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The Source with Kaitlan Collins

Officials: Four Victims, Including NYPD Officer, Killed In NYC Shooting; Source: Suspected Gunman Had Concealed Carry License For Handgun; Minutes Away: NYC Officials Give Update On Shooting. Aired 9- 10p ET

Aired July 28, 2025 - 21:00   ET

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

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST, FORMER NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INTELLIGENCE & COUNTERTERRORISM: Las Vegas Metro PD, the Sheriff's Department, is at the man's address. They are locking that down, to see who else is there, who may live with him, what family might be there, whether he lives alone. While NYPD and/or federal authorities, if that's going to be faster, obtain a search warrant for that location--

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Yes.

MILLER: --and they go through that very carefully as well.

BERMAN: John Miller. Chief Kenneth Corey. Former Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe. Thank you, one and all.

Obviously, the news continues, this breaking news situation continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: We're following breaking news here, in New York City tonight, where officials say a suspected shooter, inside a Manhattan office building, has been, quote, Neutralized. A law enforcement official tells CNN tonight that four people are dead, including an NYPD officer on the scene.

Police believe that a man, with a long rifle, walked into a Park Avenue skyscraper, just north of Grand Central Station, this evening, with law enforcement sharing this photo of the person believed to be the gunman, entering the building, you can see there, in broad daylight, with a massive gun in his hand. It's that building that houses the corporate offices for the National Football League, Blackstone, and the accounting firm, KPMG.

Multiple law enforcement officers tell CNN, the shooter was found dead inside the building from, what officials believe to be, a self- inflicted injury. Right now, the New York Police Department says they believe the shooter acted alone.

And this hour, the Mayor, Eric Adams, says police are searching the 634-foot building, floor by floor.

The FBI is on the scene, right in the middle of the country's largest city, to assist with the investigation tonight. I want to go straight to CNN's Shimon Prokupecz, who is live on the scene, in Midtown Manhattan.

And Shimon, you've been there for hours, watching as this developed. Obviously, we can still see behind you, there is a massive police presence still on the ground. What is the latest so far that you're learning?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kaitlan, the scene out here remains active, almost as active as when I got here around 07:00 p.m., just 20 minutes after all of this unfolded.

And when I first got here, I mean, the scene was just harrowing. I saw officers with long guns and tactical gear, racing up Park Avenue, going into that building, going into a nearby building, searching for people, making sure they could get people who may be in harm's way out, safely. They went into all of these buildings, searching floor by floor.

And as you said, the search still ongoing. As you can see behind me, I'm going to step out of the camera, so Rob (ph) could show you, many of the officers are still here. There are Fire Department officials, there are several ambulances. As you said, the number of dead has grown. The police and emergency officials still very much searching the building, still here in the area, this has turned into a crime scene.

Also significantly, an off-duty police officer who was working a paid detail here, which we see all across the country, really, and really in New York City, where there are off-duty officers who are allowed to wear their uniforms, and they work to make extra money. It's essentially a way for them to make extra cash. And that's what this officer was doing, standing outside this building when the gunman shot him. And luckily, perhaps in some ways, this may have prevented a much larger tragedy, this interaction between this off-duty officer and the gunman.

So, we are now waiting for the NYPD, and for the Mayor, and other New York officials to hold a press conference. Things are somewhat slow now, because of the death of this officer, the NYPD needs to gather this officer's family members, bring them to the hospital, inform them of what happened. And certainly, they want to do that, Kaitlan, before they have any kind of press conference, make sure all the family is aware and make sure they notify the other victims.

One of the eerie things, and I just, I can't get this out of my head, is when I got to this scene, watching people in that -- in the building, and the building is just over my left shoulder here, watching the people in the windows, or in that building, where the gunman was believed to be, standing there, trying to figure out what was going on, and the NYPD just flowing in, running towards the building.

It was such a chaotic scene, in some ways, but also such a frightening scene, because even for those officers, who were arriving here, if they weren't wearing tactical gear, they were being told to stay off Park Avenue, to go down the side streets, just in case the gunman started firing out of that building, and this became a sniper situation.

[21:05:00]

So, that was the scene that was unfolding. Obviously much different now. Police are working this scene, and now, sadly, notifying family members, gathering those family members before they release any more information.

They know a lot about the gunman, at this point.

COLLINS: Yes.

PROKUPECZ: They are working through that information, Kaitlan. So, we're waiting to hear more from officials. But, certainly a--

COLLINS: Yes. Yes, it's just--

PROKUPECZ: --some frightening, frightening moment out here, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: It's gut-wrenching, to think about what one family is going to get that phone call tonight, and just devastating. I mean, I was talking to some other police officers, here in New York earlier, when they learned that this officer had been killed.

And Shimon, I think you make an interesting point about just the unknowns here, and the confusion, as this was all happening, people in these -- this office building.

I mean, can you just put in perspective, for people who don't live in New York, what part of town this is in, what this looks like, I mean? And it's a very busy area at that hour, as we were learning about this happening and just trying to figure out what was going on.

PROKUPECZ: So this is Park Avenue, Midtown, I would call the Midtown, the east side of Midtown. Actually, people will know this. We're just blocks across the street from the Waldorf Astoria. This is the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel that has just reopened. We're not far from the St. Patrick's Cathedral.

