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Chaos on Campus as Gunman Fires at Oregon Community College; Oregon State Police: 10 Dead in Campus Shooting. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 01, 2015 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:14] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news. Mass shooting. Police say 10 people are dead, 20 others wounded after a gunman opens fire at a community college in Oregon, moving from classroom to classroom as he targeted his victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exchanging shots with him. He's in a classroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Chaos on campus. Campus officials say the shooter is dead. Students have been evacuated. Now investigators are flooding the scene. They're trying to figure out how all this bloodshed could have happened.

And the search for a motive. The shooter apparently discussed his intentions with others online. But what led to this deadly outburst?

We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: Let's get to the breaking news. There's been a mass shooting at a community college in Oregon. Police say ten people are dead, 20 others wounded at Umpqua Community College. That's in Roseburg about 180 miles south of Portland, Oregon. Chilling police dispatch audio describes the bloody and chaotic scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The suspect is down. We've got multiple gunshot wounds. We are going to need multiple ambulances on scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I copy: Suspect is down, you have multiple injured. Sending multiple ambulances

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The sheriff says the shooter was, quote, "neutralized," and is now dead. And a source close to the investigation says authorities are examining social media postings apparently made by the gunman, discussing his intentions.

Our correspondents, analysts and guests have full coverage of this fast-moving story.

Let's begin with our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown. She's working her sources for us. Pamela, what are you finding out?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have learned, Wolf, that the gunman is a 20-year-old male who is now deceased after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement. The big question now, the motive. Was he a student at this school? We don't have the answer to that.

But what we've learned from law enforcement officials who have spoken to me and my colleague, Deborah Feyerick, is that investigators are right now looking at social media posts from the person they believe to be the gunman, alluding to what he was going to do: open fire today at Umpqua Community College.

We learned that around 10:38 a.m. there in Oregon, he walked into one of the buildings on campus, a very large campus, and started opening fire in one of the classrooms, and then moved to another classroom after that.

The 911 calls came into law enforcement. They flooded the scene there, and that is when there was an exchange of gunfire between officials and the gunman who is now dead, as we said.

The FBI is there, as well as ATF and their canine units. They have been going room to room, making sure that there are no bombs or booby- traps. But at this point, we're being told that the threat is mitigated, but the investigation into exactly how this happened and why this happened, Wolf, is still very active at this hour.

BLITZER: And no indication what was said yet, at least we don't know, on the social media postings?

BROWN: Well, he apparently warned -- warned about opening fire. That he was unhappy and that this was what he was going to do. He basically said, according to officials, "If I were you I wouldn't go to school today if you're in this area." So apparently alluding to what he was going to do.

But it's unclear how many people saw this, if this was really a warning that should have been heeded and that the right folks saw it: law enforcement, the community, the school. We don't know if they saw that. It's just what was on a blog or a social media website online.

We also, Wolf, heard from the officials who are investigating this case. They spoke at a news conference moments ago. And here's what we learned at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOHN HANLIN, DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON: And upon arriving there, they located the shooter in one of the buildings. Officers engaged that suspect. There was an exchange of gunfire. The shooter threat was neutralized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So even though the shooter threat was neutralized, Wolf, you can bet that they will be at that suspect's home, if they're not already looking through all of his electronics, trying to piece together what happened here. And whether any signs were missed along the way, which we see in so many of these horrific shootings, Wolf.

BLITZER: Another horrific shooting here in the United States. A mass shooting, indeed. Pamela, stand by.

Evan Perez, our justice reporter, is getting more information on the shooter. What are you learning, Evan?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we're hearing from law enforcement officials that they've recovered four guns there at the scene that they're looking at, that they're examining. They believe these belong to the shooter. And so now that's what the process begins for the ATF, for local law enforcement to try to figure out where he obtained these guns, which one was used in the shooting.

