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The Situation Room
Broward County Shooting Suspect Now in Custody; Police Give Update on Florida School Shooting; At Least 2 Dead in Florida School Shooting Aired 5-7p ET
Aired February 14, 2018 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SCOTT ISRAEL, BROWARD COUNTY SHERIFF: Can you hear me? He was taken under arrest without incident.
[17:00:08] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have anyone else in mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have an age on him?
ISRAEL: I believe he was approximately 18 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least one dead?
ISRAEL: Multiple.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple, so more than one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said the school, there's no children inside?
ISRAEL: Well, I don't know. We believe -- we believe at this point that all children that we know about are cleared and are outside the building.
However, we don't know if there are injured people. We don't know if there are people hiding. We don't know, so we will not begin to release information or begin to open up the crime scene until the SWAT components say the school is safe and clear. When I hear all clear, we'll begin the next phase of this investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are any teachers dead? Are there...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard a Mr. Peagel (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Injuries? Approximately how many?
ISRAEL: Well, we -- I don't know how many injuries there were, but we know 14 people were transported to area hospitals with varying degrees of wounds. What we'll do is we'll wait for the school to be cleared. We'll go to the next phase. I know this is critically important. We'll release information to Broward County, and we will keep you up to date. But right now, there's no more information to inquire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you talk about where the shooter was? Was he inside the school? We heard, and I know there's a lot of rumors there were firecrackers and inside. Was the shooter inside the school?
ISRAEL: He was outside and inside at varying times. He certainly was inside. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of the dead, have their families been notified? Have all the families been notified?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheriff Scott Israel addressing the media right there.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're continuing to follow CNN's breaking news coverage of a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. That's north of Miami. The Broward County school superintendent says there are numerous fatalities.
And just a short time ago, we saw pictures of one young man apparently in police custody. The Broward County Sheriff's department confirms a suspect is now in custody.
CNN's Brian Todd is monitoring the situation for us. Brian, lots of moving parts right now. What's the latest?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of moving parts, Wolf. The situation is still very fluid. Here's what we know at the moment.
The Broward County school system says this occurred sometime close to afternoon dismissal at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, north of Miami. Gun fire was heard then, several shots. The school superintendent in Broward County, Robert Runcle, said there are numerous fatalities. We just heard the sheriff, Scott Israel, say more than one.
Law enforcement sources telling CNN there are at least two fatalities. Sources telling us, as well, the Broward County sheriff there saying there are at least 14 victims who were transported to local hospitals.
Now, the father of one student says his daughter told him there was, quote, "blood all over the place" in the wake of this shooting.
The Broward County sheriff says the shooter is in custody. He was a student, they believe, and they do not think he is a current student there. There's aerial footage from earlier of a young man being placed into a police vehicle. The school went into immediate lockdown. Some kids, we were told, were hiding in closets. One teacher said she sheltered some 19 students in a classroom. Here are some witness accounts from students.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first we thought it was a fire drill, just another fire drill, because we had another one earlier. But as soon as the fire drill got pulled -- the fire alarm got pulled, and said we were evacuating, I was like, "That's not a drill."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's insane. It's unnecessary. It's -- it's -- there's no words to describe how I feel right now. I was shaking. I was panicking. There was all-out panic about the school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Sheriff said all the students they know about have been cleared from the school, but they're still looking through that school right now.
Students tell CNN there was a lot of confusion as the shooting began. They say a fire alarm went off, and students started to leave the school more deliberately as if they were evacuating for a fire alarm. Then students and teachers realized that it was not a fire alarm, and they started acting more frantically.
There is an indication that at least one police officer arrived fairly quickly on the scene. A student says that an officer got there shortly after they heard shots, the officer brandishing a weapon and a bullet-proof vest. Kids started running outside, they said. Some took shelter in a nearby Wal-Mart. The superintendent says they have no reason to believe there was more than one shooter. They said they received no warning ahead of time that something could be happening.
Wolf, the sheriff said that the shooter was outside and inside the school at various times and he was found off-campus and arrested without incident -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brianna. Thanks very much.
On the phone with us right now is Broward County commissioner Michael Udine.
Commissioner, thanks so much for joining us. You're on the scene. Do you have, first of all, an update on the number of fatalities?
MICHAEL UDINE, BROWARD COUNTY COMMISSIONER (via phone): They have reported fatalities. I'm not at liberty to give out the exact number. The active shooter is in custody. They're transporting students now that are in the 2high school to a local area hotel that's close by, where they can be reunited with their parents.
[17:05:07] The sheriff is out on the scene, and victim advocates will be there tonight to assist on that level.
BLITZER: What about -- yes, I was going to say, Commissioner, what about the number of wounded?
UDINE: I heard between 14 and 20. They've been transferred to area hospitals. And -- and they're being treated, you know, as we speak.
BLITZER: And the suspect -- one shooter is under arrest, is that right?
UDINE: Yes. I'm told he was arrested without incident. And the active portion of the shooting incident is obviously over at this point.
BLITZER: The -- there was video earlier of a man in a maroon shirt being arrested. Was that the suspect, Commissioner?
UDINE: I didn't see the video, so I'm not sure. I'm at the scene, so I didn't see that.
BLITZER: Tell us about when this was first called in as an emergency.
UDINE: I got a call, believe it or not, from my daughter who goes to the school. She had just left. She was home. She had left early. I came over with the police department, with the Broward sheriff's office, and then you know, kind of, my phone started blowing up.
So I've just been trying to get information out to the parents who were obviously looking to be reunited with their children. I was -- I'm the county commissioner for this district. My children go to the school. And I was the mayor of this area for a long time so I know many of the people personally at the school. So I've been getting inundated with texts, e-mails and tweets to try and get status on individual students, which is difficult for me to do. I'm trying to push the information out as quickly as I can.
BLITZER: And you were mayor of Parkland, what, for about ten years so you know the area well. I didn't know you had a child in this high school. How long did the shooting last until the suspect was taken into custody?
UDINE: I'm not sure of the exact time but, you know, my -- there were people that were in -- hiding in closets. My niece goes to the school. She was in a closet. She's safely out of the school at this point.
So this is very personal to me on a lot of levels.
BLITZER: Was the suspect a student at that school?
UDINE: I don't want to confirm or deny that. I heard some talk that it might have been a student or a former student, but so I'm just not positive. I'm not.
BLITZER: Do you know what kind of weapons the suspect had?
UDINE: That again, I'm not positive, so I can't confirm or deny anything.
