i don't know what's going on. >> caesar, i'll going to let you handle that and hopefully see your daughter very, very soon. i appreciate you jumping on the phone. we're all thinking about every single one of you in this parkland, florida community. thank you for sharing. i'm brooke baldwin. jake tapper picks up special jake tapper picks up special coverage starting now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we're beginning with a tragedy. a school shooter is still at large according to authorities after injuring high school students in a, quote, mass casualty attack in broward county, florida. scenes of panic outside the school this afternoon. now sadly familiar high schoolers running from campus, walking out with their hands in the air. police officers with guns drawn. president trump has been briefed on the situation. he has spoken to florida

governor rick scott. the florida high school tweeted, my condolences. no child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an american school. let's go to the mayor of parkland, florida who is on the scene. thanks for joining us. what can you tell us? do you have any idea how many people were wounded? how many people may have been killed? >> yes, i have heard but i do not have any firsthand information on it. they have set up a perimeter and we are obeying the perimeter. the police and ems first responders are able to do their job. >> so local news nkaccounts in florida say 20 people have been injured and the miami herald heard there was one fatality. you haven't heard anything -- >> i have benot received any

firsthand information on those numbers. >> what do you know about the status of the shooter? law enforcement said the individual is still at large. is that still the case? >> i am not certain of that. we keep hearing rumors but nothing is confirmed. the police are very busy in the school securing everything and letting students out as their area is secure. that's where their focus has been and should be. >> the school has about 3,000 students. do you have any idea how many of those students remain in the school waiting to be evacuated? >> i do not. but i do know quite a few have been released. >> there were images from a local tv affiliate of a man, it appears a young man, perhaps even a student in a maroon t-shirt looking as though he was being arrested, or at least detained. do you know anything about that? >> i've heard the rumor as well but i have not heard it

firsthand from anyone official. >> it wasn't a room or. we saw the image. what's your message for any parents watching? we've spoken to a number of them. many of them are frantic. their loved ones, their children are still inside the school. they're worried about their children. what can you tell them? >> i'm telling them that first we're thinking of everybody here. this is a very tragic situation for everyone involved. they need to abide by the perimeter that has been set up by the police and first responders. they are working hard to make this situation safe again. and the parents have been in touch with their children through cell phones, they need to tell them to remain inside until the police come. to not open for anybody except the police. >> as far as you know, it is

still an active shooter situation and the individual may still be at large. >> right. may. we have not received any firsthand confirmation one way or the other and the perimeter has been set up. >> have you spoken tofully of the teachers or any of the students who were in the school when this happened? >> yes. >> can you give us a rough idea of their description of what happened? >> i don't want to be giving secondhand information. they were very sad. they were very upset and i would prefer not to discuss secondhand information. they were very scared though. >> what can you -- >> almost in shock when they came out speaking. >> i'm sorry? say that again? >> and they were almost in shock when they came out. >> i understand that. we've been told by some of the parents that this is a school

that, like many schools across the country, regularly engages in preparation and training for a day such as this. is that right? >> that's correct. our school is part of the broward county school system and they do this training regularly at all the schools in broward county. and it is unfortunate in our day and age but that has to be done. >> yeah. obviously, you can't confirm the reports that we've heard of at least 20 injured and the miami herald reporting that a fire chief has said there's one fatality, if not more. obviously, a horrible day in broward county. what kind of security can you tell us does this school have? >> the school has a single point of entry security and there is always a full resource officer, a police officer at the school. >> okay. what are you hearing from

parents? is it mainly people worried about finding their students? their loved ones? >> they're worried about finding their students. if their student has been hurt, they're worried about which hospital they've been brought to. apparently the students who have been injured have been brought to various hospitals in the area and they want to see their children. as any parent can understand, they just want to hug them and make sure they're okay. >> all right. parkland mayor christine hunschofsky, thank you very much. we've seen images of some young man being escorted into a vehicle. we don't know if it is the shooter or anything other than there is some young man detained and local tv got a shot of it.