[17:05:00] We know that the law enforcement, when they arrived there, they exchanged gunfire with this shooter. So now the work begins to try to trace back when he might have obtained these firearms, perhaps if he's been planning this for some time.

Again, this is all part of putting together a picture of what -- what went into this shooting. We know that a lot of times these shooters spend a lot of time planning. They study past shootings. They look at all, frankly, at our coverage of past shootings, and then they see what else they can do. Again, a cry for help, perhaps, or to get attention when they carry out these mass shootings.

Again, this is all something that is under investigation. Four guns recovered at the scene are being examined believed to belong to the shooter, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to get more information on this shooter. Stand by.

Paul Morgan is an astronomy professor at the college, Umpqua Community College. He's joining us on the phone right now. Paul, thanks very much. I understand you heard the gunshots? Did you?

PAUL MORGAN, ASTRONOMY PROFESSOR, UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE (via phone): That's right. I was up at the UCC track, which is a very far northwest part of campus. And I heard four gunshots. There were very muffled.

BLITZER: What was it like? What was the reaction once you heard that?

MORGAN: Well, you know, we're a rural area. Hunting season starts in about a week or so. Sometimes people are actually, you know, sighting their rifles or something, so I didn't really make much of it. As I said, there were only four shots. The only thing that was odd is that the shots were rapid. Normally,

when you're doing something with a rifle, you know, you have a shot and then you wait and you have a shot. These were bam, bam, bam, bam.

But I wasn't anywhere -- you know, I'm about half a mile from the actual shooting scene. So I really wasn't involved in that at all. But I certainly heard the shots.

BLITZER: So how long did it take for you to learn exactly what was going on and learn this awful news?

MORGAN: I just took a few minutes after my crew decided they were finished for the day. They were headed home. We're building an observatory for the college. And so I came down to campus. I was going to meet with one of the facilities people and tell them about progress.

And suddenly, I saw row upon row of police cars. I saw ambulances. And then I saw FBI people with guns walking around the campus. And that was when I knew something was really bad.

BLITZER: Paul, did you know this 20-year-old shooter?

MORGAN: I don't know who he is. I don't know if he's a student or not. I've been teaching at the college for about 20 years. So there's been a lot of students that I know.

BLITZER: Describe a little bit the atmosphere at Umpqua Community College, the nature of the classrooms. Because we understand the shooter went into one of those classrooms and started shooting people.

MORGAN: Well, the classrooms, we have a number of buildings. The campus is a beautiful campus. And the classrooms, essentially, are on one -- two sides of one building, and then the other side of the building are the administrative offices for that group. Each classroom can hold anywhere from 20 to 40 students. Generally, there's just one door in, one door out.

BLITZER: What are the rules on campus as far as carrying weapons, carrying a gun?

MORGAN: We don't permit firearms on campus.

BLITZER: By anyone, including law enforcement?

MORGAN: We don't -- our security force is not armed.

BLITZER: Not armed. But...

MORGAN: Not armed.

BLITZER: So presumably if somebody walks around with a gun, people would notice, and that would be a sign of distress.

MORGAN: Absolutely. Yes. No, we wouldn't see people with firearms walking around campus. That would be pretty scary. BLITZER; By any chance do you know any of those who were killed or

wounded?

MORGAN: I haven't been able to reach any of my colleagues. The only -- there's only been one campus e-mail at 10:42 saying that the campus was in lockdown, active shooter, stay put, stay put. That's all I've got.

BLITZER: And where are you now, Paul?

MORGAN: I'm at home.

BLITZER: So you're at home just watching what's going on, on television?

MORGAN: Yes, I'm watching your news program, in fact.

BLITZER: All right. Paul Morgan is an astronomy professor at the college. If you could stand by, I'm going to get back to you.

But in the meantime Brian Todd is taking a closer look at all of this.

Brian, what are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... Wolf, that we can tonight, the information that we're getting on how this situation played out on the ground.