There are a lot of financial institutions on this street. JPMorgan Chase just opened their new building here. So there are a lot of banks, a lot of financial institutions, a lot of law firms on this street. We are about now, seven blocks from Grand Central. So, this is really a part of New York City, with a lot of corporate space, with a lot of office building, high-powered individuals, you're talking about, in this building, Blackstone, you're talking about the NFL.

So, when the NYPD got that call? I mean, this is something they train for. But I have lived in this city, my whole life. I have worked in this city. I have -- cannot recall a situation, like this before. And to see the NYPD respond in this way was quite gut-wrenching, to see them running towards where they believed this gunman was.

COLLINS: Yes. Especially as we've learned tonight, one of their colleagues has been killed, and as we are still learning more.

Shimon Prokupecz, we'll check back in with you, as we get more news throughout the hour.

I also want to bring in CNN's Chief Law enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller.

And John, I know you've been speaking with sources, and learning more about the profile of this suspected shooter. What more do we know about him at this hour right now?

MILLER: He's a 27-year-old man. He apparently drove to that location by car, although we don't know from where he drove. He starts off life in Hawaii, where he was born, went to -- looks like high school, then shifts to Las Vegas.

In Las Vegas, we are told, by sources who are developing the background on this individual, that he obtains a private investigator's license. Don't know at this point whether that was with a larger firm with more experienced people, or if this is something that he did to start his own business. It does require some experience to get the license.

Then, we also are told that he has a concealed carry permit, to carry concealed weapons and guns in Las Vegas, from the Las Vegas Sheriff's department there. They are on the way to his residence, and are there now, where they are locking that down to determine who does he live with, what family members are there? What information can they glean from them?

And if he lives alone, to secure that residence, so that when they get a search warrant, they can, first, make sure that that is safe, looking with the bomb squad for any booby traps or anything else, and then conduct a search, very much like what we have seen in other similar cases, whether it was the attack in New Orleans on New Year's Day, or the attack on Las Vegas later, that same day.

This is a thing, where you're putting together that profile of the suspect. Because what they want to know is, what was it that brought him there? First, what they want to know is, was he acting alone? From all appearances so far, that's the case. But what brought him to that building, what was the target, which would tell us, what was the motive?

We know that in his younger days, his life was all about football, and we know that the NFL headquarters is in that building. But it's not on the floor where he was found, or where he targeted additional people, which was far above that. So, they're really putting together the pieces.

[21:10:00]

COLLINS: Well, and John, when they're putting together those pieces, I mean two things. When you say that he had a private investigator's license, and also a concealed carry permit. I mean, as you're putting this together, and you're looking at this image, I mean, just alone, that image is beyond striking to see someone, just in broad daylight, in the middle of Manhattan, with a massive gun in his hand, walking into this office building.

Obviously, there's tons of people on the streets of New York. He could have targeted any of them. He's going into this building. I mean, if you are law enforcement, and you're digging into his background, knowing those three things, what are the immediate questions that you're asking yourself tonight?

MILLER: Well, the first immediate question is, let's make sure he was not acting in concert with someone else. That's been going on since the first minute.

But the second question, and that can be asked at a much slower pace, is, What connection does he have to that building? What connection does he have to anything or anyone in that building? What can we glean from his social media, which I've been looking at, and doesn't tell us very much at first glance, about what was going on in his life. Did he have some cause? Did he have some grievance?

Was there some theme that we can connect with someone who is headquartered at that building? Because going from Las Vegas, to 345 Park Avenue at 51st Street, in the heart of what is probably the most elite set of buildings in Corporate America, means you had to have a reason for doing it.

COLLINS: Yes, and I think that's another question here, in terms of the concealed carry permit that he had. The car, obviously, I mean, I imagine that is how they first realized who this individual was, and in terms of looking into that. And his age as well, 27-year-old, Las Vegas. You're looking at this. And they're saying he is acting alone. That is the belief of the NYPD right now, as we've come on air tonight. What are the next questions they have here, John?

MILLER: Well, they're going to really kind of go through what they can find at his house, once they get that search warrant, inventory, what they found in the car. But they're also going to want to go into his computers, into his phones, when they get that search warrant, not just what they see, but what they can't see, which is, what digital imagery, what data, what notes.

There's something strange about this. Because Kaitlan, it does not appear, if you go through the profile of his offender characteristics walking in, that he expected to be walking out. He's doing nothing to hide that rifle. He's not going to go in, by appearances, and shoot a bunch of people, stash the rifle in a hallway, and then sneak out with the fleeing victims. It appears that this was his last stand.

He is walking with that weapon, fully exposed, into a crowded lobby, where he knows there's security. He fully intends to shoot his way through it, and make his way to his target, whatever that target was.

COLLINS: And when you've been looking at his social media profile, what has stood out to you, just from a cursory -- cursory glance, tonight? MILLER: Just that as a young man, his life was all about sports, football, Junior Varsity Player of the Game. And then, it seems to trail off into a later part of his life, which is less-exposed, which is intriguing. Private investigator, concealed carry permit.

So, one of the things they're going to have to look at is what -- what stressors occurred in his life, what changes happened, what disappointments or grievances.