as far as broward county is concerned, this remains an active shooter situation. there's the image i'm referring to. possibly a young man wearing a maroon shirt and he looks as though he is being detained, if not arrested. in an active shooter situation, even if they believe that person is a suspect, and we have no information they do, they would be making sure there aren't two or three or four suspects. >> you look at the videos. the officers doing a high risk search on the individual. we don't know what his status is or why he's in custody. you can bet police officers, before they send out the all clear, they'll ensure there is no threat. we've been seeing the television screens as students stream out, an attempted orderly evacuation what we can't see he are police officers going room by room

attempting to find out what they're dealing with. is it one person? multiple? it is something they'll want to wrap their minds around and have some kind of proof. >> explain to those at home i know what the parents how are frustrated, that their kids are still in that school and being told they cannot leave yet. presumably that is being done for their own safety. the police officers, et cetera, want to make sure it's safe? >> if you have a school with 3,000 students, you don't want all 3,000 running around like insects running around the perimeter, heading for home, getting into vehicles. so they're trying to contain the situation until they can figure out what they have. if they don't know, do they have one shooter? multiple shooters? one shoot her come it and run away and they're looking for him in the neighborhoods? there could be other accomplices in the school is that.

the maintenance facilities parts of the school. so it would be a very difficult job to go cubby hole by cubby hole in that building and clear it. both for the possible shooters, or people involved, and the students that would go into hiding. that's one of the tenets they say, run, hide, fight. it could be anywhere in the school or the neighborhood. so they have to track down serve and that's a lengthy, meticulous process. >> very difficult for the parents. i want to bring in senator bill nelson. i'm sorry to be talking to you at such a grim and grave time but apparently you have new information with the injuries or fatalities? >> it is a bad day. i talked to the school superintendent. he believes there are a number of fatalities.

i can't tell you any more than that. i heard one source say many, but i don't think you can take it until it is verified. but a number of fatalities. this is a bad day for florida and for the country. and you can imagine the grief of parents right now, not knowing as well as the students not knowing. as usual visually showing, there seems to be one in custody. they think they know who the shooter is and i don't know if that was the same person put into the police car. >> all right. so you're saying that the police, law enforcement thinks they have an idea who the individual is who was the shooter. you can't see there now but we're looking at images from moments ago, wplg, it looks like

a young man, a white man in a maroon shirt is being put in a police car. you're saying that you don't know it is the same person police suspect to be the shooter. do police suspect it is only one shooter, sir? >> when i was told about 30 minutes ago, that they suspected the shooter and they suspected they knew his identity. i want you to know that for the people of florida, we are praying for the families and the student victims. >> the individual in question, possibly the shooter, is it believed he is a student? >> i'm not at liberty to tell you that. >> you said there were many

fatalities. unfortunately in this day and age, com mean dozens. >> it was described as a number of fatalities. i said another source said many. i don't know the number. >> we've heard from local reporters on the ground talking to emergency workers, up to 20 injuries. up to 20 wounded. and a fire chief told the miami herald one fatality at the very least. you're saying that according to the school superintendent, it is more than one fatality. do you have any rough idea of how many or no, not at all? >> i do not. if the information came by seeing a number of injuries, and what you just reported.

that could be the interpolation of more than one. >> some parents have kids that they have been able to reach who are in the school and not able to leave yet as they go door to door, trying on clear different segments. what are you hearing back home? >> well, the whole place is in grief and shock. the fbi is there. they are directing all the efforts. and then they will direct the investigation after the shooter is in custody. >> senator, i want to interrupt for a moment. the broward sheriff is saying the shooter is now in custody. here's the tweet from them. shooter is now in custody. scene is still active. #stoneman shooting. that's the name of the high school. i assume they're saying it is still active because they're

making sure there are no other shooters. >> that's correct. marjorie stoneman douglas high school. and of course, they are treating it as an active shooter situation until they make sure there wasn't anybody else involved. >> i'm old enough to remember when images 12 and 14-year-olds walking out of a school with their hands in the air because an active shooter situation didn't show up on my tv every week or two. what do you say to the parents out there who are frustrated and who say, senator nelson, we thank you for your thoughts and prayers, but we actually need more than thoughts and prayers. this is a crisis in this country. >> of course. we ought to say, enough is enough. the question is, once you get into the investigation, how did the shooter obtain the weapon? was it a high caliber weapon?