Now, according to police dispatch transmissions and sources familiar with the investigation, at least some of the gunfire took place at Snyder Hall. And this is Snyder Hall right here.

Also, some of the gunfire took place at the science building on the campus of Umpqua Community College. That there is the science building.

Now, according to the police dispatcher, an officer reported exchanging gunshots with the shooter. And the officer said he was in a classroom in the southeast corner of Snyder Hall.

Now, from what we have gathered, studying aerial views and other maps of the campus, this is Snyder Hall from the ground view. And this would be the southeast corner of Snyder Hall, right here where that officer reported he was exchanging gunfire with the shooter, right at about that point in the building.

Snyder is a building used for classes, workshops and meetings.

Law enforcement officials tell us the shooter started in one classroom and started moving to others, including the science building. And there were multiple patients in multiple classrooms.

[17:10:17] Now, according to the Douglas County fire marshal, it took law enforcement officers a while to secure each classroom.

And here's a layout of the school, as we showed you initially here, from the air. It sits on about 100 acres backed right up to the Umpqua River, which is here, and it runs along Interstate 5, which is just about up here.

There are at least 16 buildings on the campus at Umpqua, but if you count them from an aerial view, you can see at least a couple other auxiliary buildings up around here.

Now, according to the college board, the school has just about 2,000 undergraduate students. Here are some photos from the campus of just some of the other buildings.

Umpqua is not a traditional school. It's a two-year college. Some of the students, many of the students are part time, we're told. The average age of the students, according to the college board, is 28 years old. So you've got a mature student body on the campus at Umpqua.

The school is in a very rural area, at least 150 miles due south of Portland, Oregon. It first started teaching classes in 1961, Wolf, and it is right outside Roseburg, a town of about 22,000 people.

One thing I want to show you, Wolf, also, if you look at the aerial view of the community college and the surrounding community, the potential for even greater danger was there earlier today. Again, you've got the campus here. But then look just across the street.

A residential area, several homes right there. Again, the potential for danger at one point today could have been even greater, Wolf.

BLITZER: Normally a very quiet, peaceful, beautiful area, unfortunately spoiled today by a mass shooting, killing. Brian, stand by.

Our national correspondent, Deborah Feyerick, is also working her sources for us. We know federal authorities, law enforcement authorities are involved, state, local. What are you finding out, Deb?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're learning a little bit more about the conversation that the alleged shooter or the alleged gunman was having online last night with a group of people. And it's a disturbing conversation that he was having.

He talks about his plans for committing some sort of an act. Some people are giving him guidance how to do it. How -- the type of weapon to use. There are some that just seem to be encouraging him. Others saying don't; don't do it. One person actually puts up an address for an FBI tips hotline.

But the nature of the conversation that this alleged shooter is having is both -- at times he's characterized as both a pathetic loser but also as almost a twisted hero.

There is a reference, Wolf, to the UC Santa Barbara shooter, another very disturbed individual who wrote a very long manifesto about how no one was treating him right. So investigators looking very, very closely at this threat, at this

conversation. They do believe they've identified him. He was shot and killed on that campus during this active shooting event. He was shot. He was killed. They know who he is. And so we're looking now to formally and officially identify him through law enforcement, Wolf.

BLITZER: I -- presumably they've already identified those with whom he was communicating on this social media site, right?

FEYERICK: Well, they certainly are reaching out to those individuals. They're trying to assess how well these people knew him, how long he had been talking about doing this, why he did this, what his motive was.

You know, we know the UC Santa Barbara shooter, he did it because he felt he was being rejected by women on campus. And so he decided to get back at them and get back at these sort of beta [SIC] males who would, you know, sort of stand in his way. We don't know whether that's the same motive as this individual right now, but he was clearly very disturbed. And he was clearly looking to do something that would get him attention.

And as I said, some people on that website, they were encouraging him to do it. Others were saying don't. So all of that right now under investigation.