We see these active shooters, and when we go through their background, we often find what we call, the Injustice Collector. They blame their problems on other people, other entities, other decisions, that mostly come from their own failures. And then they -- then they decide to get even with everybody, even though, in most cases, when you go through their lives, you find out the problem was usually them.

And I think the idea that after he reached his target, if he did, after he killed the people he intended to, or maybe just those who got in the way, taking his own life was the final period of his failure.

COLLINS: Yes, I mean, he just strode in -- in broad daylight.

John, I'll let you get back to working your sources. Please let us know if you hear anything. We'll check back in with you.

Also here is Andrew McCabe, the former Deputy Director of the FBI.

[21:15:00]

And we've learned tonight that the FBI is on the scene, here in New York. We heard from Dan Bongino, earlier tonight, that they're assisting with that.

As far as what that looks like, right now, as of this hour. Shimon made the point earlier. We're still waiting to hear an official update from law enforcement tonight. We've been getting updates from the Police Commissioner, here in New York, and the Mayor. Obviously, they still have to notify this poor officer's family that has been killed, as a result of this tonight.

What is the status of the FBI help? What does federal assistance look like right now?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Yes, sure, Kaitlan.

So let's remember we're in New York City, where the FBI has a long tradition of working very closely with the NYPD, particularly on the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Really, every criminal squad in the FBI, just about every criminal squad in the FBI office, in New York City, is a task force with elements of the NYPD. So, that relationship is very strong.

They are doing tonight, those agents and officers assigned to the JTTF, as we call it, are doing the sort of work that they do in terrorism cases. When someone is new on their radar, someone pops up who they have never had any interactions with before, who doesn't have a known criminal history, as we understand this person does not? They are starting from ground zero, and trying to build a picture of, who is this guy? Where did he come from? What was he doing in that building today. How did he get there? How did he prepare for this attack? How did he train himself for this attack? Did he have any assistance in any of those steps along the way?

And the way that they're going to do that is by executing, first, these search warrants, that you heard John talk about. He has a vehicle that he got out of at the scene, so they'll exercise a warrant on that -- on that vehicle, and -- and likely come across physical evidence that will be of help to them there. He's got a residence in Las Vegas. They'll do the same thing there.

They're looking for computers, cell phones, tablets, any sort of electronic device that can be used for communication or social media purposes. They want to know what he has said in the past, but they also want to know what his friends and neighbors and family members say about him. So, that's a lot of human interviews, locating people, talking to them, understanding, like, what is this guy all about?

Because, as John said, you have got to know why he went to that building. It's clear from the picture, he is not worried about getting caught. He's not worried about anything. He's striding up with a gun in plain view. He makes no effort to conceal it or to hide it.

This is a guy who went into that building knowing -- intending to kill someone, and probably knowing he was not going to come out alive. That is an extreme place to be. And the detectives and agents who are working in this case need to understand what was he trying to accomplish with that act.

COLLINS: Yes, and just comparing that to the -- one of the last high- profile shootings that happened here in Manhattan was with Luigi Mangione. And you saw the great lengths that he went to, to conceal his identity, and obviously in a days-long police pursuit, but had covered his face, took a bike, changed his route.

Andrew McCabe, we'll check back in with you.

Also here, Darrin Porcher. And Justice Jill Konviser.

What stood out to me, you used -- you actually know this building where this happened tonight.

JILL KONVISER, FORMER NEW YORK SUPREME COURT JUDGE, FORMER NY STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL, ADJUNCT LAW PROFESSOR, FORDHAM, AND CARDOZO SCHOOLS OF LAW, FORMER ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I used to work in that building, many years ago. It is on Park -- there's an entrance on Park Avenue, and there's an entrance on Lexington, right by the subway, right by the 4, 5, 6 line, and to the south--

COLLINS: So that entrance, can we--

KONVISER: That's -- that's the Park Avenue.

COLLINS: This is that -- on map, where we can show the entrance where the shooter is going in. You know that entrance.

KONVISER: That's the Park Avenue entrance. Yes, that big plaza is the Park Avenue entrance. A lots of doors. There was -- there was always some security, but it was like an off-duty police officer. But there wasn't much that you had to do to go into the -- into the -- into the building, which is going to change, of course, now with, you saw the ease with which he -- with which he walked in there.

And John Miller is right. They are going to now go follow through and get warrants to go to his house, and look at the documents, and look at anything that's in his house that will give clues to why -- why and what he did, and why he was in New York from Vegas.

This is all -- you know, it's brand-new. It's all on -- it's all happening very quickly. Just like you said, with Luigi Mangione, there was a process. And the NYPD, in conjunction with the FBI and the JTTF, which is the Joint Terrorism Task Force, will work together to piece together some information. And I think we'll find out a lot, when we realize who the decedents are, and what if any connection there is--

COLLINS: Yes.

KONVISER: --to this -- the deceased shooter.

COLLINS: I mean, and also, just to be clear, this is a massive building that the police are now searching floor by floor to go through. Because, I mean, earlier we were hearing he was between the 31st and 33rd floor, and there were questions about where exactly that was. Shimon was talking about people looking down and -- in that building, not really sure what's going on.

[21:20:00]

I mean, that's a massive search that they're doing to make sure there are no other victims in the building tonight.

DARRIN PORCHER, RETIRED NYPD LIEUTENANT: Yes, that's true.