was it obtained lawfully? and if so, that ought to have people to start thinking about such things as background checks. i don't know the details. but you said what would i say to those parents? other than sharing in their grief. that's what i would say. >> i'm sure there will be lots of time in the future to talk about that. right now we are all just worried and heart broken about what's going on in broward county. >> absolutely. >> senator, thank you for joining us. if you get more information, please call back in. we would love to have you back. i'm going straight to the high school, robert gott. you've been text go with students in the school. i don't want to you name alleged suspect, if you have heard the

name, i would request that you not share it. >> i have heard it. >> what are your friends telling you? >> they pretty much just said that someone pulled the fire alarm. a lot of them evacuated and a lot are still in the school. and i heard that one of my teachers got shot. i heard the shooting was all in the freshman building, which is the one building that is not connected to the rest of the campus. three stories. >> i'm told your brother is at the middle school. he's okay? >> my mom got a text from him. he said that he's fine. but yeah, everyone at the middle school is okay. it is just the one building that is not connected to the rest is where people got slot and died. i don't know who it is yet. i don't know who was the shooter. that's all i know. i know a lot of people couldn't

call me. they just tried to text me and they couldn't text me. you know, rapidly. because they had to have their phones away. >> how old are you? >> i'm 15. >> you're 15 years old. your friends, share with us if you would, what they're going through. what their texts -- you don't have to quote the texts or name your friends. >> they're just happy they're alive right now. i mean, i'm glad they're okay, too. they're freaking out. they don't know what's going on. they just heard there's a the shooter in the building. >> and you heard one of your teachers was killed? >> just shot. he was shot and telling people to run. >> without naming your teacher, what did this teacher teach? >> he taught geography. >> a geography teacher. and he was telling people to run. >> yes. he was in the building not

connected to the others, the three stories. >> and did any of your friends see him shot? or they heard he was shot? >> i'm hearing, people are saying that someone saw him shot. they're like, i've heard other rumors that a kid by him got shot but he picked him up and he was covered in blood. so -- and i've heard on the news that one teacher died so i'm not sure if it was him or not. >> how are you doing? what is it like to be a 15-year-old having this happen at your school? >> it is just scary. i wasn't even there and i thank god that i wasn't there at the time. i'm still worried for all my friends, you know? >> i do. your classmates, your school, you engage in preparation for days like this. emergency training. >> a few weeks ago, a big meeting and all the teachers were talking about, what if this

happened and we went through a bunch of drills. and every kind of bad situation. and we talked it over in every class. i mean, i don't know how much more prepared we could have been. >> ryan, thank you so much. god bless you. we're all thinking of you and your classmates. we're going to go to the broward county superintendent. >> a teacher -- >> i believe there's an administrator or a teach per th is involved. i can't confirm if that's one the of the fatalities. >> this is a day every summit fears. to have it here in broward. >> it is a day that you pray every day i get up that we will never have to see. it is in front of us and i ask the community for their prayers,

your support, for these children and their families. we're going to do whatever we can as community to pull through this and we will. again, we're doing everything we possibly can. the students are being evacuated and released at the moment. so we're working through that process right now. >> are you aware of any indication, any warning, any hint that this student could have been planning there? >> we've received no warning no, indication. again, there will be a thorough investigation. typically you see in these situations that there potentially could have been signs out. there i would be speculating at this point if there were but we didn't have any warnings. there weren't any phone calls or threats that we know of that were made. >> summit, there are so many parents that are afraid. afraid to send their kids to school. what would you tell them out

there? >> what i would say is we cannot live in a world that's built on fear. we have to do what we can to make sure that we provide the greatest safety measures we can for our kids. i'll tell you that mental health issues in this country are growing and they're a big challenge and it is something that will certainly need to be addressed within our school systems as well as in the broader society to ensure that these kinds of tragedies don't continue. we have to be able to recognize individuals that are in distress, that have challenges and be able to find ways to support them. but our schools, we do what we can to make sure they're as safe as they possibly can be for our children. and again, this is a day we

prayed would never be here at broward county. we're dealing with it and we'll deal with it as a community. we'll pull through it. my prayers and heartfelt sorrow goes out to the families and this entire community. >> those comments about mental health and stress, are they speculation on your part? or do you have some idea of who is responsible? other than the obvious. >> other than the obvious, correct floflt sane person will go and commit such an atrocity. so i would say that it is something we have to deal with. >> but it is not based on your knowledge -- >> not based on my knowledge of anything with the individual who committed this. i know it is a challenge and it is something we've been trying to deal with throughout broward county and throughout this nation. >> hundreds of students are