BLITZER: Those who were encouraging him to do it have some explaining to do, and presumably they'll be doing that explaining to law enforcement. Stand by, Deb. I know you're working your sources.

I want to bring in our law enforcement analyst, the former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes; the former assistant director of the U.S. Marshals Office, Arthur Roderick. Guys, thanks very much for joining us. Pamela Brown is still with us, our justice correspondent, as well.

Tom Fuentes, you just heard that latest indication that online this shooter was apparently discussing what he planned on doing the next day. You would think somebody who saw those kinds of social media postings would go to law enforcement and report what's going on.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You would think so, Wolf. But you know, what we're going to want to hear from these people is whether they just took it seriously or not. Maybe they just thought that he was just ranting and raving and, yes, yes, go ahead. And, you know, like sometimes people say, "I want to jump off the building," and they say, "Yes, go ahead." So we don't know how seriously it seemed to them that he was actually going to go do it.

[17:15:04] BLITZER: What do you think, Arthur?

RODERICK: I mean, I think unfortunately in this day and age, you know, somebody's got to report these types of communications. It seems like we're talking about this in hindsight. And if this individual was chatting the way he was chatting on this website, then obviously somebody's got to say something. You know, somebody put up an FBI tip line if that's confirmed. Then somebody should have come forward to law enforcement and said, "Hey, this individual is talking, you know, that he's going to shoot somebody up here."

BLITZER: They've got a problem.

RODERICK: We've got a problem.

BLITZER: Stand by, everybody stand by. We're getting new information. We'll take a quick break. Much more on the developing story, the shocking story out of Portland -- near Portland, Oregon, just south of Portland, Oregon.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:18] BLITZER: There's been yet another mass shooting, a mass killing at a college campus here in the United States. Ten people killed, more than 20 others injured at Oregon's Umpqua Community College. That's very close to Roseburg in Oregon.

Pamela Brown, our justice correspondent, is getting new information. The shooter is dead, a 20-year-old individual who apparently the night before, hours before posting certain indications that he was planning on going somewhere, at least, and starting to kill people?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

And Wolf, I've been looking at these -- the message board that he was apparently posting on. But I want to make it clear, law enforcement is still trying to validate these sites and make sure it was actually the man they believe to be the gunman.

But these are very disturbing communications about what he intended to do. He gave an ominous warning. If I were you, if you are in this area, I wouldn't go to school.

And also, it appears, just from looking at these communications and if it is indeed him, it appears he identified himself as a beta male, which is essentially the opposite of alpha male. So these are the individuals, like the Elliot Rodger in Santa Barbara who opened fire, you may remember, and had that disturbing YouTube video.

These are individuals who feel like sort of the world is against them, that they can't get women. They have a hard time, and they're not as social perhaps. And so there are these websites that law enforcement are looking at about being, you know, beta males, that this gunman, they believe, interacted on these sites and had some, you know, involvement with them.

BLITZER: Tom Fuentes, so you have...

FUENTES: If I could add to that. One of the things that's most disturbing to law enforcement in the last few years is that years ago before the Internet, before these websites, you know, these type of people couldn't find each other to communicate. They were so anti- social. They'd be holed up in their home. They wouldn't have friends. They wouldn't communicate.

Now with the Internet they can get in touch with each other and encourage each other to do bad things and be like a social extended club, where their very nature is to be against being in a club like that. So the fact that they identify as beta males, that they identify as being part of that group, where in the past they wouldn't have been a part of any group. They'd have just been home alone.

BROWN: And to his point, we did see some of that in this message board; some encouraging him; others saying you shouldn't do this. And so it's really disturbing. There's this whole dark world on the web where people who may not be in a club or fit in find that community online.

BLITZER: Let me get some reaction to this from Paul Morgan. He's an astronomy professor at Umpqua Community College. He's still on the phone with us.

You actually heard gunshots before you got out of the scene over there, professor. What do you make of the discussion that was going on, apparently, on these websites?

