The shootings occurred as the hotel was crowded with fans in town for the New Year's Day Outback Bowl football game between Purdue and Georgia

December 31, 1999
Web posted at: 8:49 a.m. EST (1349 GMT)

TAMPA, Florida (CNN) -- A 36-year-old hotel employee was charged Thursday with five counts of first degree murder after allegedly killing four co-workers at the hotel, then fatally shooting a woman in an apparent botched carjacking.

Three other hotel employees are in critical condition from the shooting rampage.

Authorities identified the suspected shooter as Silvio Layva, a Cuban immigrant who began working at the Radisson Bay Harbor Hotel in west Tampa in late November.

Tampa Police Chief Bennie Holder said Layva has refused to talk with authorities.

"At this time we don't have a motive for the shooting. In fact as we speak, the suspect is apparently not concerned about what happened. He's upstairs sleeping," Holder told reporters, referring to the cell where Layva is being held.

Holder said the shooting spree began around 3 p.m. -- about the time of a shift change -- with the suspect opening fire on two employees outside the hotel before going inside the building, which was filled with guests planning to attend a college football game.

TIMELINE Multiple shootings in the U.S. in 1999     MESSAGE BOARD Rage at work

Three of the victims were found in the lobby while another was shot dead in the pool area. Police have seized a .9mm semiautomatic and a .38-caliber revolver.

After fleeing the hotel, Holder said, Layva then stole an employee's vehicle from the parking lot, drove to a nearby intersection and tried to "carjack a white female."

"For unknown reasons, he shot and killed this white female, at which time he attempted a couple more carjackings," Holder said.

The suspect then stole a car from a man who willingly gave up his keys to his vehicle and managed to escape injury. Police eventually caught the suspect in that car, a white Chevy Celebrity, after a short chase.

The suspect surrendered without incident and was taken into custody, Holder said. Layva has been charged with five counts of first degree murder and more charges are pending.

"We have attempted to interview the suspect. After being advised of his rights, he refused to talk with us," said the police chief. "He hasn't told us anything."

Holder said police were trying to determine if Layva has a criminal background. He said his office has been in touch with authorities in Alabama, where the suspect once lived, but there was no immediate information to indicate a criminal past.

"No one can figure out what caused him to go on this shooting spree this afternoon," Holder said.

The shooting spree took place at a time when the Radisson was filled with football fans preparing for the New Year's Day Outback Bowl between Georgia and Purdue.

"There's nothing in the world that serious that should make you kill innocent bystanders. I'm talking about these people didn't have a chance, they didn't have a chance," said Lawrence Wilson, a Radisson employee who witnessed the spree.