L.A. County Sheriff: School Shooting Suspect in Custody at Hospital; Awaiting L.A. County Sheriff's Department New Conference
COOPER: We continue to follow the breaking news. We are still awaiting a press conference. We're told it's moments away. We've been told that several times. This is a press conference from law enforcement with the latest on the investigation. We know one person has died, a female, one of six, who were taken to area hospitals. Two others are said to be in critical condition at this point. I want to play some sound just in. The mother who you heard from a little bit earlier, if you were listening, talk to her son on the phone. Right now, there are thousands of students waiting to be reunited with their parents. Part of the problem is, and the holdup is, all the students at the school, some 3,000, have to be interviewed by police just to see if they witnessed anything, if they saw anything that might be important for an investigation later on. It's a laborious process. It's going to take time. This is one mom who has just been reunited.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: So you heard the shots. Did you know they were shots?</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Yes, because it was really loud. I didn't know if it was anything else. I thought they were shots so I just went to the classroom.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: So you were in -- what area and where do you think the shots were coming from?</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: I was walking towards the quad, which I guess is where it happened. That's where I normally hang out and I was just going in there. I heard the shots so I ran back to the room that I was.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: You've been on lockdown for a long time this morning.</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: What was going on there? What were the kids saying and doing?</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: We were just all texting our parents and calling them, telling them we were in a room and we were fine. We were just trying to keep quiet and not make noise.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: Because you weren't sure if you were safe yet?</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Yes. We weren't sure until our coach got a call that the gunman left campus and they're just trying to clear the buildings out, and they cleared our building out. After that I felt safe, you know, just knowing we were around all the cops, so it was good.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: You're still shaking and it's not cold out here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: You're still shaking. Why?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: I am. I don't know. I think it's just relief. Like I said earlier, there's no real sense of knowing that your child is safe until you have your child in your arms and know that they're safe. I think I was just trying to calm down now. Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: Do you feel like you have comprehended what happened here? We don't know who has been hurt or what exactly happened, but it's still kind of hard to even make sense of, isn't it?</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Yes, I don't know what happened. I don't know why these things happen. They just do. It was just the comfort of having my teammates and my coach around us. We ended up all joining hands and praying in the room with our coach. He led us in a prayer to just calm us down and have the comfort of just knowing we were OK. So that was nice.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: There was a little bit of confusion to get to your mom. Your mom and I walked back and forth trying find you. What happened with all that?</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Well, they took us to the gym, and then they said we're going to the church, and then they said we're going to Central Park. It was just all confusion until they let us on the bus and we ended up getting dropped off here. So, yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: When you saw your mom, tell us what that was like.</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: I felt happy. I felt relieved that I could see my mom and let her know I was safe. I just love her so much, you know. I didn't know what to do. Honestly, I was a little scared at first, but just having the comfort of teammates calmed me down. We settled down -- we went through it together, so.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: You have your tough 16-year-old son. They're always your baby, aren't they? Right?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Yes. He'll be my baby forever.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: I'm glad you're OK. Thank you for talking to us.</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Thank you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- is OK. We'll be thinking about you guys, OK?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: Thank you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Thank you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER:: Take care, Sean.</s>COOPER: One family, one reunion that is happening. And thousands of moments like that. Josh Campbell, at this point, we don't -- there's conflicting information about the shooter, the condition of the shooter. There were earlier reports several scene reporters got from several sources that the shooter had died of a self-inflicted wound. The police put out a report saying the shooter was in custody in the hospital. We're waiting for the latest information. Regardless of that, the investigation is already well underway and will continue regardless of the condition of the shooter.</s>JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's right. They presumably positively identified this person. They start that investigation into him. If the person is alive, then it gives him the potential opportunity to question the motive. There are questions I have, which may or may not be answered at this press conference. The first being, were there any witnesses that provided information to officers about what the person may have said in the moments before the shooting. Was he there to target a particular student, just random, or was he there to cause massive loss of life? If they were able to interview witnesses, that information may be gleaned. Also the type of weaponry that was used. That's something we need to know. We've seen this through line of past incidence, types of high- powered weapons used in others. And we don't know if this was a rifle or a pistol. But that's something that law enforcement officers know right now. But I think it's incumbent upon them to get that information.</s>COOPER: We also know there was multiple weapons. The sergeant I talked to at the L.A. County Sheriff's Office said that they had recovered a weapon at the scene. At that point, the shooter was still unaccounted for. So if there was some sort of injury or wound, it wasn't clear if the shooter had another weapon on him. At this point, the people who are in the hospital, will they have already positive identifications on them so their families can be notified? I hate to think of these kids in the hospital and their parents don't know.</s>CAMPBELL: We don't know the answer to that question. That's the problem. As you mentioned, there's some 3,000 students here. The undersheriff was tweeting earlier that all of those people have to be interviewed and we don't know who all the victims are. We don't know their current state, if they're lucid and can provide their names and information. If they're in a worse state, it's more difficult for officers to try to identify them. That goes for the shooter as well. But a lot of unanswered questions now as it relates to what's occurred. Again, this conflicting information. Presumably, officers know right now what the status of this person is. And I expect we'll hear that when we hear from the officers at that press conference.</s>COOPER: We're still waiting for the press conference. We'll take another quick break. We'll be right back.