MORGAN (via phone): Oh, I'm just shocked. Absolutely shocked. This whole thing is just, you know -- I just don't know what to say. I'm just completely stunned.

BLITZER: You've been a professor there for, what, 20 years? Has there been any indication that there are these sort of these sordid underground individuals who are angry, frustrated? And they go online, they go to these chats and they talk about doing something dastardly like this?

MORGAN: No, I'm not aware of anything like that. We have had a very tranquil campus. It's been a very good atmosphere. I think the faculty and the students interact well. That's why I'm just absolutely stunned. I could not believe this would happen at Umpqua.

BLITZER: Tell us about the average student. You've been there, as I say, for 20 years. What are the kids like who study there? Some are not necessarily that young either, right?

MORGAN: We have a variety of students, from those that are right out of high school to those that are sort of trying to find a second career. I mean, I've taught students that are, you know, 20. I've taught students that are 60. We just have a wide variety of people that's part of the fun of being at a community college. We have a great array of students.

BLITZER: Has there been any history of unrest, violence, extremism, anger...

MORGAN: No.

BLITZER: ... anything like that on the campus?

MORGAN: No, nothing like that. That's why this is so shocking. I mean, it just took us all by surprise.

BLITZER: It is shocking indeed. Paul Morgan, stand by.

Art Roderick is with us still, as well, former system director of the U.S. Marshals Office. There's no way law enforcement, whether local, state, federal, can monitor tens of thousands if not more of these websites.

RODERICK: There is absolutely no way. You can go all the way back to Columbine. Look at the U.C. Santa Barbara shooter. Look at Newtown. Look at the Colorado Theater shooter, and they all fit into the same category: young, white, disenfranchised males.

So Tom's point was right on, that they're able to find each other on the Internet now. And they kind of rile each other up. And dare each other to do these types of incidences.

So it is very difficult. Somebody that's in these chat rooms has actually got to report this information.

[17:25:08] BLITZER: You would think that Virginia Tech -- you were there at Virginia Tech, Tom Fuentes. There's a history, unfortunately, here in the United States of, you know, mass shootings on college campuses and schools.

FUENTES: Well, not just college. I mean, every kind of campus. We have Sandy Hook Elementary School, you know, the disenfranchised person like Art's talking about that's a loser, that has mental problems, and then gets guns, you know, is able to arm themselves and then go into whether it's a grade school, high school, a college, a theater. There's no way we can lock down the entire society to prevent it when we have these type of people on the loose and now encouraging each other, which is something we didn't have before the Internet, before these dark sites.

BLITZER: And we just heard that maybe four guns were found at the scene before this individual was shot and killed by law enforcement.

All right. We'll take another quick break. We're following what's happening in Oregon. Much more of our coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [17:30:33] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it was only about 20 minutes into class and I heard like a loud bang. And I was like that's kind of weird so I look over, and there's no textbook. Thought maybe there'd be a textbook on the floor or a table or desk ramming into a wall. But it was kind of loud so it was like what is going on. So then I looked out the window and there was a couple girls running, like sprinting away from the building. And then I heard screaming after that first gunshot.

And then I looked out and I saw the people running and I said to the teacher we need to get out of here right now. And then we heard the second and third gunshots. And she had opened the door and before I knew it I was already at the student center because I ran -- booked it over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're continuing to follow the breaking news out of Roseburg in Oregon at Umpqua Community College. Ten people dead. At least 20 people injured. A mass shooting under way earlier in the day. The shooter shot and killed by police.

Joining us on the phone right now is Chelsea Gorrow, she's a local reporter with the "Register-Guard" newspaper.

And Chelsea, you're at the fire station over there, the fire department where they're about to hold a news conference updating us on what's going on. What's the latest you're hearing?

