[Blitzer:] Welcome back. We're following the breaking news here in Washington, D.C., over at the U.S. Navy Yard. A shooting incident occurred a few hours ago and there are multiple fatalities, we're told multiple injuries. And potentially one of the shooters we're told one shooter is deceased, according to the D.C. police chief, potentially two others at large, although it's unclear whether or not that is accurate. Cathy Lanier suggesting that. She's the D.C. police chief. We have this eyewitness account of what happened over at the U.S. Navy Yard.
[Patricia Ward, Witnessed Shooting:] I heard the girl that was with me, I said somebody's shooting. So we just started panicking. And then we heard the shots, one, two, three, four and then we
[Unidentified Male:] You heard four shots?
[Ward:] Right. After that one lady was like, let's just stay here in this in the cafeteria behind the kitchen.
[Unidentified Male:] So what kind of work do you do over there?
[Ward:] I'm an emergency management specialist.
[Unidentified Male:] So you heard actually seven shots?
[Ward:] Yes, those are the seven shots that I heard.
[Unidentified Male:] And what time?
[Ward:] That was about 8:20 this morning.
[Unidentified Male:] Right.
[Ward:] Yes.
[Unidentified Male:] And you don't know who pulled the fire alarm?
[Ward:] I don't know.
[Unidentified Male:] What floor were you on?
[Ward:] I was at on the main floor of the cafeteria.
[Unidentified Male:] OK.
[Ward:] The shooting took place on the fourth floor.
[Unidentified Male:] And did anybody yell out anything other than "they're shooting"?
[Ward:] Everybody knew it was a gunshot. Nobody screamed. They just started running, running.
[Unidentified Male:] Right. And you ran out yourself or
[Ward:] Yes. Yes.
[Unidentified Male:] OK.
[Ward:] Yes, yes.
[Unidentified Male:] Got it. You said you heard a security guard saying something, giving order
[Ward:] Yes, when I when I was coming out running out the
[Unidentified Male:] What kind of security do you have to pass through to get in that building?
[Ward:] You cannot get inside I'm not going to show my name. But you cannot get inside the building unless you have this type of CAT card. A CAT card has got to be scanned. This is the only way you can enter the building.
[Unidentified Male:] The building or the complex all together?
[Ward:] The build the complex all together. Even when the doors are locked, they don't unlock till 6:30 in the morning. You can't get inside the building unless you have a CAT card.
[Unidentified Male:] And the shooting took place inside the building?
[Ward:] Yes.
[Unidentified Male:] And you said you actually heard the shots?
[Ward:] Yes.
[Unidentified Male:] They were upstairs on the fourth floor, though?
[Ward:] Yes.
[Unidentified Male:] But you heard them all the way in the lobby? Can you hold that up one more time. Thanks. Thank you. Is there a metal detector to get in the building?
[Ward:] No, there isn't.
[Unidentified Male:] Did you look up in the atrium? No no metal detector to get in the building?
[Ward:] No metal detector.
[Unidentified Male:] But onto the campus, right?
[Ward:] Yes.
[Unidentified Male:] No, just the
[I.d. Ward:] You need the I.D. to get inside the door if it's locked before 6:30. After 6:30, the locks come off. But in order for you to go through, you have to scan your badge.
[Unidentified Male:] There's no metal detector?
[Ward:] There's no metal detector.
[Unidentified Male:] And in this open atrium, did you look up and see anybody or anything? No?
[Ward:] And, you know, I had just left the ATM machine, so I wasn't thinking anything was going to happen. And then in the cafeteria, when we heard something sound that loud, that many times, it wasn't something that dropped on the floor. It was shooting.
[Unidentified Female:] I'm sorry, could you repeat, where were you when you heard the shooting?
[Ward:] On the first floor.
[Unidentified Male:] First floor.
[Unidentified Female:] Where is this actually where what building?
[Ward:] 197.
[Unidentified Female:] Where is it located?
[Ward:] It's the main building. It's the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters. It's the main building where our admiral runs.
[Unidentified Female:] What job do you have there?
[Ward:] I'm sorry?
[Unidentified Female:] What job are you doing there?
[Ward:] Well, actually, I work in building 201, but I was in 197 to go to the cafeteria.
[Unidentified Female:] OK.