BLITZER: What about right now? I assume a lot of parents are still trying to get information about their kids in the school. How is that working?
UDINE: So if they're a student at Douglas High School, they're being transported by bus to the Heron Bay Marriott, which is around the corner. People in this area will know where that is. And there they can be reunited with their students. I'm told in West Glade Middle School, which is next door, that they can be picked up at West Glad Middle School, but they would have to come up from the west side of the facility, because, you know, tough getting through here.
BLITZER: Is there -- is there any initial indication, Commissioner, of a possible motive that this student, the shooter, may have had, going after these young kids?
UDINE: I'm not aware of that information, Wolf.
BLITZER: And what do you know about what's happening in the school right now?
UDINE: Right now there are probably still children in there. I'm sure extremely scared. They're being, as the police and law enforcement go through classroom to classroom. They're getting them out, putting them into a secure area, and then, like I said, transporting them over to the Heron Bay Marriott. So if parents are watching this or if they're listening, there's no reason to come to the school. They're not going to get in there. They're not -- they won't get close. They're better off going right to the Heron Bay Marriott.
BLITZER: Michael Udine is -- go ahead.
2UDINE: And some people have been released to their parents there. So that's the best place to go.
BLITZER: All right. Commissioner, thanks so much. And I'm happy that your child is OK, as well.
Michael Udine, he's the commissioner in Broward County there. Former mayor of Parkland, Florida.
I want to bring in our crime and justice reporter, Shimon Prokupecz. He's getting new information. What are you learning, Shimon?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The latest we're told is that there are at least two fatalities in this shooting. Clearly, the police, as the sheriff there said, is still searching the area, still searching the building to make sure there are no other fatalities.
But so far, according to sources that both Evan Perez, my colleague. and I have talked to, there are indications that right now they have found two people who, unfortunately, have died as a result of this incident.
As we heard the sheriff there say, this is a former student. They were able to quickly identify him, locate him, and he's now in custody. And so that will give the police an advantage here in terms of trying to talk to him and, really, to find out the motive here. What exactly led up to this? They've identified him. They know his name. They know where he lives. They're at his home now. There will be search warrants that they'll conduct. So now the big question is the motive.
BLITZER: Stand by, Shimon. I know you're working your sources, as well. Evan Perez is also.
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida is joining us right now.
Senator, I know you've been talking to officials in Broward County. That's just north of Miami-Dade County, south of Palm Beach County. It's a very populated area. What are you hearing from them right now?
[17:10:12] SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: Well, you got a pretty good summary. There are multiple, unfortunately, fatalities. This is a bad day. And you can imagine the fear that is going through some of those parents and the wounded.
The FBI is directing this effort. The FBI will then do the investigation, and all the questions that come after what was the caliber weapon, was it legal, how was it purchased? Was the shooter eligible to purchase it, all of those things come later on down line. But right now if you pray, say a little prayer for all the folks in Broward County.
BLITZER: Yes. I think a lot of people are. What can you tell us, Senator, about the suspect?
NELSON: I'm going to leave that to the authorities. I think you have already heard the superintendent say in a press conference that it's an expected student or former student. I think you also heard the superintendent of schools say that it was multiple or many fatalities.
BLITZER: Because we have heard now, Shimon Prokupecz, our crime and justice reporter, says at least two fatalities and many between 14 and 20, we've heard, injured are those the numbers you're hearing as well, Senator?
NELSON: When I talked two hours ago to the superintendent, how I've characterized what he said to me was a number of fatalities.
BLITZER: So it could be more than two. Is that what you're suggesting?
NELSON: It's open until we have the actual facts.
BLITZER: So you say the FBI is in charge. Why is the FBI in charge of this investigation? Wouldn't Broward County police be in charge?
NELSON: Typically, whenever there is a terrorist, that brings in the FBI. And they do, along with local law enforcement, the investigation, and then the investigation will be led on down the line as a terrorist act, and the FBI leaves that.
BLITZER: Are you suggesting that there was a -- that this is a student, this suspect is a terrorist with some sort of terror-related terror organization, affiliation?
NELSON: You asked me the question, why is the FBI leading it? It's standard protocol.
BLITZER: If there is a multiple shooting like that? Is that what you're saying?
NELSON: That's correct. And how many of these have we had, Wolf? I mean, are we coming to expect these mass shootings to be a routine kind of matter? And after every one, we say enough is enough? And then it continues to happen. BLITZER: And it's just been four months since the Las Vegas shooting
that killed 58 people. More than five years since the Sandy Hook shooting that killed 20 first graders. What is Congress, if anything, doing anything about it?
NELSON: And a year -- and a year since the shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale Airport, the same county that Parkland is located in.
CUOMO: So what has Congress done about this?
NELSON: I can tell you just exactly what Congress didn't do. We tried to pass Diane Feinstein's bill which was that, if you're on the terrorist watch list as a terrorist, you cannot buy a gun. And we couldn't even get that passed, Wolf. So you see the difficulty of getting any of this legislation passed.
BLITZER: Yes. Nothing has been passed in terms of gun control over -- despite all of these mass shootings.
Senator, thanks so much for joining us. We'll stay in close touch with you.
NELSON: Thanks, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, let's get some more. Getting more information, more details on this mass shooting down in Florida, in Broward County just outside Fort Lauderdale. Let's bring in our reporters, analysts, law enforcement specialists. And let me start with Tom Fuentes, formerly of the FBI.
What do you think, Tom, is happening at the school right now?
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, first of all, the school is a crime scene, so they're working on that. They're trying to see if there are hidden students in any of the -- you know, the heating plant, the closets, the classrooms, any place in that building where they could be hiding, and still hiding, not knowing what's going on outside.
BLITZER: So they're going through room by room, closet by closet.
FUENTES: Room by room. Exactly. They're doing that first. Then they're doing the actual crime scene work of trying to track every bullet, trying to track the movement of the shooter in the school all day, depending on how long he was there.
[17:15:10] Then you have a separate crime scene of the shooter's residence. Is there more information to be gleaned there? And one of the issues they'll be trying to look at is, does he have a Twitter account, a Facebook account, anywhere where he has been messaging or e-mailing or texting others, that may be, if not involved, at least aware of what his intentions were, that he might want to do this. So they're going through all that possible information.
They're trying to talk to every friend, relative, neighbor, former classmate, current classmate, co-workers, to try and determine if any of them had heard anything from him of an intention to commit a horrible act like this.