CHELSEA GORROW, REPORTER, REGISTER-GUARD NEWSPAPER: Well, I am stationed here at the fire department. It's right next door to Oregon state police's regional office. So they're going to hold a press conference here at 3:00. And they're expected to give us an update. The first press conference they held there was not much of an update to offer. But we're hoping for more information.

BLITZER: 3:00 Pacific Time. 6:00 p.m. Eastern. Do you know who's going to be briefing you?

GORROW: There's a member of the sheriff -- the Douglas County Sheriff's Office is going to be briefing us. It will not be the sheriff this time, but I'm not sure who it's going to be.

BLITZER: So, so far they haven't officially released numbers as to how many are dead and how many are injured, right?

GORROW: That's right. The attorney general did say that there were 13 dead, but the sheriff refused to confirm that. So we don't know.

BLITZER: And they haven't --

GORROW: At this time.

BLITZER: They haven't released the name, the identity of the shooter other than the fact that the shooter was shot and killed by law enforcement. GORROW: That's right. He fired at police and police fired back.

They said it was an exchange of gunfire.

BLITZER: And we do know a 20-year-old individual who was the shooter.

All right. We're going to stay in touch with you, Chelsea Gorrow of the "Register-Guard" newspaper. Thank you.

GORROW: Yes. Thank you.

BLITZER: Joining us on the phone also right now is the Oregon State Representative Cedric Hayden. He represents the Roseburg area.

Thanks so much, Cedric, for joining us. What can you tell us about what happened in terms of how many people were confirmed dead and how many people are injured?

CEDRIC HAYDEN, OREGON STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, thank you, Wolf. This is Cedric Hayden. And I don't have specific information more than what you already have. I was working in district so I am, you know, in the House District 7 here. We recently had legislative day so we've been (INAUDIBLE) for the last couple of days. But I am waiting. I have been in contact with the command center down there and have been waiting to go ahead. I'm about 45 minutes away where my office currently is in the district.

And so I'm waiting for the appropriate time to be there. And at that time I expect to get a little bit more information. But the news reports that we're hearing are basically the same as you somewhere between seven up to 13. And one of the reports was 17. But I don't have any numbers that can confirm anything further than that.

BLITZER: Have you confirmed what we have been reporting? The shooter a 20-year-old, presumably a student at this community college.

HAYDEN: I can't confirm that it was a student, but yes, it does appear to be confirmed that it's a 20-year-old male that has deceased as his actions with the engaging the police department down there. And we're told that the FBI is involved and that the local county sheriffs are involved, the local police. And of course the state police are involved down there. And a couple of hours ago they said it went to a code four which means that there's no more threat. And so they didn't need any more help. Said they had all the help there.

And so my office has been in a holding pattern here to where we can get down there and get in the command center itself and get a little bit more information.

BLITZER: It's also pretty shocking and we've been reporting this, Cedric, that the shooter apparently posted on social media the night before the attack indications of his intentions to go out there start killing people, warning individuals to stay away from certain places. Have you heard about this?

[17:35:01] HAYDEN: I have heard about that. That was actually asked in the local press conference here with the state police. And they would not confirm whether that was true or not. I have not seen any of those posts myself. I have heard that rumor, though.

BLITZER: Tell us a little bit about Umpqua Community College.

HAYDEN: So Umpqua Community College is a tight knit community. If you -- physically it's kind of a one road in, one road out. So it's kind of a separate up on the hill. They've got 16 buildings there. It's a little over 3,000 full time students with 16,000 part-time students. And the thing that's a little bit unique about Umpqua Community College is different than other community colleges is our industry here is usually natural resources, timber industries, and a lot of that has gone away over the years.

And so we have an age of about 38 years of age as an average age at Umpqua Community College where it's not always that case at community colleges you might expect a little bit younger population. But as we retool and rethink and re-educate, it's usually a little older population. So a lot of these people are, you know, people with families and children and very much part of the community.

BLITZER: Have you heard anything about names of individuals who may have been shot and killed?