One of the first things we think of in law enforcement, Are we going to evaluate or shelter in place? We evacuate when we feel that the person can escape the threat without being harmed. Or we shelter in place, if we don't have that ability. So, when you listen to a lot of the broadcasts, we had a lot of the patrons that were in that building that was sheltering in place.

Now, when we think in connection with what the search pattern is going to consist of, we're going to have emergency service, which are basically the Special Operations officers in the NYPD. They wear the heavy vests, they have the helmets, and the automatic weapon, and they're going to work in tandem with the bomb squad, because we don't know if there are any additional incendiary devices that this individual may have had, when he came into the building. And it's going to be really easy to map out that -- the pathway that he took, because there are hundreds of cameras in that building. So we have cameras in the elevator, we have cameras on every floor. So that's going to show us the pathway, from when he entered the building, up to including the point where he committed suicide on the upper floors. That's important. Once we're able to determine that we have no--

COLLINS: Will you be able to tell, did he know the building? Was he familiar with it? Will they be able to ascertain that from looking at that security footage?

PORCHER: There's a possibility. But--

COLLINS: Because, I mean, these are huge buildings. When you go in, it's not, you know, it's not always just an obvious -- you go in and it's an elevator bank--

(CROSSTALK)

KONVISER: There are different elevator banks as well.

COLLINS: Yes.

KONVISER: If you're looking for a particular floor, you need to go to a particular elevator.

COLLINS: Right.

PORCHER: But another thing that we have to take in consideration, Did he come in prior to this assault, and do a level of countersurveillance? And that's something that's going to be quite telling, when we pull the videos from this building, to see if this individual did, in fact, enter the building, prior to him committing this assault.

COLLINS: Will they also look at cameras around the city? I mean, we saw a vehicle, that John was talking about, that they tagged to him earlier, which helped them actually identify him and trace him to see, I mean, did he drive to New York from Las Vegas? Has he been in the area for a few days? I mean, that was something with the Luigi Mangione case, where they could track his movements around the city beforehand.

PORCHER: Right. Well, what we're also going to do is look to see if he had any credit cards. And those credit card receipts would be quite telling, in that, that would tell us if he actually stayed at a particular hotel, prior to the incident. It seems unlikely that he drove all the way from Las Vegas to New York and then committed this horrific assault.

But bear in mind, this is an aberration, to see someone walk the streets of the City of New York with a long gun. It was clear that he was on a suicide mission. He had an ax to grind. And I'm wondering, did he have a manifesto on him at the time. This hasn't been produced. But there has to be something that states why I'm going to this location.

John Miller spoke to it earlier, as it relates to going into his computer, going into his cell phone. That's generally the cookie- cutter routine that we take as law enforcement. But I'm really wondering if he did have that manifesto, and that would tell us why, in fact, he was at the location.

COLLINS: And I should note, we are waiting to get an update from New York City officials. We are told that is going to be happening. We don't know an exact time. But that would be the first official word that we have heard from officials, here in New York, since this happened hours ago.

Obviously, as you've seen, this massive law enforcement presence on the scene. The Mayor, Eric Adams, there as well.

I want to bring in John Monaghan, who is here with me, a retired NYPD Captain, as we're following all of this.

And Captain, it's great to have you.

I do think that it's a good point that everyone's making about just how brazen this shooter was. Seeing this photo of him just striding into this building, middle of daylight in Manhattan, carrying this massive weapon into this building, where he knew there would likely be security, as there is in most of these buildings here in Manhattan. I wonder what stands out to you, this hour, and what you'll be listening for, from officials, tonight.

JOHN MONAGHAN, RETIRED NYPD CAPTAIN: It was quite brazen. That video, that photo of him walking across that Plaza, it's striking. But as Darrin just said, he knew he was going to die that night. You can tell, he was at peace with that. Unlike Luigi, who tried to make an escape, this man knew it was the end. He was very calm. And it's shocking to see a long gun like that.

51st and Park, Kaitlan, that's one of the nicest neighborhoods in New York City. I want to know where he got that gun. If he didn't drive here from Vegas, did he get the gun when he got here? These are the questions that we need to answer.

But you know what? The main thing here is that cop. God bless that cop. Came down from the Bronx to work a tour off-duty. We call it paid detail. He is, in fact, in uniform, NYPD. He's just not going to go out on patrol. He's going to stay on a fixed post in that building. That's a horrifying situation. It's infuriating, really.

[21:25:00]

But like, everybody's talking about the response, it was fantastic. And notice that, there's the patrol response, cleared the building. Is it OK to evacuate? Are there more shooters? Was he alone? All of that's taking place. And a Detective Bureau is already backtracking this man and trying to find out what we can about him. Right now, I think the main question is, where did he get that gun? If he didn't -- and I know he had the -- the police department (ph) for Las Vegas. One of my sources, he runs a global security for a bank on that block, was telling me that he's a disgruntled employee. Now, that may not mean he was an employee of that building. Maybe that's where the corporate offices were for the firm he worked for out in Vegas. Who knows? But that's one piece of information that I just got.

And also, I hear there may be more than one cop shot. One's dead, but there may be another. There was more than one NYPD officer in the lobby. But what a horrifying situation.

