involved in a nearby traffic stop.

It was not immediately clear if anything from the jewellery store was taken, Mr Hudak added.

Hours after the chase ended, medical gauze, wrappers and other debris remained strewn across the Miramar roadway’s middle lane, next to the truck which still had its right rear door open.

Traffic remained jammed and it was not clear how long it would take investigators to clear the scene.

There are multiple crime scenes including the jewellery store, the site where the UPS truck was stolen, and the intersection where the incident ended.

UPS spokesman David Graves said the company would cooperate with authorities.

He added in a statement: “We are deeply saddened to learn a UPS service provider was a victim of this senseless act of violence.

“We extend our condolences to the family and friends of our employee and the other innocent victims involved in this incident.”

Additional reporting by agencies

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