HAYDEN: We have no information on that at all. We've had a lot of requests. I don't have any information on who that might be.

BLITZER: According to the organization, Cedric, every town for gun safety this is actually, and it's pretty shocking number, the 142nd school shooting here in the United States since the Newtown, Connecticut, massacre. There have been 40 school shootings since the start of the year, this according to the "New York Times."

Did you ever think your district would be counted among these kinds of mass shooting incidents?

HAYDEN: No, absolutely not. But as we think back 17 years to the first here in Springfield, Oregon, which is not very far away, it's been just a little less than 20 years, the shock comes back. And there's just -- there's just got to be a solution that we can work in the legislature on that addresses the types of issues as we go through this process and learn from the process that we've got to, you know, put a stop to this.

BLITZER: How easy is it for someone to go out and get a gun in your area?

HAYDEN: Well, the gun laws are changing in Oregon. As of August 1st, I think it was -- or August 9th, I believe the legislature put background checks in place here. But I think it's as far as states go I suppose we're in the middle as far as what access we don't have any information of what this shooter, how they access or what the weapon was, we don't know at this point.

BLITZER: Cedric Hayden is the Oregon state representative who represents this area, the Roseburg area where Umpqua Community College is located.

Cedric, thank you very much. We'll stay in close touch with you.

HAYDEN: Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: All right. We'll take another quick break. We're following breaking news out of Oregon. Much more coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:43:01] BLITZER: We're following the breaking news. Yet another mass shooting on a college campus here in the United States. This one at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.

Joining us on the phone right now is Kristen Brady, she's a student at Umpqua Community College. She was actually on the campus when the shooting started.

And you saw, you heard, Kristen, what was going on. First of all, how are you doing right now?

KRISTEN BRADY, WITNESS TO THE SHOOTING: I'm pretty rattled up. I'm still kind of a little shaky afterwards.

BLITZER: Which is totally understandable. Tell us where you were and what you saw and heard.

BRADY: Well, what was going on was that a friend of mine and I were leaving our science lab. And we were right by my car when we started hearing this popping sound. And it was a little worrisome at first, but then we thought maybe it was just a car backfiring until one of the teachers was telling us that it was an active school shooting. And we should get in our cars. And my friend she got immediately into her car and drove off. I got in my car and I kind of panicked and got down on the -- in my car, I wasn't really sure what to do.

BLITZER: So you just got down on the floor of your car and just waited there? Is that what you're saying?

BRADY: Well, at first. And I was just sitting there and I wondered what in the world am I supposed to do now. And I'm looking at the science building and it came to me, none of my fellow students know what's going on. And I'm seeing this young woman leaving the science building with ear buds in her ears and looking down at her phone texting out in the open. And I just -- I made a choice to get out of my car, and I yelled at her, the poor thing. I yelled at her there's a shooting, get in the building. And at that point I knew there was no chance of me getting back into my car. You know, this person was still actively shooting.

[17:45:09] So I ran with her to get into the science building. And as we're running, I see Dr. Richards, the head of the Science Department, walking out of the teachers' offices. And you can tell she just wasn't quite sure what was going on yet. So the poor Dr. Richards I'm yelling at her, there's a shooter, there's a shooter. And Dr. Champion, my anatomy and physiology teacher, opens our lab door and is ordering us to get in. And we all go into the center of the science building. And I actually

found out from Dr. Breslin, our chemistry teacher, that actually that area of the science building is probably the safest building to be in at that time. So I mean all the teachers helped us feel, you know, a little more relaxed. And, I mean, there was a lot of students worried about their siblings, worried about friends, I was worried about my friends.

BLITZER: Did you have any friends who are shot or God forbid killed?

BRADY: My friend Jorge, a friend of his was injured in the shooting. None of my close friends were actually hurt from this shooting, thank goodness.

BLITZER: Do you know who this shooter was?

BRADY: No. No idea.

