Relatives of a UPS driver killed after robbery suspects took him hostage and led police on a wild chase across south Florida questioned on Friday why officers had to unleash a torrent of gunfire when the truck got stuck in rush-hour traffic.

Both suspects were killed along with the driver and another motorist, who was waiting at a busy intersection in Miramar when officers ran up and opened fire from behind the cars of bystanders.

The 20-mile chase and the final shootout were broadcast live on television, including the moment when one of the men tumbled out of the truck, mortally wounded.

The UPS driver was identified by his family as Frank Ordonez, a father of two who was filling in on someone else’s route on Thursday when the robbery suspects commandeered his truck.

“I saw on TV when he fell, and I knew it was him. I saw how they killed my brother,” Luis Ordonez told the Associated Press on Friday.

He said the “police were insane. Instead of talking to them, they just started shooting. I know they [the robbery suspects] were shooting back at them, but it was easy to just cover behind police cars. They could have just covered themselves.”

George Piro, FBI special agent in charge, was asked at a news conference on Thursday night whether either the UPS driver or the other victim could have been killed by police bullets.

“It is very, very early on in the investigation and it would be completely inappropriate to discuss that,” Piro said. Another brother, Roy Ordonez, accused the officers of being “trigger happy”.

Multiple agencies were involved in the chase and the final shootout. But the Coral Gables police chief, Ed Hudak, suggested that the blame belongs with the robbery suspects.

“This is what dangerous people do to get away,” Hudak said. “And this is what people will do to avoid capture.”

Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association, said the officers confronting the boxed-in UPS truck faced a tough situation.

“We have a situation with one hostage and the two suspects – what happens if one of them runs 10ft and takes over a city bus with 50 riders? Now we have a situation that is 50 times worse,” Eells told the AP.

Four people died in the rush-hour shootout, the FBI confirmed.

In Coral Gables, where the incident began, police said a jewelry store worker was also injured but did not say if she had been shot.

It all started shortly after 4pm on Thursday, when police in Coral Gables received a silent alarm from inside the Regent Jewelers store in the city’s Miracle Mile area, about five miles west of Miami.

Hudak that two suspects were at the store and they fled in a truck after the police arrived, then carjacked the UPS delivery truck and its driver, starting the chase, running red lights and narrowly avoiding crashes along the way. It was not clear on Friday whether they stole any jewelry.

The UPS truck finally stopped when blocked in with traffic on a busy roadway.

Witness Katherine Gonzalez said officers were near her vehicle when “out of nowhere” the shooting started.

“It was shocking,” she said.



“We are deeply saddened to learn a UPS service provider was a victim of this senseless act of violence,” company spokesman David Graves said. “We extend our condolences to the family and friends of our employee and the other innocent victims.”