being evacuated, right? >> that's correct. they're clearing buildings out. they're doing it in an orderly manner to make sure it is safe. there's an enormous presence of law enforcement and they're assisting in it. >> and the middle school, are the students still inside? they were on lockdown. >> they're probably going through an evacuation process as well. we have students coming from the middle schools like nova where they typically may get dropped off here. we have them being dropped off at another school site. >> on a typical afternoon, what police presence -- >> every high school in this county has a police presence at the skil. so there were officers there at all times. >> do you know how many? >> there are typically two cars

of law enforcement individuals on our campuses. they're called school resource officers. that's correct. >> do you know if the shooter went into another building? >> i don't know the path or exactly how the shootings occurred. >> where were you when you got that phone call is that your heart had to have dropped. >> so today has been a day of enormous mountains and valleys. i was leaving monarch high school where we were giving the teacher of the year keys to a brand new toyota camry that she won from being the teacher of the year in broward county. we were celebrating our teachers, our schools. and got in the car. and as i'm driving back to the office, i start seeing communication and i hear from staff that we may have a

tragedy. so i literally have come from giving the teacher of the year a car and celebrating our teachers and our district to where i am right now. >> the worst school shooting in broward county ever. >> that's what it appears to be. >> i am so sorry. thank you so much for updating us. >> that was superintendent robert runcie. >> i want to bring in sara. you're from nearby. you know the area and you've spoken to two students. >> yes, both students were leaving for the day and a fire alarm went off in the building and they thought it was a drill as you would if you were a student in high school. they filed out as they practiced. but one student who is 18 years old, she immediately knew something was wrong.

she heard six gunshots as they were filing out. students began to run back toward the school. she ran back into a classroom that was not on the ground floor. when i spoke to her, that's where she was, still barricaded in that classroom. another student, a 16-year-old boy who made it farther, out on to the campus. this is a very large school, to paint a little bit of a picture. he was out. further away. he made to it his assigned position in the event of a fire drill but realized his teachers were acting frantic. and then police began to show up in bullet-proof vests and long guns. he climbed over a fence, ran through a field. this school is adjacent to a very large shopping complex with a walmart. he said a lot of the students ran into the wal-mart and he was able to reach a place outside the school perimeter where his mom was able to pick him up.

but both students said it was the fire alarm that ganl this incident about ten minutes before school ended. another thing to note, this school, it's florida. good weather all the time. most of the hall ways are outside. so the only safe place to barricade yourself is inside a classroom. >> an interesting observation. i want to flonote the broward county has updated the situation. we have at least 14 victims. the broward sheriff is not delineating between fatalities and people who are wounded. but 14 victims. and then they say victims have been and continue to be transported to broward health medical center and broward health north hospital. if you're a parent, the twitter account has the address of a staging area where you can go meet your student, your child if

you are still looking the figure out how to do so. i want to bring in charles ramsey. a formpolice commissioner of philadelphia. other than clearing the building, what are police doing? >> well, it's a crime scene. so i'm sure that they're going to search every inch of that building to, one, make sure there is no one else posing a threat. and if they have any teachers the or others barricaded in a room. then they have a crime scene that they have to secure and begin processing. i'm told the fbi is there, broward county's crime scene unit. they'll probably work together to get done. the other thing that's happening right now. you just saw with it the broward county sheriff. that's get information out so parents know where to go the reunite with their children. if one of the children was one

of the victims, where to go, what hospital they've been taken to. so all those things going on at the same time. >> you heard the school summit being asked whether the shooter who presumably is a student based on the questions being asked, if there had been any warning signs or indications that the student had any troubles that anything like the could happen, he said he did not know of any but there would be an investigation to see iffully signals or signs had been missed. >> people will take a look, had he sent out any messages or tweets that make people aware that he was about to do something. right now what you're faced with is a tragedy. no matter how you look at i. another incident where we've had people, children in school. one of the places that should be the safest place to be. that turns out to be the worst

place on this particular day. and i don't know if anything is going to happen. i doubt it. i have no faith in our congress or elected officials to do anything. if sandy hook did not cause to us really rethink how we deal with guns, guns in the hands of people should not have them, then this won't either. it is a shame but it won't. >> you evacuated, how are you? >> i'm perfect right now. i'm being driven away from the school right now. >> are you with other students? >> yes. wyoming a couple of other people. i'm with my mom. i'm with four other people so six people in total in the car. >> you're a freshman? >> yes. i' i'm a freshman.