BLITZER: And word is not spreading on the campus about the identity of this shooter. People are waiting for the official announcement from law enforcement, is that right?

BRADY: Yes. We're still waiting. I'm sure they would probably either contact us through e-mail or, you know, by phone. Either way -- or they may never tell us who the shooter was just for confidentiality sake, I would think.

BLITZER: No, we'll find out fairly soon I'm sure.

Kristen, are you OK? Are you home now?

BRADY: Yes, I am home with my family.

BLITZER: All right. Good. I want you to be -- stay with us. Don't go too far away. We'll stay in close touch with you. And good luck to you. Good luck to everybody over there at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.

We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:57:00] BLITZER: The White House has just announced that President Obama will make a statement to the nation on the shootings in Oregon at 6:20 p.m. Eastern, that's about -- a little bit less than half an hour or so from now. The White House says the president will go into the White House briefing room to address the American people on this latest mass shooting at a college campus here in the United States.

We're also standing by right at the top of the hour a few minutes from now for a news conference from law enforcement, the sheriff, among others, in Roseburg, Oregon, where the shooting occurred to update us on what's going on.

Horrendous situation. Ten people shot and killed. At least people 20 injured. We'll get new numbers, those numbers presumably will be changing at the top of the hour when we go to this news conference.

Once again we're standing by to hear from President Obama as well. He's been fully briefed on what's going on. In the meantime, let's bring back our law enforcement analyst, the former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes, former assistant director of the U.S. Marshals Office Art Roderick.

Tom, the president of the United States goes out and makes a statement like this so quickly only a few hours after this incident. It underscores how presumably angry he is over yet another mass killing like this.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, he could just record one speech and put it on the air about every three days given the frequency of these things, maybe even more. You know, it's just one thing after the other, and then we try to look at which one is more horrendous. If we don't change anything after 20 some kids are slaughtered in Sandy Hook Elementary School, and we look at these other events and say, well, it's just business as usual on school campuses whether it's grade school, middle school, high school, college, or a movie theater, let's throw in a few other locations, it's just a continuing thing that we see over and over and over.

BLITZER: Yes. And I want to go to Rick Francona in a moment but, Art, I assume you agree.

ARTHUR RODERICK, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS OFFICE: Absolutely. This is obviously unfortunate to a very small community like this and obviously the first responders are from that community so obviously this is going to have a devastating impact.

BLITZER: Let's talk about that community. CNN military analyst, retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona knows the Roseburg area well. He lives nearby. He's been to the campus on many occasions and he's joining us now. Talk to us a little bit about the area. How are people there reacting, Rick?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, they're all shocked, Wolf. I mean, it's very typical in most of these instances, you know, everybody says, how could it happen here? Well, this is one of those places where you really do say how could it happen here? Basically it's timber in the street. They've gone through some rough economic times. But it's a very close knit community. 25,000 people, rural but they are on the I-5 Corridor so they can, you know, get people in and out when they need to for resources.

So it's been of a shock. I'm not far from the campus now. I'm going to go over and kind of get a feel for what is going on over there but everybody I've talked to, it's the exact same thing, we moved here because we didn't want this to happen.

BLITZER: And it's a very peaceful, beautiful scenic area in that part of Oregon. Stand by, I'm going to get back to you, Rick. We have a lot to cover. Once again we're waiting for this news conference right at the top of the hour from the sheriff in the area.

[17:55:03] We'll also hear from President Obama from the White House in about 20 minutes or so from now. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Happening now, breaking news, campus massacre. Police are securing the scene of a deadly shooting at a community college in Oregon. The situation is fluid and casualty count is rising as victims are found in multiple classrooms. We're standing by to hear from President Obama. He'll speak out about the shooting this hour.

Gunman killed. Police say there was a shootout with the killer on the campus that left him dead. We're getting new information about his rampage and the weapons he apparently left behind.

Online clues. Sources now say the gunman posted information about his plans last night.