COLLINS: Yes, I mean, it's just devastating when we -- when CNN's Mark Morales confirmed that tonight, just to see that this off-duty cop, who is working an extra shift, at this office building, that this happened.

And as Shimon was saying earlier, we don't know what happened in that interaction yet, or what it -- how it affected the gunman's plan, as he was striding into this building and going in.

On it -- with a gun like that, though, I mean, being in New York City, if you're an officer, and you're obviously -- I mean, he's getting out of the car, walking into this building. As you can see, the car was kind of parked on the curb earlier, as we were looking at these images. What is the next step that cops are taking, in terms of as they are looking into his profile to learn more about this tonight?

MONAGHAN: Well, to learn about his profile, you have to backtrack his employment. He's got that pistol permit. He had that PI license. How long was he in New York? How did he arrive here? Just like with Luigi, they found out what bus he came in through, what terminal he came in through.

But for the cop in the lobby, when you see that coming, the first thing is to take cover. You got to take cover. Line up your sights, and hopefully that you can do battle with this man.

You know we talk about -- though I said, how that man crossed that Plaza, he knew he was going to die, and it brought a calmness to him and a confidence to him.

Think about that cop. He sees a man with a long gun coming at him. He takes cover. He's probably realizing, This could be it, and he engages. That's tough stuff, man. It really is.

COLLINS: Yes. It's--

MONAGHAN: But yes, there's a lot of work to be done.

COLLINS: --it's gut-wrenching to think about--

MONAGHAN: Yes.

COLLINS: There is so much. And obviously, we'll wait to see what we hear from officials tonight. We're expecting the New York Police Department to brief any moment. And obviously, it's coming at a moment of great tragedy for them, to lose one of their colleagues, as they are on the scene, and we saw how quickly and how widespread that presence was from them.

Captain, thank you. I'm going to check back in with you as we are waiting to hear from them, to see what stands out to you from that press conference. We're going to bring that to you live here on CNN, when it happens.

John Miller is back with me.

And John, as you're -- as they're looking into this, and just assessing this, and looking at the building itself. As I said earlier, that it was home to Blackstone. The NFL headquarters are there. There's a bunch of accounting and financial firms that are headquartered. I mean, this is a massive 630- -- 640-foot skyscraper, and it's got a lot of offices in it.

So when you're looking back to see, was there a motive here, or as the Captain is hearing an unconfirmed report, that he was a disgruntled employee? We haven't confirmed that yet. That is a lot of that that they're tracking down and seeing what's in that building and how it maybe aligns with his past.

MILLER: So, that's happening on two levels.

One, I mean, just to reflect on that building for a moment. That's a massive building. I've been in that building many times. Very -- very good security and access control in the lobby. But that's designed to keep out trespassers, unauthorized persons, people trying to sneak in. It's not going to affect someone with an AK-47 coming through the lobby, firing.

So right now, you have them doing a search that starts with the SRG team on the roof, Strategic Response Command, long gun, heavy weapons team, and they're working their way down through the building. While the Emergency Service Unit, ESU, NYPD's version of a SWAT team, is working its way up.

Why? The gunman is neutralized. That situation is contained. He is dead with the gun alongside him by a row of desks up on the 32nd floor -- or 33rd floor.

But meanwhile, they have to clear literally every office, because there are people who may have run without their phone or any access to further updates, who are barricaded in closets, or rooms, or hiding under desks, or locked inside someplace where they now can't get out. But they're going to -- they're going to clear that whole building. So that's going to take time.

[21:30:00]

In the meantime, they're looking at those spaces. The NFL in that building is on the fifth floor. Where he was on the 30-- 32nd floor, where there's a public meeting room. Was there an event going on in that public space? Was that somewhere that he was deliberately trying to get to?

And then there is the fact that Blackstone is a massive financial company that occupies many floors of that building. Does it have to do with some issue with them? All of these things are going to come together from a number of directions.

What was his pathway into the building? Where did he go? What kinds of victims did he stop? They're going to put all that together by exploiting the video, from inside the building, and basically recreating his path, while they're trying to get information from all those other sources we talked about.

COLLINS: Yes.

John Miller, stand by. Everyone else as well.

We're going to bring you all of the breaking updates on the news this hour, as authorities say, a man has entered a Manhattan high rise with a long gun. He ultimately killed a police officer and at least three other people tonight. As many details are still coming in this hour.

We're going to get more with hopefully a press conference from the NYPD itself. We'll bring that to you live, here on CNN, when it happens.

We'll be right back, after a quick break.

[21:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Back with our breaking news this hour, as we are learning new details about the gunman's movements before -- as he entered a major office building, here in Midtown Manhattan, killing at least four people, including a New York Police Department officer.

As police say, the gunman first exchanged fire with that officer in the lobby of the building before then heading upstairs. The body of the 27-year-old suspect was later found in a stairwell, dead from an apparent self-inflicted injury.

My law enforcement sources are back with me.

I want to start with John Miller.

Because, John, you're learning more about what exactly the movements were here, as the gunman, one, we could see him entering the building there in this widely-publicized picture now. But once he was in the building, and then what happened from there, what have you learned?

MILLER: Well, their tracing of his movements has been rebuilt, and that will be enhanced, every missing piece.