>> what did you see? >> well, obviously, i wasn't in the building where the shooting happened. we were very close, literally one building away. a stairwell away. so we were first told to evacuate over the intercom so we were leaving the building and we came upon a stairwell that led to the other building over a bit of concrete pavement. and i heard two gunshots. and a lot of people were running out of that building and the intercom spoke again code red, which is a lockdown. >> what did you do then? >> we returned to our building. our building in our room. we tlokd door and we stood around. most people thought it was firecrackers. it was on the third floor, i think. or that's what a lot of people

did. so it is valentine's day so i thought maybe it is a celebration, set off firecrackers and complain a student called in an alarm. so then we started to see all the local tv stations started updating and talking about the situation. so people thought something was up. we didn't know it was a shooting until we were told. i think they said there are an estimated six people dead and 20 injured. when people saw that, they thought it was a shooting. >> people who were shot or taken to hos, we don't know whether they're dead or injured. and the fire chief did say that one person has been killed. >> i saw at least two people under tarps in front of the

building that the shooting occurred. >> you saw two people under those blankets they put people under after they've been killed? >> it was yellow. they weren't moving and they weren't receiving attention. so i think they were dead. >> could you tell if they were students or adults? >> one was an adult for sure. he was wearing a bit more formal attire that teachers wear. the other was a female student. >> that's horrible. i'm sorry you had to see that. >> it's fine. >> your mom must be pretty happy that she has you in the car. >> yeah. very much so. it is really a blessing to still be alive. >> we're glad you're okay. thanks for calling us. >> thank you. >> i mean, the new normal in america where this happens every few weeks. there have been 18

individuals -- 18th incidents of school shootings just since january 1st, 2018. some of them had fatalities. some of them did not. but people bringing guns to school. we're looking at images right now from wptv in parkland, florida. a lot of people, parents and children, hugging each other. >> what's going through your head as you watch all this? >> they're gut wrenching. i harken back to, i was in orlando -- meeting with victim family members. and they talk about the state of the unknown. just how distressing that is. you can imagine as you watch these images that some parents don't know what's going on. it compounds their grief and anxiety. and then we listen to the student talk about the events unfolding inside the school. you can imagine the state of

chaos when you have a code red lockdown order going out at the same time a fire alarm is being pulled. do you stay? do you go? it has to be a complete state of chaos. >> and people thought it was firecrackers. they didn't know until they saw local news reports about what it was. in the top right of your screen, if you're watching, there is an ambulance, and my understanding is they put the young man, the young white man in a maroon shirt that we saw police detaining earlier. we do not know if it is the suspect. we know the suspect is in custody. we saw police put that individual in that ambulance and that ambulance is being taken somewhere, and local police helicopte helicopters, this one with wplg,

they're following. we're going to listen in. >> we heard the police yelling, banging on the doors. >> at this point you didn't know if the shooter was at your door or not. >> there was someone on the door and we didn't know who it was. >> you said that right before thought happened, the fire alarm was pulled so everybody was running around. explain the chaos. >> everyone was really confused. we thought it was another fire drill, the fake fire drill. they never do it around this time because everyone is getting ready to leave and they wouldn't do it around the other two periods because there's a lunch and b lunch. that would mess up everything. >> you thought it was sfrank there was a fire alarm being pulled. >> it was my history teacher, mr. stewart, he told us to go back inside.