And then talking to the students themselves and the teachers that witnessed it that survived it and witnessed what he did, or did he say anything? Did he yell out any kind of a slogan or anything as he was shooting, which might indicate whether or not he was involved with some group or some ideology or just a single, lone, deranged individual.
BLITZER: Let me quickly go to Phil Mudd, who used to work at the FBI, as well.
What do you sense is going on right now, Phil? Because I want to caution our viewers out there that these initial numbers of dead and injured almost certainly are going to change.
PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: That's true. But that's not the question I would have. Nor would the question of motivation be first in my mind.
The first question I'd have, beyond what Tom said about securing the facility, is the who question. Who, what, when, where, why? I'm focused on whether somebody else participated.
So you're talking -- I assume they're talking, assuming he's not injured, to the individual who was picked up. The first question for him: was somebody participating? Was somebody sympathetic? Did somebody know? You can't assume what he's saying is true.
For example, let's say he talked to a friend a couple year -- a couple days ago, and that friend said, "That's a great idea. I sympathize with you. I want to participate." How can you prove a negative that no other human being, no other high schooler, former high schooler, former grade schooler was involved in this?
The first question you have in this, Wolf, is not the tragedy of what just happened. It's the question of are there other people who are sympathetic or participants who might do something in the coming hours or days? That's where you've got to go as soon as you get the facility secured.
BLITZER: Yes, that's the most important, make sure you go through that entire complex. This is a high school of about 3,000 students.
Josh Campbell is with us, as well. You heard the senator suggest that this may have been an act of terror, and the FBI -- you used to work at the FBI -- was in charge. Is that what would normally happen?
JOSH CAMPBELL, FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: So with the greatest respect for the senator, I want to push back on that a little bit. Because just because you have a shooting, that doesn't mean the FBI is going to come in and assert any kind of federal jurisdiction. There may be nine.
We've seen some of the -- the footage of surge of law enforcement resources coming together, mutual aid, a fusion of those resources. Their ultimate job is to work together to try to stop any threats and then the investigation will come later. So I just want to push back on that. It's not like the movies where the FBI shows up and says, you know, "We're on the scene. This is now our case." It's quite the opposite. It's not flipping a switch...
BLITZER: But the FBI has certain experience, a lot of expertise, ATF, other agencies, federal agencies, could come in and help local law enforcement.
CAMPBELL: Absolutely. And that's what I want to focus on, that assistance. And you saw the ATF tweeting that they were en route, as well, to assist. There's going to be that fusion of federal, state, local resources coming together, and I think we've seeing them do a good job.
To piggyback on what Phil was saying, there's that investigation that will take place. And just remember, simultaneously right now, we heard the sheriff say that -- that it is not yet clear. That was his words. So until that all-clear goes out from law enforcement, the adrenaline is going to stay up. They're going to work methodically to clear that location in order to determine there's not an additional threat.
BLITZER: You know, and Shimon, I just want to repeat what the Broward County sheriff, Scott Israel, said just moments ago.
The suspect was taken into custody about an hour ago after leaving the school, the high school. He said the shooter was found off campus and that he was not a current student. There was a time he attended, though, the school, according to the Broward County sheriff. The sheriff would only say there were multiple people dead. He said the shooter was outside and -- both outside and inside the school. That coincides with what you're hearing.
PROKUPECZ: Yes. From witnesses, certainly, who have now talked to police and witnesses who have talked to the media, talked to reporters at the scene. They're saying that there was some indication that there were gunshots outside the building. There was this fire alarm that went off.
The question is, did he full fire alarm to force students out of the building and sort of so that they became, like, sitting ducks? Or was this more someone in the school panicking and pulling the fire alarm and then people running out?
The other thing is, I just want to piggyback on what Josh said. The other thing that's going on now is there is a search for possibly more victims. And certainly, there are indications that the number of dead, from what we're reporting at least, is expected to grow.
[17:20:00] So that is what's going on, as well. Police now feel safe enough to perhaps go inside the building with the suspect in custody to search the building for other victims. That's an important part of this, as well.
BLITZER: Yes. Sheriff Scott Israel said 14 individuals were transported to local hospitals. They were injured. And hopefully, they'll be OK following treatment at local hospitals. Fourteen.
Take a look at this. We just got this video a picture. This is a still picture from inside one of the classrooms where the shooting was taking place. It's a really frightening development going on, unfortunately, all too, all too -- all too often here in the United States. These kinds of school shootings are taking place.
I want to bring in Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut. He's a member of the Intelligence Committee. What are you hearing, first of all, Congressman, about the shooting? It rings home -- you're from Connecticut. We all know there was a horrible school shooting there.
REP. JIM HIMES (D), CONNECTICUT: Well, Wolf, we're learning with the rest of your viewers and everybody else sort of what's coming out of Florida right now. And I would tell you that there's sort of just a sense of resignation right here right now.
The pattern will be perfectly predictable. There will be a moment of silence. People will wish everybody thoughts and prayers and sympathy for the victims, and then the Congress of the United States will do absolutely nothing. It's the kind of thing that at least those of us who believe that the government has the power to probably reduce this kind of violence, it's the kind of thing that really -- that really hits you right in the gut. Especially if, as I do, you come from a state that has experienced some truly horrendous violence.
BLITZER: Yes, we're talking about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting back in 2012. I was there. We were all covering that. Hard to believe, just looking back at my notes, there were what? Twenty children between the ages of 6 and 7 who were gunned down. Six adults including school staff and faculty before the shooter, Adam Lanza, turned the gun on himself.
What, if anything -- I keep asking this question -- has been done to deal with these kinds of mass shootings since then by the U.S. Congress?
HIMES: Well, Wolf, the honest answer to that question is not a damn thing. This institution is not going to move. Think about, you know, as you said, 20 dead babies in Connecticut wasn't enough to move the heart of this place.
The -- we all learned about something called a bump stock after the Las Vegas shootings. This institution, the United States Congress, couldn't even muster the strength or the political will to pass a law against bump stocks, something that services no purpose other than to turn a semiautomatic weapon into an automatic weapon of death, as we saw exhibited in Las Vegas.
You now, this place is in thrall of the NRA. It's in the thrall of the idea -- it's a very confusing thing. You know, is it bump stocks? Is it mental health? Is it universal background checks? The opponents of actually doing the things we could do that every other country has done to reduce gun violence rely on how challenging it is and how easy it is to distract people at times like this to -- to avoid doing something that any, in my opinion, any person with a heart, any person with a soul would say that this institution should do to try to prevent what happened today, what will certainly happen tomorrow, and what we will continue to live with until we finally decide to do something about it.
