ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – An ex-employee of an engineering consulting firm who was laid off in 2007 opened fire at his former workplace in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, killing one person and wounding five others, police said.

The suspected gunman, who caused panic for several hours at the Gateway Center building in downtown Orlando, was arrested at his mother's home after fleeing the scene, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Police Chief Val Demings told reporters.

Police named the suspect as 40-year-old Jason Rodriguez, who had worked for 11 months as an engineer at the Orlando office of the Reynolds, Smith & Hill consulting company before being laid off for "deficient" performance, a company spokesman said.

CNN showed footage of Rodriguez being led away in handcuffs and said he replied "They left me to rot", when asked by reporters why he had opened fire.

The shooting occurred a day after a mass shooting at a U.S. army base in Texas which killed 13 people.

(Reporting by Barbara Liston; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and David Storey)