and we were really confused and did not who know to listen to. we heard mr. porter, i think a teacher said -- >> the principal. >> yeah. they were telling us to evacuate. we didn't know if he had a gun to his head. that's what people were saying. >> when all this is going to and you're hiding in the classroom, what was going through your mind? >> i really hope this isn't real. and i hope that all my friends are okay. i hope everyone i know, everyone at the school will be okay and no one will get hurt. i was freaking out. >> you were talking to your dad. text go with him. what were you telling him? >> i was saying i was okay. updates, like the ones up close were saying what they saw. >> reporter: the moments where you were let out of the classroom, an hour and a half later, what did you see? >> we saw broken glass from a

door. i think that was police, to get in. and i saw some bodies. that wasn't good. >> reporter: people that you recognized. >> yeah. it was my friend's teacher. >> we're going -- she's starting to talk about individuals there so we're going to let that interview breathe elsewhere. tom fuentes, if you would, when chief ramsey referred to this as an active crime scene, what are they looking for? did they trace every bullet? every incident of violence? >> yes. trace every bullet. try to trace the path of the shooter hflt he been in school all day with guns in backpack? what were his movements? was he alone? which part of the building was he in? if could i add, going back, i was on the air the day of sandy

hook. and i was asked, well, this will surely change everything. dozens of young children massacred. and i said the same thing. no, wolf, i don't think anything will change. i don't think any laws will change. it will be the same when it is all over with. and that's pretty much what we have. >> law enforcement has not exactly been active in terms of pressing congress the change laws. i remember law enforcement used to be much more active in the 1990s when it came to pushing for further restrictions to make sure guns don't get into the wrong hands but i have not seen law enforcement officials pressing in the last 10 or 15 years. >> i think it has gotten to the point of not leading to any change. when i was a street cop, in the mid '70s, you have police associations saying nothing needs to change. our officers are outgunned. they're carrying revolvers.

the bad guys are carrying mac 10 automatic weapons. that needs to stop. we still hear it. we still hear complaints we have the militarization of the police. no, we have the militarization of the general public and the police have to go up against it almost every day of the week. we hear these situations. in excuse, it's not fobl secure a school. you have outdoor hallways pfrlt means every individual classroom is an entrance and an exit from the building. so there could be 100 entrances and exits to the safe areas. you can't put a guard at everyone of them. you can't keep the school locked down from early in the morning when some classes start before the general classes start to late in the evening when the sports teams are practicing or other events in the school, and those schools may be open six, seven days a week, with the athletic competitions and other

groups using the facilities. so the idea that we can lock it down or put magnetometers, that isn't going to change. as long as we have mentally ill people running around with automatic or semi-automatic weapons. >> we still don't know how the suspect in this horrific instance got the fire sxarm we'll be reporting on that. i want to bring in cedric alexander. as you watch these images come in, what is going through your mind about what they're dealing with there as a law enforcement matter? >> well, here again, i think you heard it from both my friends and colleagues there. from what we can see from the television, that's a huge crime scene. certainly the police, from the time they got the call, entered into the building, it had to be chaotic for them.

they had to know right away. we had to know from persons on the scene a lot of information being transferred from one person to another. it had to be very chaotic. negligent many students had to barricade themselves inside classrooms. in addition, we know children were fleeing the campus trying to get away and officers were continuing to gather information into that crime scene. fortunately, this subject was placed into custody. but this investigation is now just beginning. who is the subject? what was the reason for this event during today? how did he gain access to a weapon? a lot of questions have to be answered so this is just the beginning of the investigation. as the days go by, we'll learn more of what went on. my heart and prayers go out to these families and these students, particularly this

valentine's day. this is so sad, so tragic and we're seeing it much too often. >> i want to bring in juliet, there are a number of families being reunited with their children. they're in coral springs, not too far from the school. tell us about the process. >> so there are three processes going on. who is the assailant? there's the health triage, we have over a dozen people requiring medical care. and then there's family unification. a relatively new piece in crisis management that is now focused on, if you can get family members with their kids quickly, they leave, they go home. they're accounted for. it is a key part of the sort of deep breath that everyone needs right now in florida. because of course, this will be a couple days until the school is back to normal.