BLITZER: Jim Himes, the congressman from Connecticut, thanks for joining us.
HIMES: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Tom Fuentes, we've covered these stories together. You've been with me for a long time. Walk us through what you suspect is happening right now. They have the suspect. I assume there are no accomplices, but they're looking. They've got to check that out.
FUENTES: First of all, Wolf, I want to mention what the congressman just said. I was in this chair and you were in that chair on the day of the Sandy Hook shooting. We were talking about what would happen now. I said nothing, and like he said, nothing has.
But the police right now are trying to determine, is the danger over, for one thing? They have a suspect in custody. Is he the only person that was talking about it? Because in Columbine, you had the shooters e-mailing each other for weeks about their plan to do this. So you could have had another person in this plan that maybe at the last minute opted out and didn't actually go and do the shooting but might have been involved in the conspiracy to carry it out.
So they need to verify, is this person the only person that was ever even considering this act? That will be hard to figure out, but they're working on that.
And then obviously, trying to rescue anybody that still might be in that school hiding or wounded that needs to be taken out and rescued from that situation.
But again, getting to the shooter, at the age of the shooter, we believe a relatively young person, that means the probability that person used social media. What did they post? Do they have have a Twitter, Facebook, other -- other accounts, where they can find some indication that might have been posted? Some photograph, some -- some messages that might have been put there to indicate whether or not he was alone, first of all? You know, the motive part of it, that may never be determined. We don't know.
[17:25:08] But the part about whether there were other people that were egging him on, getting involved with this, planning it with him, helping obtain the weapons or ammunition that were used, give him a ride to the school to carry it out. That kind of investigation is ongoing.
So you have multiple things. Plus you have law enforcement with all of the witness victims that are at these hospitals. Are any of them in good enough shape to give a description to the police, to give a complete account? What occurred? When did it occur? How did it occur when they were shot, when they were injured? So that's a lot of what's going on right now.
BLITZER: Yes. There's a huge, huge investigation, and it's only just beginning. Lots of unanswered questions.
Shimon, we've now confirmed the video of the individual being arrested by local police is, in fact, the shooter. Right?
PROKUPECZ: That's correct. That is the shooter, as the sheriff said earlier. And as we've been reporting, he was taken into custody by a different jurisdiction, there by police there. He was placed in that police car for a short time, and then an ambulance came. An ambulance came and picked him up. And presumably, he was taken to a hospital. It appears he suffered some kind of leg injuries from the video that I saw earlier. An ambulance came. They put him on a stretcher, and he was taken into the ambulance and then...
BLITZER: And the shooter, you can see the video of going -- he's being pushed into that vehicle right there. He was wearing that -- that maroon shirt.
PROKUPECZ: That's right. He's wearing a maroon shirt. Looks like black pants. And they were talking to him. The officers there, we're seeing -- I saw them taking pictures of him. And then he was taken to the ambulance and presumably to a hospital.
We don't know how he was injured. Maybe running from the scene; it's not clear. But he did appear to be limping. So perhaps suffering some kind of leg injury.
BLITZER: You know, Phil Mudd, the fact that this suspect is alive potentially could provide a lot of answers to local, state and federal investigators.
MUDD: Well, sort of. In a lot of these cases, as you know, somebody's actually going to commit suicide or going to commit, as time would tell you, suicide by cop. That is they start shooting. They know the police are there, and they expect to be killed in the exchange with the police.
The problem here, Wolf, is let me cut to the chase. You're going to go into a questioning opportunity with this individual, and you've got to prove a negative. You're going to ask him, tell me whether there's any other imminent threat. Tell me whetehr anybody participated with you.
And let's say he says in the next 15 minutes, "No. Nobody participated with me." And then you look on his e-mail and social media. You see no evidence of this. You cannot assume that he didn't talk to anybody yesterday or last week and say, "We've got to do this together. You've got a weapon, as well." Proving the negative in these cases, even if you has access to witnesses, is very difficult. Even if you're talking to him and he says nobody else was involved. You can't assume he's telling the truth, Wolf.
BLITZER: What does it say to you, Phil, though, that he's apparently a former student at that high school? MUDD: Well, I'm going to make a judgement, and I'm going to go out on
a limb. The first is, I'm going to tell you this is not a terrorism incident; this is a local incident. That is, he had some sort of grievance with the school, with another student at the school. This is not a sort of global issue where he's going to come in and say, "I had a problem with America. I had a problem with ISIS."
I'm going to say, like we've seen time and again in this country, he had some problem with the school. He could gain access -- gain access to a weapon because his family had it in the house. I think, off the cuff, that we've got a local issue here.
BLITZER: You know, Josh, the sheriff, Scott Israel, said the shooter was found off-campus. That he was not a current student at that high school, but there was a time he attended the school. And Phil makes a good point, that he may have had a grievance.
CAMPBELL: It's true. I'm with Phil on this one. I think that, you know, when you see a perpetrator carrying out some type of act, you almost always see some type of connection. I mean, do we see random occurrences where someone will just randomly target a location? Sure we do. But there have been so many of these incidents in the past where there is that nexus there. Someone either knew someone, they knew the facility, or they had some kind of grievance.
BLITZER: Do you think they're going to be able to get a lot of the answers, Tom, from this individual, from this suspect?
FUENTES: I don't think so. And as Phil mentioned, I think even if he gives them answers to the question, they may or may not be true.
And the other thing that I would question here is that maybe he had a grievance against a teacher that was still there now that he went to school with, you know, at the time he was a student there. Maybe he was jilted by a girl that he wanted to take out or a young man, if he wanted to take a young man out. And that's why this occurs on Valentine's Day. You know, is that a coincidence? We just don't know. Any of these things are possible.
BLITZER: Yes, go ahead.
CAMPBELL: I was going to say, the other question is going to be how did he get inside the school, former student? Was there -- did he use his I.D.? Was there -- I think that's going to be a big question here. Because you know, nowadays, schools are -- we certainly hope some security to prevent people like this from getting inside. So I think that's going to be a good question to ask.
FUENTES: But if he pulled the fire alarm, all the exit doors would fly open, as the students are leaving the building. So he could go in any of those doors once they come open.
