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Sheriff: At Least Eight People Killed In Texas School Shooting; Hospital Officials Give Update On School Shooting Victims; Suspect Identified As 17-Year-Old Male Student. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired May 18, 2018 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our primary focus at this point in the investigation has been to secure the schools and evacuate all the students to the evacuation relocation facility.
There are multiple agencies on-site to support our district and our community such as the FBI, ATF, Texas Department of Public Safety and other area law enforcement agencies and first responders. There have been explosive devices found in the high school and surrounding areas adjacent to the high school. Because of the threat of these explosive items, community members should be on the lookout for any suspicious items and anything that looks out of place. Do not touch any items that look out of place and immediately call 911 so that the appropriate authorities can respond.
And our thoughts and prayers go out to our students, staff and our community. Please pray for SFISD.
CHIEF JEFF POWELL, SANTA FE, TEXAS POLICE: As a chief of Santa Fe P.D., my thoughts and prayers are with those that are affected by this event this morning. I just want to reiterate that to our community members to keep a vigilant watch around the areas that you know your neighborhoods for any suspicious items that you may see and please call 911. There is, like I say, have been confirmed reports of explosives found both on the campus and off the campus, so that's our main concern is to keep the community safe. So please make the call if you see something suspicious and someone will respond to assist.
That's all I have. God bless.
MARK HENRY, COUNTY JUDGE, GALVESTON COUNTY: I'm Mark Henry. I'm the County Judge, Galveston County, Texas. I'm the chief elected official for Galveston County. Galveston County is providing all the assistance we can both through Galveston County Sheriff's Office and Galveston County District Attorney's Office to the Santa Fe ISD police agencies and the city of Santa Fe.
I don't really have much else to add. I do want to emphasize this was a tragic loss of life this morning. The first call came in at 7:32. I received my first phone call about 7:45. It has been a difficult scene, difficult time for everyone involved.
So again, I ask that you pray for the people who suffered some injury and loss today, and I want to emphasize again, I was just informed recently they did find -- suspect material off campus. So it's not isolated to the high school campus. Anything you see that look suspicious, please don't touch it. Please call 911.
Then we have mayors of Santa Fe, we have the retiring mayor Jeff Tambrella, incoming mayor Jason Tabor.
MAYOR JEFF TAMBRELLA, SANTA FE, TEXAS: I'm Mayor Jeff Tambrella. I want to thank all the law enforcement and other emergency responders that came so quickly to the aid of Santa Fe ISD and to our community. And I'm just asking everyone out there to pray and put their thoughts and prayers into all the people affected and for our community to heal through this situation. Thank you.
MAYOR JASON TABOR, SANTA FE, TEXAS: I'm Mayor Jeffrey Tabor. Please pray for Santa Fe. If you see anything suspicious, call 911. And we appreciate the prayers. Our community is in at a loss right now.
HENRY: I don't know that we can answer any questions at this point, so we're going to go ahead and wrap up. We do expect the governor to be landing at the scene here any minute now, so I'm going to head back over to the scene. I'm sure we'll have another press conference in the next couple hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you guys. Thank you.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: You were just listening to a press conference with multiple agencies, local officials there. Tom Fuentes, I want to ask you about what we just learned there, but first I want to report that President Trump spoke with the Texas Governor Abbott. That's according to the Deputy Press Secretary at the White House, Raj Shah who said that he offered his condolences to those affected by the shooting there.
Tom Fuentes, this was -- the news out of that press conference was explosive devices found in the high school and in adjacent areas, and also they suspect material off campus. So this speaks to what you were referring to earlier in the hour.
TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right, Dana. I mean, the off-campus part could be at the residence or if the student had been using some type of hotel room or staying at a friend's home or had a vehicle and they found some material in that vehicle, you know, it would indicate that he did have materials to possibly make explosive devices somewhere else in another location, made some devices, placed them near the school and in the school and now they have to contend with that.
[12:35:13] Again, it does slow down the searches because they have to be all the more meticulous with every door and drawer and sewer cap or anything else they lift up because it could be booby-trapped.