so that will be staging areas. walmart, if it close by the high school, is very involved with emergency management training. the chief and everyone knows it is an integral part of hurricanes and other planning. so there are different places around the school. parents are being told to go there. they don't want to go near the school but you can't stop a parent from get go their child so they need to get family unification going. it is a lot of kids. a couple thousand kids so it will take a while. we've had some parents on air clearly texting with their kids but not able to get to them. so this is a key phase. >> and juliette, the sheriff is tweeting, wait to go to the are family staging area until everything is clear. what does that suggest to you? >> that's odd. why is it a family staging area? i don't know why that would have

been out. you set up the family staging area that is outside the perimeter of the investigation to ensure that parents can get to their kids. otherwise you have kids texting, meet me there, dad, meet me there, mom. the school needs to account for these kids. so mabel part of it, i would surmise from past experience, they might be staging the kids, taking attendance. that that's key. you have to know who is there and who might be at the hospital. they have to pick up the pace now. this is when parents start to panic. people do stupid things. they show up at crime scenes. and kids are terrified. all they want to do is go home. so we have to get them home. get them home. >> chief ramsey, i know you wanted to weigh in. >> i wanted to mention something about what you said earlier. police chiefs and pushing to get better gun laws.

there has been some movement. the major chiefs association. there's a bill now before congress, a concealed carry bill. a reciprocity act. if you have a permit in one state, you have to only had it in all other states. and we know about the varance in gun laws. the problem is it just falls on deaf ears. all of society needs to be able to get engaged. i'm not anti-gun but we have to stop this nonsense. this will continue. we have to put ourselves in a position where we're trying and right now we're not even trying. that's the shame. look at the trauma these kids are going through. when you interview the young person, you can hear it in their voice. how do you deal with that? and get beyond the excuse? think about the youngsters and the trauma they go through. if we don't care about ourselves as adults, at least care about

the kids and let's do what we can to keep them safe. >> a washington researcher suggested, since columbine, 1999, 150,000 american school children have gone through some sort of school shooting situation like this. not saying that they've been killed or wounded but they've experienced and gone through this trauma and it is hard to not believe that the adults of america are not failing the children of america by not doing more to prevent guns from getting into the hands of the mentally ill and those who are violent and would carry out such a horrific act. >> they have been wounded. it is the invisible wounds, the trauma, that kids go through when they hear about this happening in other schools. you may not like school because of reading, writing and

arithmetic. but now you have to worry about this. not only fire drills but you have to have active shooter drills. this is not normal. the minute we accept it as being normal, we just set the stage for this stuff on continue. it is not going to stop. >> i agree. i don't think i called it the new normal but we see it happening every couple sgeeks it is horrifying that this is what our children are going through. i want to bring in a teacher right now on the phone. first of all, melissa, how are you doing? >> i'm okay. i'm safe. >> you were teaching? >> i was. it was the end of the school day and the fire alarm went off. we went to evacuating. we assumed it was a fire drill and then we got 15, 20 steps out

of the classroom and we were down on the floor and into the closet. and we were hidden in the closet. >> you teach freshmen? first year students? >> i teach a lot of grades. i teach all grades because i teach electives. i teach newspaper and english of will. >> were you in the freshman building when this happened? >> no. but i have a lot of kids that teach there. i was across campus in the 200 building at the time. >> sources are telling us that they know of at least two fatalities. we talked to a student, kayden earlier, who said that those two fatalities were visible under tarps as students left the building. >> a friend of mine teaches in the freshman building. she said that as she was leaving, there were bodies on the floor. i don't know who it is and i don't know why.

but -- i mean, this is the type of situation that we -- we just will a fwrahad a training about. a lot of us thought this was the drill that we were supposed to have this semester to practice. and it wasn't. >> i hate to ask there question, your friend who said he or she saw bodies, did she say how many? >> she said she saw three. >> three? >> yes. >> law enforcement sources are saying that the shooter was a student, suspected to be a student. a current student of the school. we don't want to mention any names. that's up for law enforcement. do you know anything about -- >> no. i don't know anything about who it might be or why. i just know this is the worst

nightmare scenario that you hope never happens to you. i was listening in earlier to the commentators. and it really speaks to those of us who work in schools and with children, and our society's inability to solve this problem. it is totally unacceptable. >> it is pretty clear that we're failing our kids here. i'm not saying the solution is one thing or another but this does not happen in other countries the way it happens here. >> society failed those people today. >> how are the kids you were teaching today? >> they're holding it together. a little stressful and harder of we were in the closet and they were crying and panicking. now we're outside. >> how old were the students?

>> 15, 15, i have a lot of freshmen. i managed to put 19 kids in the closet with me. >> how long did you have to be there? >> less than a minute. >> oh, and then you were cleared quickly? >> no. we were in there for probably 40 minutes. we were locked in the closet until s.w.a.t. sxcame and got u. now we're standing out on the street and kids are, you know, finding their parents. >> those kids are lucky to have you. it must have been horrible. >> yes. it was horrible. >> and then as a teacher you have to put on a beret face. you have to put on a brave face. >> yes. >> the and that's difficult. >> yes.

i have to go. i am responsible for these kids. >> thank you for talking to us. >> these are stories we have to report now. 20 years ago this would have been shocking and stunning but now it happens in everyday america. >> you mentioned about the school being a crime scene. you have potentially two additional crime scenes. the vehicle that person took to the school, if he took a car, and then secondly, that person's residence. if they've identified the shooter and have identified the shooter's residence, you would have a crime scene search there. are there more explosives or other weapons? literature? his computers? other things might reveal more information. also, at sandy hook, the student shot and killed his mother.

that's another thing stflt shooter's family safe? are they accounted for? >> i want to play sound from another student. >> it's just different when it hits home. you read about it, you hear about it in other places. when it is your child that's hiding. it's just a little different. you know? it's a very sad day. >> honestly, i'm still in shock. i don't know whether it will hit me tonight or tomorrow. to me, it almost feels like a drill. it is surreal to see apply aunt and my mom crying, waiting for me. >> a reunion, reuniting a boy and a mother and his aunt at the school outside in parkland,

florida, in broward county. josh, you wanted to weigh in. >> piggy backing on what you were saying about, how we've become desensitized. it happens more and more and it has become so common place. two things. we were listening to her talk about six weeks ago they received active shooter training. incredible. and that the fbi has really increased the number of trainings provided for entities like this as well as law enforcement. the fact we need to increase training, that's troubling. but then secondly, as we watch law enforcement, we see a sea of red and blue uniforms. the fact you have a seamless fusion of law enforcement working together, it is something you want but sadly, it is evidence that we've had too much practice. >> and these are the images at the top of the hour when what looks like a young man was detained by police.

we do not know who this young man is. we don't know if this individual is the shooter. certainly it happens that there's wrong identity. this person was put in an ambulance and taken away and there were local tv news choppers following. local law enforcement is saying the local shooter is a student at this school. charles ramsey, if i can bring you back, is it usually the case that a shooter is usually a student at the school? >> i don't know if it is usual but sometimes it is a former student, sometimes it is someone who is mentally ill who decides that's what they want to do.

the bottom line is someone probably knew something. maybe through social media or something that wasn't quite right. whether or not that was brought to the attention of the adults in the school, i don't know. more will unfold over time. now that we know who this individual is. we'll learn a little bit more. whether or not it is usual, i would have to take a look at all those shootings to say that. but i would say it's not uncommon. the first thing i would think is it is a student or a former student. >> when it is a student, in your experience, usually have there been some sort of warning signs? on social media or -- hold. on we're going to listen to the police briefing on the situation. oh, we're having audio problems. i'll going to bring you back.

is it usually the case that there have been some sort of warning signs? sorry. >>-will begin process go this horrific scene as soon as the buildings are cleared. right now the buildings are not safe to be cleared. we're asking that you put out on the news asap that any parent who is looking for their child, to please go immediately to the marriott within the complex. our officers are transporting these young students to be reunited with their parents. that's where we want parents to go. i want to thank the mayor and to be with me at this terrible time. the last thing i want to say, this is a terrible day for

parkland, broward county, the state of florida and the united states. my very own triplets went to that school and graduated from there. they played football and lacrosse at that school. it is catastrophic. there are no words. we will keep you updated. i have spoken to governor scott who is out of state. he is on his way over here. i have spoken to president trump and he has offered the full power of the united states of norfo america to get through this. any questions? i can't hear you. he was found off campus. i believe he was found in the city of coral springs by a coconut beach police officer. that's unconfirmed. >> was he an outsider? >> from what i understand, there was a time where he did attend

the school. i don't know why he left. i don't know when he left. that is correct. he was not a current student. >> i wasn't there. i was told there was no confrontation. can you hear me? he was taken under arrest. i believe he is approximately 18 years old. >> you said the school, there's no children inside? >> 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 will not begin to release information or begin to open up the crime scene u