[17:30:10] BLITZER: These are live pictures we're getting, courtesy of our affiliate WPLG. You see a lot of military type personnel, Josh, walking into the building, walking into the campus of this high school down there in Broward County, Florida, right now. There's a lot of searching that's got to -- that's got to continue.
CAMPBELL: Absolutely. And we should prepare ourselves. This is going to take a while. And law enforcement, they're going to be very methodical, have to go room by room. Especially if they are in a position where they don't think that there's necessarily a threat. There might be injured. They're going to take their time and work through and assure that they do a thorough search in order to ensure the entire crime scene has been looked for either perpetrators or victims before you see any of them give the all-clear sign.
BLITZER: I want to bring in Sara Ganim, our reporter who's been talking to some students who attend that high school down in Broward County, Florida. What are they saying to you, Sara?
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, obviously very shaken up. In addition to one parent who I talked to who had two daughters inside the school. One of them on the same floor where this shooting happened. He said she's absolutely traumatized, very shooken [SIC] up. She still can't get to her family at this point.
You can imagine the scene right now. A little bit chaotic, right, as parents are trying to get into this area that is obviously cordoned off by police. And students, about 3,000 of them, trying to get out, trying to find their family. The way that it's been described to me right now, is that it's still a little bit chaotic, as well as the police are trying to handle the situation.
Both of the students who were inside the school told me that this began when a fire alarm went off about ten minutes before the end of the day, before dismissal. And as they started to exit the school, one of them said they began to hear gunshots, and people ran back into the classrooms. You can imagine, this is a school in Florida. The hallways, a lot of them, are open. They're outside. So they had to get into classrooms in order to be in a safe place, to shelter.
One of those students who I talked on a couple of times over the last few hours said it was just moments ago that the SWAT team finally got to her classroom and was able to let her out. She said as they were walking out, she actually walked by a classroom where she knew her sister had been sheltering in place. Her sister was near some sort of window or door, she said, when it was shattered in part of this incident. Her sister is very shaken up right now.
But as they were evacuating, she said the police told them, "Close your eyes. Don't look in there. There's nothing good to see in there."
Another student who actually made it outside during the fire drill, what he thought was a fire drill, to the place where he was supposed to be safe, where he believed was a safe space, said as soon as the police began showing up in bullet-proof vests and long guns, people started to panic. They started to run. He climbed a fence, ran to a nearby Wal-Mart and he was able to get to a place where his mom could pick him up.
And at this point, as I've been talking to these students, they're saying a few of them are still just trying to get to a place where they can find their family, Wolf.
BLITZER: And you can imagine, Sara, you know, how terrified, what, the 3,000 students in that high school and the hundreds of teachers and administrators and others who work on that campus of that big high school, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in Broward County.
But what is so, so heart-breaking are the victims' families, who are being notified right now that they may have a child who was injured and maybe even killed. And that is so terrifying. You're speaking to folks down there. What are they saying about that?
GANIM: You know, several of the students who I talked to said that they believe they have friends who were injured. You know, this is a time it's a little bit chaotic, so word of mouth. But they're hearing, you know, that 14 to 20 people were injured, were shot. And the father, who I just spoke to, said both of his daughters believe they have friends who were injured.
I think one of the main things that's causing so much terror in people's minds right now, especially parents, is the gridlock on the streets. That they cannot get to the school. And imagine, you're trying to get there to get to your child. And it's simply gridlocked. There's no way to maneuver.
BLITZER: All right. Hold on one second. Hold on one second, Sara, because Rosa Flores is joining us right now. She's with a parent of a tenth grader at this high school. Rosa, talk to her. Tell us how she's doing.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let me talk to her, Wolf. We're live on the air.
MONIQUE GOLBERG, MOTHER OF 10TH GRADE STUDENT: I've got to...
FLORES: Are you on the phone with her?
GOLBERG: I'm on the phone with her.
FLORES: What is she telling you?
GOLBERG: She thinks she's at the Marriott. Come get her.
OK. I'm coming to the Marriott right now. I'm doing this interview, and I'm sprinting. I'll be with a lot of people at the Marriott. I'm leaving right after this interview. In the front. I'll meet you at the front of the Marriott by the door. OK. Love you. OK. That's my other daughter.
[17:35:10] FLORES: Thank you so much for taking the time. We really appreciate it.
Kind of take us through what happened. What time did you hear from your daughter? We were just looking at some of the text messages that you received from her.
GOLBERG: I just felt like the whole thing was completely surreal. Like I got...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom! Sophie wants to talk to you.
GOLBERG: I'll call her right back, in one minute. I'll call you right back. So that's my other daughter at West Gate. She sent me a text and she wrote...
FLORES: No, you should probably just run to go get your daughter. We appreciate it.
GOLBERG: Not, it's surreal. It's very scary. It's like I can't believe this is real. It doesn't feel like it's real.
GOLDBERG: Yes, and some of the text messages, I imagine, were very -- challenging to read and to -- and to comprehend what was going on. We appreciate your time. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
BLITZER: Rosa, we're going to get back to you. You did you the right thing, let that mom go deal with her kids. She's obviously going through a rough moment, and the kids are going through a rough moment, as well.
These are live pictures once again we're showing our viewers, coming in from Parkland, Florida. You see, they're still escorting students out of that school. They're looking, they're going from classroom to classroom, from closet to closet. People were -- kids, some of them were hiding. They were obviously so scared, understandably so, when they heard those gunshots.
Josh Campbell, talk a little bit about the families. What they're going through right now. When you worked at the FBI, you had to deal with that.
CAMPBELL: So there are unsung heroes in law enforcement. The commissioner talked about them a little while ago during his press conference, and that's the victim advocates.
In the FBI, we have what we call the Office for Victim Services. And we call them the unsung heroes, the angels of the FBI. And their job is to work with the family members, to ensure that they get through crisis situations. You know, as we see these pictures of tactical teams going in, we're seeing the pointy end of the spear. But let's not forget and let's keep in mind that there are also advocates that are working with victim family members. Long after the tactical teams leave, they will be the ones working with families to try to make them whole.
PROKUPECZ: And I'll say this, Wolf. This now becomes one of the toughest parts for law enforcement. You have your suspect, who we believe is a suspect. They're now in these rooms where perhaps there are dead, you know, teens and kids. As someone who has covered Sandy Hook, you know, you can remember some of those images. These officers, who are looking quite mighty in their tactical gear, are now going through these rooms. And what they're seeing, we don't know yet. One can only imagine. BLITZER: These are live pictures once again, coming in from Parkland, Florida. You see it looks like some families are being reunited with their kids right now. But there's a lot more of this that clearly has to happen.