BASH: Yes, booby trap is the word that keeps coming into my mind, Shimon, and the idea that actual explosive devices were found in there. Maybe it seems obvious that somebody who wants to come into his own school, apparently, and shoot his classmates want maximum damage, but this takes it to a level that we haven't seen a lot of.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yes, absolutely, it just escalates because now you have a larger public safety concern. And the fact that all these officials who just appeared in this press conference are all saying if you see something suspicious, call 911. So there is obviously concern that there may be other bombs out there, so to speak, other explosive devices that they don't know about, and obviously law enforcement there is extremely concerned that this is quite could be the case, that there may be other explosive devices.
And also I think what this tells us is that there was some planning here on the part of the shooter, right? In fact that if he did go out there and plant these devices in different places, that would indicate that there was some planning that went into this to make these devices. There has to be a place where he made them. Perhaps it was his home. So all of that are good clues for law enforcement as they try to figure out what happen here.
And also we know that the shooter here is in custody, so therefore he could be speaking to law enforcement. It could be cooperating. We don't know that obviously, but that usually is an added value when you do have someone who is alive and is able to speak with law enforcement.
BASH: Yes, there are bit a dozen injured, but the other thing that was reported as of now, fewer than 10 fatalities. Still a lot. And especially on the heels of, as we said earlier, this is the 22nd school shooting of the year.
I want to read a statement that was just released from the Parkland kids group. And here's what it says, though this is the 22nd school shooting this year, we urge those reading this not to sweep it under the rug and forget. This is not the price of our freedom. Santa Fe, we are with you and we will do whatever we can to support you as the days go on.
I can also say that Daniella Diaz, our producer up on Capitol Hill, saw the Congressman from Parkland who represents Parkland, Ted Deutch, a Democrat, walk off the House floor a moment ago and give a hug to Republican Randy Weber who represents Santa Fe, Texas.
Certainly not what we want to see in here at all. Even as the kids from Parkland are reminding the representatives in Washington that it's time for action.
Tom Fuentes, as we kind of again digest what we heard from local officials there, as somebody who has been in this kind of situation, unfortunately, you're going in and trying to make sure that you can get as much information as you can, what else is law enforcement doing right now?
FUENTES: Well, I think first of all, again, going back to verifying the identity of the shooter in particular and then trying to examine every possible trace of information about him, whether it's digital media, social media, searching the residents if they've located it, searching his vehicle if they've located it, and again very carefully now that they know explosives are involved. And then trying to identify if he's put postings out, if he's made phone calls, or sent e-mails to friends, neighbors, colleagues, former students, to put information out that he had this intention or had some grievance, major grievance against society or against the school, or against fellow students or everybody in general.
So I think that's a big part of this now is to try to find out who has this person been in contact with, what messages were exchanged and what information may come from that that will still further the investigation or may identify others who'd have a similar mindset. He could be in communication with other students at other schools saying, you know what, I want to do that at my school, too. This may lead to a wider investigation that's very critical.
BASH: Yes, no question. And Shimon, as you've been pointing out, we've been pointing out witness reports tend to change, understandably. But one of the early witnesses reported that the gunman walked into an art class and began firing what looked like a shotgun, which is a different kind of gun that we've heard about in other school shootings which have the ability to shoot many, many more bullets at one time without having to reload.
[12:40:15] Again, we don't know exactly what it's going to be at the end of the day, but what does that tell you, at least in the short term?
PROKUPECZ: So, you know, I think it doesn't really give us any indication more than what we already know. I think the fact that this started in the beginning of the day. You know, first period is what that one witness said, that they were in art class and that the gunman walked in and just started firing.
We don't know obviously how this person would have gotten their hands on a shotgun, but that may be something that's relatively easy in Texas, right? I mean, getting your hands on a shotgun. So that will be interesting. And I think we'll learn that down the line.
I think the biggest concern, at least for me right now, is that there may be these explosive devices that have been laid out across the community, across this area, and it seems that at least, for law enforcement that's the big concern as well now. And you're going to have to deal with the tragedy of this situation. But there appears to still be a safety here, a risk for the community that they are still trying to address which certainly seems to be the priority, at least right now for law enforcement, while they have the school somewhat to seen there, somewhat contained. They don't think there are any other suspects out there, they don't think there are any other shooters. But the big thing right now is getting --
BASH: No question.
PROKUPECZ: -- the control of these explosive devices.
