[Lemon:] Tonight, a major catastrophe averted outside Atlanta. A heavily armed gunman earlier today drove his SUV loaded with ammunition and explosives up to the front steps of a local courthouse. He then threw a smoke bomb out the window, which is the orange smoke you see towards the center of your screen. Seconds later, he opened fire, hitting a deputy in the leg. And as you're about to hear, that shot was met with a barrage of bullets from officers who were closing in. We're told the gunman's plan was to wreak havoc inside the building. David Mattingly OUTFRONT tonight live near the courthouse in Cumming, Georgia. And, David, what are you hearing about the suspect?
[David Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, what we're hearing right now, Don, we're confirming through local officials that this man apparently was acting alone. We don't know exactly what his motivation was. But he definitely had the skills and the tools to do a great deal of harm at this courthouse. He was very heavily armed. He had an AR-15, a couple of handguns, grenades. He had bombs that he made. All of this appears ready to go inside the courthouse, take hostages, and then cause whatever mayhem that he may have had in mind. And he would have gone through with that and came very close to doing it except he ran into a single deputy at the courthouse who was outside doing his normal rounds, a normal security check outside the courthouse. That's when the two crossed paths. Gunfire was exchanged. That deputy acting the way he did delayed that man enough so that officers inside the courthouse, inside the nearby jail, even the SWAT team, which actually just by luck happened to be in the area, responded to the gunfire. They showed up, and that's when you heard that huge barrage of gunfire going off in the audio from that video that you had. Now, at this point, they were then wondering what else is going to be going on here. They were very cautious when they approached this man's home. We're now finding out that once they went inside, there were no booby-traps inside, but they did find four more explosive devices. The sheriffs saying there was a booby-trap here. There was something attached to the man's body after he was shot and killed, there was actually an explosive device attached to his body that would have gone off if they had moved him the wrong way. So, fortunately, no more injury, no more loss of life. The officer who was hit, who was hit, has gone through surgery, and he is expected to be OK. But there was a very, very tense time. In fact, you can hear it in the voices of the officers that responded in the radio traffic. Let's listen to that right now.
[Officer:] Radio, I don't have any visual. We have pepper gas going off at the front entrance.
[Dispatcher:] Pepper gas going off at the front office.
[Officer:] Sots fired! Tear gas has been deployed!
[Dispatcher:] He is down, he is down.
[Mattingly:] And that's how it all played out. You heard it, a very quiet, seemingly routine Friday morning at a county courthouse here in Georgia. Suddenly, that peace broken by a gunman. His motives unknown. However, his actions are returned by a great deal of gunfire from very quickly responding officers here Don.
[Lemon:] David Mattingly, high drama down South. High drama in the West today as well. Tonight, the search for a motive is under way as investigators continue to question the suspect in the shooting at Seattle Pacific University. The alleged gunman, Aaron Ybarra, making his first court appearance this afternoon. He is currently being held without bail in connection with the shooting that killed a 19-year-old student and injured two others. Also tonight, we're learning more about the man being hailed a hero, 26-year-old John Meis, who armed with just a canister of pepper spray, was able to take down the accused shooter. Let's go to CNN's Kyung Lah. She is OUTFRONT live in Seattle, Washington, for us. And, Kyung, what are you learning more about the young man who stopped the shooter?
[Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, people will tell us here that he is very shy, and we're certainly sensing that, because he has told ought the press that he doesn't want to talk right now, that he is requesting privacy. He is asking his friends and family not to make such a big deal out of this. But certainly for the people here in this campus, in this building at the scene, they think this is a very big deal what he did. As far as the gunman, you mentioned he was in court. He is being held without bail. He has not yet been charged. And we are learning more about the artillery that he was found with at the time of his arrest a hunting knife, a shotgun, and 50 rounds of ammo. Certainly, this could have been, according to the mayor of the city, a far worse situation.
[Unidentified Female:] It sounded like a very, very loud balloon popping.
[Lah:] The first shot didn't register to most students at Otto Miller Hall. Then, they saw their classmates bleeding.
[Unidentified Female:] I saw she had a lot of blood on her chest, probably indicating a chest wound.
[Lah:] Sophomore Rodney Greiling was just 30 feet away inside his physics class.
[Rodney Greiling, Sophomore:] It took a shot outside and then went inside, walked to the right, took another shot.
[Lah:] Greiling heard the two shotgun blasts back-to-back. Then, a pause.
[Greiling:] That's the time he was reloading.
[Lah:] He is suspect Aaron Ybarra, not a Seattle Pacific University student, but a man who police in the Seattle disturbs had taken into custody twice on a mental health hold in 2010 and 2012. CNN affiliate KIRO TV reports a police source says the accused gunman had a fascination with school shootings. Engineering student John Meis didn't know any of this. He is the student desk monitor, a fixture in the building's entryway.
[Greiling:] He was sitting in that glass room right there, and he ran out. His instincts said you're either going to die or, you're going to you know, go hide. And the guy didn't hesitate. The guy went out and jumped on him and potentially life-threatening situation.
[Lah:] Armed with pepper spray, Meis sprayed him in the face and then tackled him, holding him until police arrived. Meis stopped the gunman just inside the front door. Greiling says what makes this so surprising isn't just the action, but who took it. Greiling played intramural volleyball with Meis. He describes Meis as a smaller guy on the team, a bookworm.
[Greiling:] It turns out somebody you would totally not expect to do it. It's the coolest thing. It really is, you know? I mean, as bad as this was yesterday, it could have been multiple of times worse, you know, exponentially worse. Every single person that was in that building had a potential to be bed right now.
[Lah:] Including you.
[Greiling:] Absolutely.
[Lah:] Nineteen-year-old Paul Lee didn't make it. He died of his injuries. Three of his classmates were hurt. Another college campus dealing with the loss of young life, the loss of security, but today grateful that an unlikely hero saved so many of them. Now, classes were canceled today so students could attend that memorial service. As far as finals next week, because finals are scheduled here, we haven't heard whether or not they will take place. Many of the students believe they want to come back to school, they want things to return to normal as quickly as possible. And, Don, we are learning from the police that the shotgun used was legally purchased Don.
[Lemon:] Thank you, Kyung. Appreciate that. Still to come, three Michigan lawmakers being called sexist for what they did in a photo. Then, it's like something out of a movie, but it's all too real. Police using CIA technology to track your every move.