So, they have scoured the License Plate Reader system, the LPR system, to figure out, All right, when did that car first cross into New York City, over what bridge, at what date, at what time? When did that car then cross into Manhattan, on what date, at what time? When did it pass any other LPRs? They will reconstruct, literally, his driving route to the location. Then they'll see, OK, did he go anywhere first? Did he stop anywhere else? They'll look and say -- and this is very familiar from Luigi Mangione, who killed the healthcare executive. Was he here for multiple days, as John Monaghan pointed out. Was he doing pre- operational surveillance at that location? They'll build that piece by piece.

But what they -- what they established immediately, is he parks around the corner, he gets out of that car alone, and then he goes through the building.

It's interesting about the picture that we've been showing, and the picture we are looking at, because that picture has a purpose. The minute that guy disappeared into the building, now we have a lone gunman on the loose, with a long weapon, in a crowded building.

They developed this picture from the building security cameras, right? First, a distant image, then a closer, enhanced image, and then they began to track him through the building's video systems, in the elevators, in the hallways, wherever they could access a camera that came down there.

And then they took this picture, and they sent it out to every single cop in New York City. Not just every cop on the scene. 32,000 police officers got this photo on their phone, on the idea that while they're searching for him in the building, had he already escaped, was he somewhere in the street, would somebody spot him on a subway train? And that was the rapid fire use of the technology they have. Let's vacuum up the first quality picture we can get. Let's send it out to every officer in the city.

In the meantime, years of practice into the active-shooter domain clicked in, which is, first, try and find and confront the shooter. The first police officer did that and was killed in the process.

Now, he's somewhere loose in the building. Those calls are coming in. Let's set that perimeter around the building, so he doesn't walk out of here. That's strategic response command. Now, let's clear the building of all the regular cops, the first people to arrive, and send in the emergency service unit, and they will do that systematic hunt for the gunman, from the top to the bottom, from the bottom to the top, till they meet in the middle.

And they are now monitoring each one of the calls coming into 911, from people who are hiding in offices, or who saw him in a hallway, or was there when the shots were fired upstairs, as we now believe happened, and they are getting those calls literally sent to their department-issued phones, where they're reading them, and that says, OK, these are the floors we need to move to right away, and that's how they finally closed in on him.

From that ID that they found on him, they were able to say, All right, let's go -- let's go canvas these blocks and find if there's a car. Then let's get the bomb squad to clear that car, and let's see if there's anything in there that is going to make people unsafe, and then let's lock that down for a search warrant. [21:40:00]

Nobody had to tell anybody what to do. They have not had this happen, as Shimon Prokupecz pointed out so many times. And yet, they've practiced for it for years. And all of those synapses fired very rapidly today, and efficiently, amid--

COLLINS: Yes.

MILLER: --the stress of a terrible tragedy of a police officer was killed.

COLLINS: And we can still see right now, a massive presence that is on the ground as they are still going floor by floor.

Chris Swecker is also here with us, the former Assistant Director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division.

And if you were in your job right now, in that moment, I mean, what would be the steps that the FBI is taking? We know they're here, on the ground, in New York City, assisting in this investigation tonight. What are -- what does their role look like at this hour?

CHRIS SWECKER, FORMER ASSISTANT FBI DIRECTOR: Well, their role is to do whatever NYPD asked them to do. I mean, they're a support role right now. But the possibility of terrorism is enough for them to bring out all their resources. And they got considerable resources in New York City, as John well knows.

This is a situation, where you almost have a presumption that this is a terrorist incident, and then you work backwards from there. As John said, I mean, all the tactical things have kicked in. They will clear the entire building. They're in the process -- they may still be in the process of doing that.

They got to find his car. I have heard that there -- that the car was nearby or in front. Not a 100 percent sure about that.

As he gets identified, then people will race to his residence in Las Vegas, or wherever he lived, find his -- you know, if he had a workplace, they'll go there. They'll get onto his devices. They'll get into his house, into talking to his social network, if you will.

They'll be shaking that tree as hard as they can, dispatching agents out of Vegas or wherever they need to dispatch them. Because this is a -- you know, this is -- it's a global agency, if you will. So, they can be -- instantly get an agent anywhere they need to get them.

You look at this -- you look at this guy, as he walked across the Plaza though. I tend to agree with Andy McCabe, that he was striding into that building with a purpose, and he wasn't going to come out. This was a suicide mission, clearly.

He had the -- even though the weapon -- he tried to conceal the weapon by carrying it next to his leg, not at the ready, he had the element of surprise going into the building. Query, whether he was going to a specific place, or whether he was just going to go in there, and do as much damage as he could. But this was definitely a suicide mission, which I will point out is the hallmark of terrorists.

COLLINS: Yes, and seeing how he's just striding into that building, the outfit that he's wearing was a big source of focus, obviously, as he was going in, with people looking at that.

SWECKER: Right.

COLLINS: I also want to bring in Stephen Gutowski, who's here with us, CNN Contributor, gun safety instructor and a firearms reporter for TheReload.com.

Because that gun. I mean, obviously, as we've been talking about, just how brazen he is, walking into this building, a massive gun in the middle of Manhattan. What stands out to you, one, on this? We've been talking about this concealed carry permit that he had in Vegas. Obviously, that wouldn't have applied to one, this gun, but two, the fact that he's here in Manhattan.