BASH: And then obviously on a very human level, here we are in mid- May at a school where you have a whole senior class preparing to graduate. Apparently exams were supposed to start next Wednesday, tomorrow. That was supposed to be a baccalaureate scheduled, and now, unfortunately, as we've seen too many times, you have a community terrorized and preparing to bury young people who they were celebrating -- supposed to start celebrating moving on to a new part of their life.
We're going to have a lot more as we gather details on what exactly is happening, currently happening on the ground with those explosive devices that local law enforcement told us that they are looking at.
We're going to take a quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Let's get straight to Texas at the University of Texas Medical Branch. A doctor there holding a press conference.
DAVID MARSHALL, CHIEF NURSIING OFFICER, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH: At 8:31 a.m., our first patient arrived by helicopter from site. He is fairly in the operating room at incredible condition. The first patient that arrived at League City is in good condition. But she's also in the O.R. at this time.
And then the patient who's under is still in our hospital on the pediatric floor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That patient is a male who is (INAUDIBLE).
MARSHALL: Yes, the younger patient is a male.
(INAUDIBLE)
[12:45:04] MARSHALL: I do not know that information.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like was involved in the Santa Fe shooting --
MARSHALL: Yes, he came from that area.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any idea of the type of gun?
MARSHALL: I don't have that information. I can tell you that the male patient that's in the operating room had a gunshot wound to the arm. The male patient that's under 18 had a gunshot wound to the leg. And the female patient who is in the operating room had a gunshot wound to the leg also.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: Yes.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But we were told that there was some kind of --
MARSHALL: It was close to his chest. Upper arm, yes. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he still in the operating room?
MARSHALL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In surgery?
MARSHALL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long has (INAUDIBLE)?
MARSHALL: We have no idea how long his surgery will be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you say someone is critical from a gunshot wound to the arm, what does that mean?
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: He did suffer significant blood loss and that's why he's in critical condition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are the other two patients scheduled under surgery?
MARSHALL: The female, who is middle aged, is in the O.R. now with her leg wounds. And the 16-year-old, I don't think we anticipate that he will need to go to the operating room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the 16-year-old awake, talking?
MARSHALL: I have not seen him, so I do not know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what about the woman (INAUDIBLE)?
MARSHALL: She's been taken to the O.R.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not need for surgery?
MARSHALL: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So if the 16-year-old is not in surgery, can we assume it was like a graze, like it was more (INAUDIBLE) rather than --
MARSHALL: I don't the details about his exact injury other than it's a wound to the leg.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know the age of the adults?
MARSHALL: They're middle-aged adults. I do not have the specific ages.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is by between 20s and 30s or --
MARSHALL: I think higher probably 50s.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 50. And all three patients team were from Santa Fe high school, right?
MARSHALL: The first patient arrived at our League City hospital. She was taken, from what I understand, by her husband, in a private automobile to League City and then transferred here by ambulance for our Level I trauma center. The helicopter brought the second patient from the scene and then the third patient arrived by ambulance from the scene.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: We have not heard that we will be receiving more patients. Tragically.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: Our staff are busy taking care of these patients and are standing by ready for other patients to come in. That's what's going on in there right now. I think there are a lot of personal feelings that people are having, and as the father of a 16-year-old at Friendswood High School, this hurts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know earlier in your days (INAUDIBLE). Can you tell us what's going through your mind? I mean, I think everyone is feeling what you're feeling right now.
MARSHALL: You Know, It's a horrible tragedy. Our hearts go out to those folks in Santa Fe and the high school students and their teachers and their administration, and we're doing the best we can to be a community partner to take care of them. We're going to continue to do that, and that's what we're here for, and that makes me feel better about being able to do that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you say that you were waiting for more patient hoping -- I mean, tragically of course being, you know, many more that maybe there were some more survivors who need help?
MARSHALL: We haven't heard. You know, there's --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looking at the time --
MARSHALL: OK. Yes. We were understanding that there would be additional patients. So we made ourselves ready.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have any of the relatives showed up already here?
MARSHALL: There have been some relatives who've shown up. Some who don't have students here or patients here, but they don't know where to go. So, you know, that information about the family reunification center at the Alamo gym in Santa Fe is very important for parents to understand that that's probably the best location to go to locate a child.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: No, we haven't. We've gotten support -- or offers of support from colleagues like MD Anderson have called and said, if you need us, we can come help you, but we haven't talked to hospitals that have received other patients.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) crisis type drills here?
MARSHALL: We do drills probably quarterly at UTMB to keep our Level I trauma center status intact. It's sort of an expectation that we practice for these sorts of situations. So that's why we're good at it, that's why we're ready at all times.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: Sure. A Level I trauma center in our nation -- there are four levels of trauma centers. Level I is the highest level, it means that surgeons always available all that, blood products are always available, that O.R.s are always available or ready to take a patient into them. That's a Level I trauma center. So there's lesser degree of resources available at the lesser ranked E.R.s.
(INAUDIBLE)
[12:50:10] MARSHALL: Are we the closest Level I trauma center to the Santa Fe high school? Yes. There are three Level I trauma centers in the Houston-Galveston Area Memorial Hermann, Ben Taub and UTMB.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: I have not spoken to any of the patients.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there's a little blood vans that people are thinking about donating, what's your --
MARSHALL: MD Anderson is bringing their mobile blood vans to be in front of our Genesee (ph) Hospital. They'll be there at 11:30. They're going to set up and take blood donations today, and then if we need them to come back tomorrow, they'll be available tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you guys can use the house?
MARSHALL: Yes.
(INAUDIBLE)
DR. GULSHAN SHARMA, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICA BRANCH: No, I think what Dr. Marshall said that we have one patient who is critical and actively undergoing surgery. The other two are stable and are in fair condition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me ask, are those bullet wounds, shotgun wounds? Are they -- like we're hearing different things about the gun use, do you know anything about (INAUDIBLE)?
SHARMA: I'm not knowledgeable of that at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How (INAUDIBLE) in surgery now?
SHARMA: It's difficult for me to give estimate, but in our next update we can provide that information.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How (INAUDIBLE) is feeling? Are they feeling, you know, good about what's happening in that surgery room right now with the student patient? I know that's hard to say, but do you have any information?
SHARMA: So he is critically ill and he is stable. Critically ill but stable in the O.R.
(INAUDIBLE)
SHARMA: I'm not aware of the actual number of surgeons in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know if any of law enforcement has been able to interview or get any information from any of the patients here?
SHARMA: I'm not aware of that information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One another note, they've located, you know, some ancillary explosive devices and they're trying to (INAUDIBLE) those, make them (INAUDIBLE)?
SHARMA: Absolutely. So, as Dr. Marshall suggested, we are a Level I trauma center. We have adequate number of staff and resources available to take care of those patients if the need arise.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you said that earlier, none of you guys have met with the actual patients, right?
SHARMA: No. I have not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, do you have plan on doing that or?
SHARMA: At some point, I hope to be able to see the patients, but that might not be today.
(INAUDIBLE)
SHARMA: That is our understanding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. So can you confirm that the patient that's in critical condition is the resource officer that was shot at Santa Fe? Is that what your (INAUDIBLE)?
SHARMA: That's our understanding.
(INAUDIBLE)
MARSHALL: I don't know his technical status.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he was one of the officers on duty at the high school?
MARSHALL: That's my understanding.
(INAUDIBLE)
SHARMA: We can ask Mr. Reyes Raul (ph)? When will our next briefing be?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're talking about 3:00 and we're thinking of a better location where you all can get better sound also. We'll let you all know, but probably somewhere in front of Genesee (ph) Hospital or maybe inside the hospital itself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's where will be (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe. I'll let you guys know.
SHARMA: We're about to make a decision. We'll let you all know to make a better locale for everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), before you go, can I get a correct spelling of each one of your names, please.
MARSHALL: David Marshall, D-A-V--I-D M-A-R-S-H-A-L-L.
SHARMA: Gulshan Sharma, G-U-L-S-H-A-N S-H-A-R-M-A.
BASH: You've been listening to a press conference at the University of Texas Medical Center where three victims are being treated. Two are, they say, in good condition, those two apparently are children. But there is one who is an adult who is in critical condition and is now in active surgery, and that individual is a resource officer or a police officer who was on the scene. And again, he is in critical condition and in active surgery.
As we were listening to that, our Shimon Prokupecz who is here, got some new information about the shooter. Shimon.
PROKUPECZ: That's right, Dana. We've learned that the shooter here is a 17-year-old student, as we've been saying, at the school. He was a 17-year-old male. He's in police custody. We don't know if he's cooperating with police there, if he's providing any information. That obviously will be a key part as police try to figure out what happened here.
You know, certainly at 17, it brings up a whole host of questions about weapons and how did he get his hands on this weapon. Witnesses have described it as a shotgun. We'll see if that's actually what it is.
[12:55:10] BASH: Because Texas law, we understand, is that you have to be 18 to have a gun, 21 to have a handgun.
PROKUPECZ: Right. So, you know, these are federal laws to purchase. It's funny, we went through this during the last -- the school shooting in Parkland where you have to be 21 to purchase a handgun, but you could be 18 to purchase a long gun. So that could be -- that could have happened in this case. It could be that someone may have purchased the weapon for him. It could be that it belonged to someone in his family or whatever and may have gotten his hands on it that way. Who knows.
I mean, I think that will come down the line and certainly an important part of this investigation and again goes to a lot of the issues that we've talked about for a long time here, and that is gun possession and gun rights, and certainly that will come up, probably no doubt in this case.
BASH: And Tom Fuentes, Texas is not a place where there are liberal laws with guns or about guns, and guns are probably not that hard to get despite the laws in place. What does it tell you that this young man was 17 years old?
FUENTES: Well it means that, in a way, the laws are irrelevant because he didn't legally purchase that gun. And so, no matter what laws are on the books, it didn't matter to keep that gun out of his hands. So, if someone else purchased it legally or his parents, you know, were the purchasers, however that would go, it would indicate that he didn't go in a gun shop and buy that weapon. Somebody else bought it and he got his hands on it.
BASH: Presumably, unless he purchased it outside the --
FUENTES: Or he stole it. That could be another.
BASH: Exactly. Or he stole it. And then there's the question of the fact that he's 17 years old. And then, obviously, he's going to have to go through a trial. He's technically a juvenile. What does that tell you?
FUENTES: He could be tried as an adult. Most states, especially that close in age, whether the state requires 17, or under federal law 18, they could make a motion to state authorities to go ahead and try to prosecute this individual as an adult. Now, we're going to have all of the, you know, the legal pleas that he's insane or mentally disturbed or not mentally confident to stand trial. You know, we'll see where that goes down the road here.
And again, that's going to be a big part of the investigation is what led up to this and, you know, did he tell people he planned to do it. And also, you know, often these type of individuals are extremely narcissistic. He may want to brag about this to the police, look what I did, look how great I I'm, I was able to kill all those people. So, we just don't know at this point if that's the case.
BASH: I mean, the fact that the law enforcement officials down there are saying that, effectively, they think that the school and maybe even the surrounding areas were booby-trapped with explosives speaks to what you were just saying, Tom. Thank you so much.
I want to bring in Sanjay Gupta about the press conference we just heard from the hospital. Sanjay, the adult that they were speaking about, apparently a police officer in critical condition in surgery. What else did you take from that press conference?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well obviously it was a very quick transport from the scene by helicopter. They were worried about this man. He was shot in the arm but we don't know where the entry wound went beyond that, where -- were these was an exit wound.
He is in the operating room. They said he is in stable condition but critical. That means his vital signs, which they're monitoring, obviously are not changing but there's still concern most likely about blood loss. This is a Level I trauma center. This is different than the other two hospitals where patients have been transported to. This is where patients who are the greatest at risk are likely to be transported because they have all these capabilities within the hospital.
3:00 is when they say we're going to hear what's going on next and probably get an update on him at that point. But right now it sounds like he's in the operating room. They're doing everything they can to save his life.
BASH: Sanjay, I just want to ask before I let you go about the human part of this. You saw the doctor who said he was the parent of a 16- year-old understandably getting upset. They are a part of the community. He said they do train for this, but when you have these kids and a police officer, but particularly the kids coming in and you have to deal with them in a trauma environment, doctors are human.
GUPTA: No question. And it's really hard. You have to sort of, obviously, do your job, but they live in this community as well, Dana. I mean, often times and, you know, I know the community I live in, I know many of the people, I live in this community. My kids go to school there. You know those teachers.
So it's a real -- it's heartbreaking but you've obviously got to do the job, which they're doing.
BASH: They sure are. Thank you so much, Sanjay. I'm going to thank you for watching and also go right over to Wolf Blitzer who's picking up our breaking news right now.