Congressman Ted Deutch is joining us right now. This is his district in Broward County.
First of all, Congressman, our hearts go out to everyone involved. You know this area well. Parkland, it's not far from, what, Boca Raton, Pompano, places that are very, very popular in Broward County, just north of Ft. Lauderdale. What's the latest you're hearing?
REP. TED DEUTCH (D), FLORIDA: Thanks -- thanks, Wolf. This is also, it's important to note, a wonderful school and a great community. It's exactly the kind of place you would want to live and raise your kids. And today is a reminder that tragedies like this happen too often and can happen anywhere.
I've spoken with, I've been in contact throughout the day with the sheriff and the superintendent and local elected officials. And the news that the shooter has been apprehended is -- is very positive. They're trying to get more information, obviously, about him.
There are a number of fatalities. I've heard different numbers. I don't -- so I can't confirm the exact number.
But it's been a horrific day. It's -- it's been a very grim scene at the school. And I've heard from parents, including someone on my staff whose daughter was -- was in the school and was on lockdown through the day, just how -- how horrific the whole thing has been. It was a terrible nightmare for those who went through it.
And for those who have lost their lives, and for those who are injured, the community is going to be there for -- for them, for their families. That's the kind of place this is.
BLITZER: We've heard various numbers, Congressman. At least two fatalities, two dead. The Broward County sheriff, Scott Israel, says at least 14 people were transported to local hospitals. Are those roughly the numbers? Usually, they wind up going up. But what are you hearing?
[17:40:02] DEUTCH: Yes. I've heard the same numbers. I've -- there have been some accounts of a higher number of fatalities. But I don't want to get ahead of that.
The fact is, we know that -- that there is a mass shooting at a high school, at a terrific -- terrific high school and a wonderful community. And we know that -- that, unfortunately, this is just one more mass shooting.
Wolf, I was -- I was a hearing when this happened, and didn't -- and found out about it through a text. I didn't get a chance to see any of the footage until just recently. But when you watch the images of the kids leaving school with their hands in the air and the first responders rushing in with their guns to try to secure the school and the location, what you realize is that the images are just all too familiar. We see this far too often. And it shouldn't have to happen.
I mean, for my colleagues here, this isn't something that anyone should have to experience in their district for to it matter to them. This kind of tragedy that will affect this community not just today but, sadly, for some time to come. We have to do everything we can to try to prevent these tragedies from occurring.
BLITZER: Congressman, let's hope it stops. But clearly, it won't, unfortunately. Thank you so much for joining us and good luck to all your constituents down there in Broward County.
DEUTCH: Thank you, Wolf, I appreciate it.
BLITZER: Ted Deutch is the congressman who represents this district.
Phil Mudd, you're hearing these accounts. What's going through your mind as someone who used to work at the FBI?
MUDD: You think it's antiseptic. It's not. I talked to a terrorist who almost died, because he wanted to blow up a weapon, a car bomb; and he was sent to blow up that car bomb by ISIS and al Qaeda. And they didn't tell him he was going to blow up the car bomb. When he detonated, the car caught fire. It didn't blow up. And I talked to him after he lost a lot of his skins, his hands, his feet.
I have ten nieces and nephews. We're talking about bump stocks. We're talking about legislation. A child of God is dead. Cannot we acknowledge in this country that we can't, we cannot accept this. I can't do it, Wolf. I'm sorry. I can't do it.
BLITZER: All right. We're going on get back to you. But you're obviously, this is so emotional, unfortunately. It happens all too often. And as a result, people say we've got to learn some lessons. Unfortunately, lessons are never, ever learned.
Let's bring in the Broward County mayor, Beam Furr. Mayor, thank you for joining us.
You see how painful this is. Not only for folks in Broward County where you are but for folks all over the country, indeed people probably all over the world who are watching us right now. Give us an update, first of all, Mayor, on the situation there.
BEAM FURR, MAYOR, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA (via phone): First of all, when I listen to the guy who was before me, it affects all of us that way. This is a scene nobody wants to be at. I'm at the scene right now. And, you know, I just -- a lot of the kids just walked by me, the parents. And it was just the last -- the last thing you ever want to see.
It is still an active investigation going on over here. Our county medical examiner is still walking through the halls and the outside. And it's -- it's just a place you don't want to be. BLITZER: Tell us about the number of fatalities and the number of
injured. You're probably getting the most up-to-date information.
FURR: Well, it was -- I think it's 17 right now that have been our victims. I do not know how many have died and how many are injured.
BLITZER: So 17, the number is 17 shot, either injured or killed? Is that right?
FURR: That's my -- that's my understanding, yes.
BLITZER: Because the Broward County sheriff told us that at least 14 have been transferred to local hospitals.
FURR: Right. And that -- and I just talked to the medical examiner a while ago. So I think that's -- if I was hearing him right, it was not a very good connection, but I think that's what he said.
BLITZER: What -- what was the situation like when the first responders arrived?
FURR: Well, I wasn't here when they first came in. I came in about a half-hour later and it was -- they were still pouring in. And it's -- and it's, as you can imagine, kind of chaotic. But it's a well -- well-coordinated. We have 31 cities here in the county, and we've got, I think, representatives from every city in the county. So it's -- you know, it's all being fairly well-coordinated.
BLITZER: This high school...
FURR: And everybody is doing everything they can.
BLITZER: This high school, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School it's a school of about 3,000 students. What kind of security did they have? In other words, the suspect in this particular case is believed to have been a former student but not a current student according to Scott Israel, the sheriff of Broward County. Could anyone simply walk into that school?
MAYOR BEAM FURR, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA (via telephone): No, almost all of our schools have limited ways to get in as well as we have policemen in almost every school.
So, you know, it's one of the things that if somebody's trying to get in, they probably can find a way, but it's not because there's not a lot of protection. You know, Broward Country tries to make sure there's a policeman at every school.
BLITZER: Do you know what kind of weapon the suspect had?
FURR (via telephone): I don't. I don't know anything about the suspect.
BLITZER: You don't know anything about the suspect at all.
FURR (via telephone): No. No. BLITZER: But he is in custody? We saw an individual with a maroon
shirt being arrested by police, put into a vehicle. We've confirmed that that is the suspect, but -- and the only thing we know about the suspect is what we heard from the Broward County Sheriff, that he was a student there but not a current student.
FURR (via telephone): Right.