But what stands out to you, Stephen, when you're looking at this remarkable picture tonight?

STEPHEN GUTOWSKI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, GUN SAFETY INSTRUCTOR AND FIREARMS REPORTER FOR THERELOAD.COM: Yes, certainly, I mean, it is obviously a bit blurry, but the profile that firearm indicates, it's likely an AR- 15-pattern rifle with actually appears to have a 30-round magazine inserted into it, and a number of other features that would likely make it illegal in New York, unless it was sold well before the bans that went into place years and years ago in New York state.

So, he likely purchased that gun somewhere else, and brought it into the state. I would -- I would say that's a very likely possibility here, based on, you know there's the profile of the gun itself, and the laws of New York City -- here in New York City and New York State.

COLLINS: Yes, I mean, and it's a massive gun that he's walking into, to the building with, obviously, in no way hiding it, as he goes into the building, or tries to get into an elevator bank. I mean, he's walking into that building, likely knowing, if he's at all familiar with New York City, and with these massive skyscrapers, they all have security in the lobby or right outside of them.

But also, it just stood out to me, he's walking past all of these people who are on the street of New York, and going into this building, clearly, with a purpose.

GUTOWSKI: Yes, absolutely. And he has a concealed carry license. An AR-15 is not a gun you concealed carry, right? It's not a -- it's not a gun that you are carrying around for everyday self-protection. And clearly, based on his actions, this is something he planned out to commit this horrible, heinous crime.

[21:45:00]

And yes, he was comfortable, walking around openly carrying an AR-15, or at least what appears to be an AR-15-pattern rifle in the middle of New York City, which is, as your guests have laid out very well, not a common thing, and not something that's legal at all.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, it's basically unheard of, to just see that scene playing out there.

And Darrin Porcher, as you're looking at this as a retired NYPD lieutenant, in this investigation, as this stands tonight. I mean, it does stand out.

Just to remind people who might have missed the top. John Miller was reporting he had a license as a private investigator, had this concealed carry permit. Young, so he's 27-years-old, presumably, may have a serious social media presence, just given his age. We don't know yet. John was looking at a cursory glance earlier. Just kind of looking at the background of him, as they are putting that together.

Are you surprised that we have not yet heard from -- we're waiting for the NYPD to speak tonight, and we're expecting that soon. But are you surprised we haven't heard from them yet?

PORCHER: I'm very surprised. The Deputy Commissioner of Public Information in the NYPD is responsible for getting this information out to us as the public. They're in the assemblance process in terms of getting that blast of information out. Now, one of the points of contention may be the officer's family have not -- has not yet been notified, which is understandable. But it's still, you still get that surface-level information out there.

But one point that's been neglected the whole way through is we really need to lend kudos to the security in that building. Because, the NYPD officers don't know how to work those security cameras, they need to work in tandem with the building security.

And it would be that building security that affords the NYPD officers the directional path of the subject, when he came into that building, committed the atrocities, and where he can possibly be held up. So, that's one thing that we really need to say, Hey, look, we had good people on the ground as it relates to the security to help us out.

But moving forward, this is a massive, I mean, a massive crime scene, and this is going to take a long time. You have thousands of people that work in that building on a day-to-day, and they're going to be sidelined until we complete this investigation. Because we had a New York City police officer that was slain, while he was merely there protecting common citizens as they were going about their normal comings and goings.

COLLINS: Yes, and I mean, you're obviously familiar, deeply familiar, with this building and what the layout looks like. John Miller was reporting that -- I mean, obviously it's a massive building, 600 -- some 600 feet, dozens and dozens of floors, as we were talking to people earlier about this.

John Miller says that the building, that he is told, has very good security, access control in the lobby, that's designed to keep out trespassers. Obviously, someone comes in with a gun, that is an AR-15 style, as Stephen is reporting there.

KONVISER: Yes.

COLLINS: But I mean, typically, in these buildings, you have to have a badge to get up in the elevator. You have to have this to get past the turnstile or security. So, it does raise questions of how he got to the 33rd floor?

KONVISER: It does. It may mean he has some familiarity. It may mean there was someone helping him. It may mean he put the gun in someone's face and said, Press the button. There's a lot of things that could have gone on.

This is not something -- we think about security for these major Manhattan buildings. We don't really foresee something this outrageous, if you would. It's something that wouldn't necessarily rise to this level. And maybe they just couldn't be prepared for something like this. It was just -- it was so shocking.

And that's what we're talking about it for an hour and all day, and we'll be talking about it, for the rest of the day, and for tomorrow, because there's still so much that's unfolding, and it's so surprising.

And we'll get answers. I think you're right. I think PD will, in conjunction with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, investigate. They will interview. They will look at cameras. They'll look at license plate readers. They'll look at everything, and they'll find -- they'll trace that gun. They're going to figure out where that came from, and it'll give us some answers. Maybe the answers to your questions won't ever be answered, but hopefully they will, because, if nothing else, the cameras.

COLLINS: Well, and to Andrew McCabe's point earlier about him going into the building, clearly not trying to hide it, or to conceal, or to get out. I mean, they have the gun itself. And so, they can use that to trace it and to see potentially, where he bought it or where it came from.