[Ward:] Where I work at, I'm do logistic management work.
[Unidentified Female:] So what happened after you heard the shooting? What happens?
[Ward:] Everybody just started scattering out of the cafeteria. And I saw some people coming out of their offices running.
[Unidentified Female:] Running And how many shots did you hear?
[Ward:] At least seven. It was three the first time, but then it was quiet for about three seconds. And then pop, pop, pop, pop.
[Unidentified Male:] Ma'am, could you tell us the whole story through from the beginning to one continuous narrative?
[Ward:] OK.
[Unidentified Male:] So you were in there. You were getting cash from the
[Atm. Ward:] No, I had already went to the ATM that was in the cafeteria.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes.
[Ward:] I just paid for my breakfast.
[Unidentified Male:] Yes.
[Ward:] And I heard pop, pop, pop. And the girl that was with me, I said, somebody's shooting. And everybody in the cafeteria kind of panicked. And then it was three second break and then it was pop, pop, pop, pop and everybody started running. We just started panicking and running out.
[Unidentified Male:] The Navy Yard cafeteria?
[Ward:] Yes.
[Blitzer:] Patricia Ward, an eyewitness to what was going on over at the U.S. Navy Yard, specifically over at building 197 in the Naval Sea Systems Command. Mike Bouchard is joining us right now, he's a former official with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. I assume they're going to look closely at the weapons that were involved, Mike. Walk us through what your colleagues would be doing right now on the scene.
[Mike Bouchard, Former Atf Official:] Good afternoon, Wolf. Yes, basically what the police will be doing is any spent shell casings that they find throughout the scene, they'll be obviously preserving those for evidence. But they're looking they're trying to determine what caliber of gun the shooter may have used. If he was using a revolver, obviously those don't eject the spent shell casings like a semi-automatic does. But they'll also be working with the hospital also. Any of the bullet fragments that come from the victims, much like we did back in the beltway sniper case, they'll look at the bullets that come from the victims and try and ascertain what type of caliber it was was used. So that's where ATF's ballistics experts will be working very closely with law enforcement on that.
[Blitzer:] Because we've heard all sorts of accounts suggesting an assault rifle, a handgun, a shotgun. All of the above may have been used. They're going to be pretty precise in finding out all that information. And that would be critical as part of the investigation is concerned.
[Bouchard:] Certainly. What they're going to have to look at what law enforcement or security officers may involved if there was a shootout between both parties, they're going to have to ascertain which you know, who shot what bullets and where the shots came from, et cetera. So it's like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, but all the law enforcement agencies who are working on this have a lot of experience doing this. Unfortunately, I've done it numerous times. Unfortunately, they keep doing it more often than we'd like to see. So I'm confident they'll put this together very in a short time.
[Blitzer:] Because we have D.C. Metropolitan Police, we have military police from the Navy, other parts of the U.S. military from the Department of Defense. You have the FBI, you have the ATF. You have multiple agencies involved right now. I assume the FBI takes charge, is that right?
[Bouchard:] Correct. This is a federal facility and federal employees have been assaulted. So the FBI will take lead. Since it's a naval facility, NCIS will also work closely with them. And, of course, since its a homicide in the District of Columbia, the D.C. Police will have a significant role. All the other agencies, ATF and some of the others, are playing supporting roles. They have unique expertise like ATF does with ballistics or some of the others and they'll all play a supporting role for this task force.
[Blitzer:] We spoke to Lou Palumbo before and I he said they presumably are already going through some of the closed circuit TV cameras around there. You agree that would be critical right now to try to find out if it was one individual, more than one individuals. That would be pretty important information.
[Bouchard:] It certainly will. And the task force leaders, this is like an orchestra. There's so many moving parts. And what they're doing is having all these different parts, moving parts, going at once. Some are looking at video, other people are doing interviews, other people are collecting evidence, people are running down leads. All these things are coming together and they come back into one central command post and then the information is disseminated and they figure out what steps they need to do next.
[Blitzer:] Mike Bouchard will be helping us, from the formerly with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, ATF. Mike, thanks very much. We're staying on top of the breaking news here in Washington, D.C. A shooting incident over at the U.S. Navy Yard. Multiple injuries, multiple fatalities. Our coverage continues in a minute.