BLITZER: You have no -- do you have an idea about any possible motive of why this individual would walk into a school like that, a beautiful high school, and just start shooting people?
FURR (via telephone): No idea. I mean, it's one of the things -- I was a teacher for 25 years, and it's one of the things were you try to make sure every kid is connected somehow.
And, you know, when kids get kind of ostracized or disconnected, sometimes bad things happen. And I -- you know, who knows? I don't know anything about this kid. And, you know, I'm sure we'll be finding out in the next, you know, couple of days, but I --
BLITZER: I'm sure we'll be finding out a lot in the coming hours.
FURR (via telephone): I'm sure. But I would -- you know, it wouldn't surprise me if somebody's disconnected from everybody else. This guy -- when kids are connected to each other, through schools and the community, most of the time, that doesn't happen.
BLITZER: Mayor, you're there on the scene at the school. Is the search still going on by local authorities? Are they still going classroom to classroom?
FURR (via telephone): Yes. The medical examiner with a number of law enforcement are still combing through school and the outer perimeter. So that is still ongoing.
BLITZER: How are parents getting information about their kids?
FURR (via telephone): The school board is sending out information through their communications, and we have told every parent. We had all the kids on buses. We took all over -- there's a nearby staging area, the hotel, and we took all the kids over there for their parents to meet them over there.
BLITZER: And the worst of all situations, those parents who are being told that may have lost a child in this shooting incident, are there special arrangements being made?
FURR (via telephone): Yes --
BLITZER: Were you -- have you been there with them?
FURR (via telephone): I have not. I'm going to be going over there soon, but there is -- we are bringing in victims' advocates for the kids, for the parents, for the teachers, from all over the states. So we'll -- BLITZER: Yes.
FURR (via telephone): We'll be, you know, ready as soon as they get here, we'll be trying to help them out.
BLITZER: Mayor Beam Furr, the mayor of Broward County. Our hearts go out to you, to everyone in Broward County right now, especially those parents and students who have suffered so much seeing what's been going on over these past few hours. Good luck. Thank you so much.
FURR (via telephone): Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: You know, Tom Fuentes, it is a heartbreaking situation when you see, you know, someone go into a school and just randomly start shooting at students.
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right.
BLITZER: Knowing that he is going to kill some of them, injure some of them. Some of them may be badly injured for the rest of their lives. And you can only imagine how the parents who hear about this, how they're going through this horrible ordeal.
FUENTES: Hopefully, Wolf, in this situation, many of the students have cell phones. They're in a position to get ahold of their parents. Even if they've run out of the school and ended up in another neighbor house or something, to get ahold of their parents.
Remember, Sandy Hook, being, you know, four and 5-year-old kids, they didn't have cell phones. Some of those kids ran into neighboring neighborhoods and houses. 2
And the parents had to sit in that staging area school all day and all night. And when their kids didn't show up, that was a clue that they were still lying on the floor of that school dead.
And that's how they had to deal with that all day, all night, not knowing -- figuring by that time, any kid that was rescued by a neighbor would have been brought to that area. So this is a horrific time especially for the parents and family members that don't know the status of their kids.
BLITZER: It's a heartbreaking, heartbreaking situation, Josh, that local, state, federal law enforcement, they have to deal with. They need help. They need people to come over there with expertise in counseling right now.
[17:49:58] JOSH CAMPBELL, FORMER SPECIAL AGENT, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: Oh, you're absolutely right. And, you know, I harken back to -- you know, we've had too many of these incidents if you think of Orlando, San Bernardino, Chattanooga, Charleston.
I can remember, you know, sitting there with fellow law enforcement officers, like all of us are, watching the numbers continue to fluctuate. And you always hope -- you hope that that number is going to fluctuate down, but in so many of these instances, we've just seen them rise so it's a heartbreaking situation.
BLITZER: You know, Shimon, let me just recap for our viewers who may just be tuning in. The Broward County Sheriff, Scott Israel, says the suspect was taken into custody.
We saw the arrest a little while ago. We've got the video of an individual wearing a maroon shirt being arrested there -- you see it right in the middle there -- handcuffed, put into that vehicle. And he's going to be questioned, I'm sure.
The shooter was found off campus. He was not a current student, according to the Sheriff, but he did attend the school at one point.
He said there were multiple people dead. You heard the Mayor of Broward County, Beam Furr -- I just spoke to him -- saying 17 --
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: That's right.
TODD: -- victims, 17 dead and injured. What are you hearing?
PROKUPECZ: That is a staggering number, and it's the first time that we've heard at least that number associated to that number of fatalities. We certainly have heard different numbers. You know, full transparency in talking to our sources here at CNN, we have heard different numbers.
And I think there is a reason why the Mayor and the police are not giving us the exact numbers of the fatality. They're trying -- the fatalities. They're trying to deal with the families right now, and perhaps that is what's preventing them right now from giving us a full account of the number of dead.
BLITZER: You had to deal with families. You were a cop before you became an FBI agent, and this must be so difficult.
FUENTES: Right. It's very difficult. And one of the things they'll do -- since many of the officers have to actually still do the investigation, still talk to neighbors and friends, as I mentioned earlier.
So the FBI has an assistance program for families, whether it's from a plane crash, train crash, crime, terror. And these specialists are in every single field office throughout the FBI, and they will dispatch many of them to Florida to help in this situation.
So you'll have assistance from the FBI and those victim assistance specialists as well as the other local federal -- I mean, local state, county, and city agencies in Florida also bringing in assistance.
So the people coming in to give that kind of assistance are there to help the families, work with the families, stay with the families. And then that also frees up the investigative resources to keep doing what they have to do in this case.
BLITZER: They're going to -- CAMPBELL: And I'm just going to say, these are some of the most dogged people that you'll ever meet when it comes to their love for these family members, their advocacy efforts.
I can remember being a case agent working investigations, and I would constantly get calls from the victims' advocates, saying I want an update. We need to get that information to family members. What can we do for them? What can we tell them?
I mean, they work each and every day for that. So although this is a very tragic situation, if there's one sense of solace, I think that it's you're going to have an army of people that are going to support these families.
BLITZER: Phil Mudd, this is going to go on for a while, the search that's underway right now. This is a huge complex, this campus, this high school, with 3,000 students, hundreds of schoolteachers, administrators, others who work there.
They got to carefully go through -- because a lot of these people probably, when they heard the gunshots, they went and started to hide.
PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Sure. And think of two aspects of this, first the physical search. You've got to go room by room. You can't assume.
You may judge, at this point, that this individual acted alone, assuming there's one individual they had taken into custody. You can't be going room by room and saying, I assume he acted alone so I'm just going to walk through here.
So the physical search will take a while but the digital search and the interviews will take days or weeks. For example, let's say you talk to friends and family, and they say they never saw anything.
And then you talk to another individual who went to high school or grade school with this person a month ago, a week ago, a year ago, and that person says, well, I saw glimmers of frustration with a teacher, with another student, for example, a student who turned him down for going to the prom.
What does that mean, Wolf? To prove the negative. As I said earlier, to understand why this person did what they did and to ensure that there was nobody else a week ago, a month ago, a year ago, who knew something was happening. That is really difficult to do.
BLITZER: All right. Phil, hold on for one second. I'm going to show our viewers. This is a live picture. We believe the suspect is in that vehicle right there, that police vehicle, being transported right now from a local hospital.
We don't know where that suspect is going, but, Tom Fuentes, I suspect they're taking him to a local detention center, a police facility, right now, assuming he got out of the hospital without injury.
FUENTES: Right. And if he doesn't need medical treatment, he would go probably to a Broward County Sheriff's Office if they have a substation, or if their actual headquarter is nearby, they'd be going there. Again, the local police at this point are going to probably end up running this case much like Las Vegas.
[17:55:00] When there's no direct evidence of terrorism, organized crime, narcotics trafficking, it's going to be a local crime. No matter how many people might be injured or killed, it's still going to be under local jurisdiction and the FBI --
BLITZER: The Broward County Sheriff would be in charge?
FUENTES: Yes. And all the other agencies that are there, federal, state and local, will assist them in every way possible with the interviews, with the crime scene, with the Twitter and Facebook and internet searches, all of that information, but the Sheriff is probably going to be in charge of this at the end of this.
BLITZER: Once again, we believe, in that middle vehicle over there that you see moving, that police vehicle, the suspect is being transported right now.
Josh, we're going to see where he's being transported to, but clearly, he was briefly taken to a local hospital. Apparently, he's not injured so they're going to take him someplace.
CAMPBELL: Oh, you're right, Wolf. And you know, as you watch these pictures, I mean, this shows what is expected in the diverse, you know, role of law enforcement in this country.
As Tom knows as well, being an FBI agent and a police officer, that when you come upon a threat, your first goal is to mitigate that threat. But then once it's mitigated, you immediately render aid, if necessary, to the subject. It shows the professionalism of law enforcement here.
I suspect what they did was, you know, give him the once over to see if he had any injuries, if there was -- there were any issues medically. And once that's completed, now it's off to find out -- you know, the interview, found out the motive and the investigation.
BLITZER: Did you see, Shimon, when they arrested him and he was brought into the vehicle whether there was a weapon nearby? I didn't see a weapon. Did you see a weapon?
PROKUPECZ: No. So we -- it looks like the local station's helicopter got there, you know, not right away. So from what we can see in the video, you couldn't make really anything out whether there was anything on the ground next to him.
Really, all you could see is him handcuffed already and what appeared to be some sort of leg injury. He was limping and that's when they called the ambulance for him. So you couldn't really make out what was next to him presumably.
BLITZER: And the bottom right hand, that's the video when he was arrested, and he pushed into that car. You know, Phil Mudd, I guess that one of the key questions is going to
be the weapon. How did this individual get the weapon? What kind of weapon was it? Was it a legally purchased weapon?
They're going to be able to figure that out fairly quickly, right?
MUDD: Sure, but that wouldn't be the first question I'd ask. Let me put that into a broader spectrum. That is, who got the weapon? For example, was it licensed to somebody else?
Let me add some other bits of information. I want his name. I want his cell phone number. I want his e-mail.
So let's say he walks in, for example, and says, I did this alone. You find out that the weapon is registered to somebody else. And then on his Facebook page two weeks ago, he said, I hate Mary, Joe, and Larry.
Already, you know, OK, you've got some sort of motive, maybe he hates somebody. He got the weapon from somebody else. Let's say on his Facebook page as well or in his e-mail, he was communicating with somebody who said, let's go do it in a couple of weeks.
All this data coming together, the weapons registration, Facebook, e- mail, within hours, it's going to come together and say not only what was his motivation, where did he acquire the weapon, but do you have an immediate indication of whether he acted alone or whether there was a broader conspiracy, Wolf.
BLITZER: At this point, Phil, when he's being arrested right now, they have to advise him of his Miranda rights. Isn't that right?
MUDD: It is but I -- and Josh would know this better than I. I wouldn't overweigh that too much. If he wants to talk, he's going to talk. If he doesn't want to talk, he's not going to talk.
The issue I would look at, Wolf, is he's gone through an incredible emotional experience in the last few hours. His bubble has burst.
Some people in this situation are going to say the game is up, I didn't die during the event, everything's over, therefore I'm going to lay it all on the table. Some people say, no, I'm not going to talk to you.
His emotional state, to me, is more important than whether he is Mirandized in this situation.
BLITZER: All right, Josh, go ahead.
CAMPBELL: No. I'd just say, yes, I mean, I think we're past the emergency exception that officers would be able to use in invoking Miranda. You know, if you're on the scene and there is something there, a potential threat, officers could question without worrying about that.
I mean, we saw that recently with the New York bomber, that same situation where you had highly skilled officers that were there asking him, you know, with that exception. I think we might be past that right now.
But, you know, at some point -- and, you know, Tom can speak to this as well -- he will have to be presented in court. So we're kind of in that part -- that portion of the investigation now where you want to gather that information as quickly as you can before you have to turn him over.
BLITZER: Go ahead, Tom.
FUENTES: Well, similar to Abdulmutallab, the underwear bomber in 2009, he had to go for medical treatment because he burned his legs trying to set off the bomb on the plane. So in that situation, the FBI transports him for medical assistance.
That stops the clock, if you will, on the emergency exception. So they haven't talked to him yet in detail. When he's done with the doctors, then they can resume the questioning still without Miranda.
And it's never been determined by the Supreme Court how long that exception. They just have to go, you know, a reasonable amount of time. So in this case, if they're just now transporting him to the station, probably that exception is still in effect, that they can talk to him right now without Miranda. Later, they will have to get it done.
[18:00:06] BLITZER: We're told the suspect is in that police vehicle right now. He's being transported to a local station where, presumably, he'll go through a formal arrest. They --