PORCHER: Right. This gun could have been acquired legally. But it's irrelevant, because it was an illegal act that this firearm was used in the commission of this horrific crime, that resulted in all of these people dying.

And so, the firearm is one component. But we really want to get to the psyche of this individual as to why he did it. Because, we're speaking of someone that did not have a criminal background. There are numerous organizations in that building, such as the NFL. It could have -- it could have been Blackstone. We just don't know why he was there. And that's the million-dollar question, and it hasn't been solved.

COLLINS: Yes, obviously, a lot of questions about that. We'll be standing by to see what is answered by the NYPD. They are going to hold a news conference shortly. We're going to bring that to you live, here on CNN, when it happens. As we are continuing to cover the latest details of this deadly shooting in Midtown Manhattan, we'll have much more. And we're going to take a quick break.

[21:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Back now, as we are continuing to following -- follow the breaking news, here in New York. We're awaiting an update tonight from city officials here, the first press conference that they are expected to hold, since we have learned at least four people are dead, including an NYPD officer, after a shooter entered an office building, here in the center of Manhattan.

[21:55:00]

The suspect, we have also confirmed, is dead tonight, as law enforcement officials have said they have identified him, as a 27- year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada. Officials say that he had no significant criminal background.

But we are waiting to learn more about what officials themselves have learned, as we do know that this press conference is expected to get started in a matter of moments here, from officials on the ground in New York. They've been following all of these updates, as we have continued to follow them here as well.

Andrew McCabe, former FBI Deputy Director, is here with me.

And obviously, we've just learned that these officials are expected to speak at about 10:00 p.m. That's in about five minutes here. Obviously, they have been sorting through a massive crime scene that is playing out, in this skyscraper building, in the middle of Midtown Manhattan.

What do you -- what do you expect to hear from them tonight? What are you hoping to hear from them tonight?

MCCABE: Kaitlan, I'm hoping we get a lot of details that they probably have already. And so, we know that investigators always hold a lot of things back, to try to keep from polluting the investigation. But there are some key facts that they could probably shed light on.

First is the tracing of that weapon. So undoubtedly, they have ATF assets, who've been engaged, who are doing a full gun history on that presumed AR-15. That's going to tell us where it was first sold, and then every time it was sold from an authorized, federally-licensed firearms dealer after that.

I would expect that it's likely that this shooter purchased that gun legally. If the police are saying that he didn't have any sort of a significant criminal history, it's unlikely he was a prohibited purchaser under the gun purchase laws, that -- that come from the background check that's done from a purchase. So, if he purchased that weapon legally, he sure as heck didn't do it in Manhattan. So, that tells us something about how he got there.

To get into Manhattan with that weapon, he likely drove it from somewhere else. The most likely location would have been Las Vegas. So if, in fact, he traveled to Manhattan, from Las Vegas, under his own power, driving his own vehicle with an AR-15 in the trunk, that alone shows a level of planning and organization and commitment to this violent act that stretches back days, maybe even weeks.

COLLINS: Yes, and obviously, coming into Manhattan, there are a million skyscrapers in the city. Picking one that he's striding into here as we're waiting to learn more about whether he had any ties to any of the businesses in that building, or anyone in that building.

John Miller is also with us.

And John Miller, as you're learning about this, you were reporting just a few moments ago, about the security in this building being quite good security, in terms of what this looks like in the lobby, of what that shooter was walking into here, as he had this massive AR-15- style weapon on him.

MILLER: Well, it's one of those buildings where you have to check in, and you have to announce where you're going, and then they have to give you the pass to get where you're going. But it's also one of those buildings that has a lot of controls in the lobby, in their central control center.

And this is one of the things we learned, putting together, the NYPD's active shooter program. And that was, What do you do when you have an active shooter? And we went through that. You get your containment, you send the people after the shooter. And when the -- when the Special Weapons Teams arrive, you transition your regular cops out, and send in your heavy weapons teams.

The other thing we learned was something from the firemen. When we talked to the firemen about, What do we do when the shooter sets fires? They took us into the building's fire control center, and we started to learn, in the NYPD, about the amount of control you have, in a building from the lobby.

And we saw that come into play today, which is, the shooter shoots his way through security in the lobby, and is now moving through the building. But quickly, they were able to, A, We can bring all of the elevators to the bottom. B, we have the video system where we can track his movements and figure out where he is.

C, as our -- as our SWAT teams search floor by floor, and we find groups of people, we can create that safe corridor for them with a line of heavily-armed cops, get them to an elevator, or a set of elevators that we control, and we can bring them down in groups of 50, and then get them debriefed. Give me your name. How do we find you? Let's get a picture of your ID. OK, what did you see? What did you know? What did you hear? And collect all of those triage interviews.

We saw all of that happening today, fitting in with the plan we discussed before, about their regular active-shooter protocol, the building went to work for them.

[22:00:00]

COLLINS: Yes, and just to think of the hundreds of people, if not more, that they had to evacuate from that building. They're still going floor by floor tonight, is our understanding.

John Miller, it has been excellent to have your reporting. Thank you for that. And to all of our experts for joining us, on a horrific night, as we learn that an NYPD officer has been killed. We are expecting an update from NYC officials here, any moment now. We're going to bring that to you live here, on CNN.

I'm going to hand it off to "CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP."