Another Mass Shooting in U.S. Homeland; Deranged Suspect Targeted School.
BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: ... go into if someone is not an adult by the state law and there is probably a framework of things that they have to follow. And they are probably working with the state attorney already on making sure that they go down that checklist and do everything by the book, you know, in dealing with a minor if he is in fact a minor. They are probably following all those protocols to make sure that nothing gets, you know, done that can hurt their case later on.</s>ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, HLN: I`m glad I didn`t lose you because that`s critical information. Bobby Chacon, thank you for that. We are now at the top of the 6 o`clock hour and this time to reset exactly what we know, but if you are joining us at the top of this hour, that picture on your screen is critical. Because this news is breaking and it is breaking fast. For the last three hours we`ve been following this tragic school shooting in Parkland, Florida in Broward County. We don`t know how many dead. We know for sure two at this point, but 20 or so injured or casualties we were told. Nobody separated dead from injured when they gave the 20 person casualty so we`re waiting to find out what this toll is. But in that cruiser going down that freeway is the suspect in this shooting. Arrested without incident. A former student at the school, not a current student. There is the arrest picture on the left before this person was transported to the hospital and then transported again as you are seeing live on your screen presumably to a police station for booking. Arresting officers could only tell the surrounding press when questions were shouted how old is he. Approximately 18. That`s what we know at this time. Arrested without incident and uninjured potentially taken to the hospital just to check off all boxes and now being transported to a process that will likely last for years. If not decades, if not for life. The suspected shooter was in the maroon shirt being arrested being transported. We do not know if that shooter`s parents are with him have been notified. We don`t know what the situation is with those parents. We covered numerous school shootings where parents have also been victimized. So we are waiting to hear about any other potential crime scenes and any other potential crimes. But rest assured the investigation is vast. The crime scene right now at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is massive. It`s being processed as the alleged shooter is being transported. And I think you can see what appears to be potentially even slightly a motorcade at this point. There several police vehicles I believe that are with that cruiser on the left hand side of your screen in Parkland, Florida. Right now all I can tell you is that there is a massive clearing operation underway at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. They are trying to figure out if there are any more kids or teachers cowering in closets, under desk in any kind of cranny they can find for safety because that`s what happened when the fire drill went and the emergency lockdown went into effect. I think I`m being told that we`re just about to learn the identity of the shooter. Nikolas Cruz. I`m being told the name is Nikolas Cruz. Can we just ask if I can get clarification as to whether or not Nikolas Cruz is indeed 18 years old or if we know that information yet? Do we know if -- we do not know. All we know is the arresting officers and what they describe as the age of the suspect. And they said somewhere around 18. That Nikolas Cruz is the person in that cruiser. Presumably, en route to, well, any number of things. A booking, a processing, a first appearance and then what will be many appearances after that. As far as who Nikolas Cruz is, we know very little. I am getting confirmation he is 18 years old. That is a huge, huge metric in this story. Because that`s an adult. An adult is treated in an extraordinary way. In Florida, it is a death penalty crime. So that changes everything the fact that Nikolas Cruz is 18. The suspect in this case that changes everything. If there are multiple fatalities, that changes everything. So we are going watch to see as Nikolas Cruz is unloaded from that cruiser when they get to their destination. I want to bring in Bradford Cohen. Bradford is a defense attorney. He has spoken with us many times on CNN and HLN. We lost Bradford, but the reason I was going to bring him in and I want to establish contact again if we can reestablish because Bradford`s nephew knew this alleged shooter. So if we can reestablish contact with Bradford, maybe we can get some insight as we watch the transportation. And I`m just getting some very distressing information that we are now hearing the number is at least 16 dead. At least 16 fatalities in this high school shooting in Broward County. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a school that has somewhere around 3100 students. At least 16 fatalities reported. How many are students and how many are teachers, I don`t know that yet. And sadly that`s not going to be the final story. Because we were given a hard, at least. Earlier we were told there were 20 casualties, but no delineation between dead and injured. Now I can tell you, 16 dead. And you can bet your bottom dollar with 16 casualties, dead, would raise this to a death penalty case in the State of Florida. The reason I say that is you are watching the beginning of a process whereby we don`t often have a shooter who is alive in these high school shootings. Oftentimes if you look at the Dylan Klebold, Eric Harris model, they take themselves out before they can be arrested and questioned and then maybe we can get insight as to why this happened. Maybe. But this is the cruiser where I`m assuming that Nikolas Cruz will be escorted out of at any moment. This is a live picture from our affiliate, WPLG. You can see one of the officers is gloving up. There are a lot of reasons for that. There are ballistic tests that will likely be performed, they don`t want to disturb any kind of forensics on this person. We may even see his hands gloved up at some point or bagged. That`s oftentimes if you want to find out if there`s gunshot residue. He is not wearing the burgundy clothes. It appears he might even be in a forensic suit, a protective suit of some kind or at least maybe that`s a hospital gown. I think it might be the hospital gown. That`s Nikolas Cruz, 18 years old being escorted into the process of now what will be an extraordinary case against him. Sixteen people dead and that qualifies as a mass murder. That qualifies as one of the most serious crimes you can perpetrate in this this country. And this also qualifies as the deadliest mass shooting in Broward County and you are watching it. Seconds ago, fresh from the hospital, Nikolas Cruz, 18 years old, being escorted by deputies into law enforcement agency where he will be processed. It`s pretty remarkable to see how quickly that happened. Always in a time span of about three hours, 16 people at least, at least lost their lives. And an arrest was made off campus of an 18-year-old young man without incident, without confrontation. A transportation to a local hospital was made of that suspect. And the transportation yet again to this scene you are seeing right now of Nikolas Cruz in Broward County getting the slow march as we call it. And there will be plenty of slow marches for that suspect in the foreseeable future and they will not be pleasant. This person will not be bonded out, not with 16 dead, not death penalty on the table. This person probably will never see the inside of his home again if convicted. That`s for sure. And that person that you are seeing in the hospital gown may see a -- may see a death penalty ward, death row as his home for two decades because that`s on average how long it takes if it ends up as a death penalty case for that process to play out. But that will be likely the last time he sees any kind of pavement that the free man walks. Just an unbelievable scene how quickly that was processed. In the meantime, I want to remind you that there are a number of people who are being treated in those area hospitals. At least two that we heard of earlier at Broward Health Medical Center, and Broward north, another facility that received some of the victims. Others just ran for their lives and others got out of that school and ran to wherever they could. Many of them jumping those fences going to a nearby Wal-Mart and a mall to escape the gunfire. We had two to six shots at least that they heard before SWAT, FBI, ATF, and local law enforcement descended upon their school. Dozens and dozens of vehicles and sirens and officers and kids being marched out single file being told to put your hands up, put your hands forward and drop your backpacks. You might not think that`s as traumatic as obviously what some saw inside that school, but make no mistake. These are kids who just lived through something that the rest of us will never live through, thank God. And they are just kids. And many of their parents haven`t even been reunited with them yet. So that end, parents were sent to a local Marriott Hotel as the staging area. Many of the kids were then rescued from the school if they hadn`t already run from the school. Many who were cowering in closets for upwards of 30 minutes and some reports say two hours. They were then transported to that Marriott and hopefully at this early stage of this tragedy, they are being reunited. But you know, I hate to say it. It`s hard to say it, but there will be 16, you know, the families of 26 will not, they will not be reunited. And they may not know that yet. You know, this happens just all too often and it never gets easier. It just doesn`t get easier. These are some of the images coming in to us obviously of traumatized kids and relieved parents to say the very least. To get a hand on the shoulder of your boy after all of this, it`s just -- I think every parent can imagine. Wow. This is just sort of this raw moment because we are still living the middle of this incident. It`s still happening. And I think a lot of these people, you know, they got their news and they are getting the hell out of there and they`re going to where they feel safe and they`re going to their normal. And God bless them because they get their normal back. Whatever their new normal is. They get at least a new normal. Just imagine these hugs. So I`m going to bring in Mike Galanos. Mike, you know, I thought that we sort had been through the worst of this. You know, with Newtown. And you just think about these parents who are waiting to find out if they are going to be among that 16 and you see these others who know they aren`t. And even -- God, I`ve been doing this for 30 years and it`s just like a wave to think of what they are going through. You know? The ones who are reunite and the ones who aren`t yet.</s>MIKE GALANOS, ANCHOR, HLN: You can feel the emotion just seeing that. A dad putting his hand on his son`s shoulder. A mom hugging a daughter. And I couldn`t even imagine the emotions and those are the emotions that you mentioned, Ashleigh, that become the new normal. They have their child back and they can hug and they can go to that place where they feel safe and they can begin the recovery. And there is one of those hugs. You hold them so tight and so close. But yet, there are going to be at least 16 families without -- where there will not be a unification. Instead it`s tragedy and grief and horror and a new normal that you never thought you had to live through. And you become a member of a fraternity you never want to become a member of. There is the dad and his son who is trying to cope with what he went through. You know, I`m sure it knocked us all back when we hear the number. At least 16 dead. Parkland, Florida where tragedy breaks out at a high school of over 3,000. At least 16 dead. We heard the number at least 14 injured have been taken to a hospital. And these numbers they could change and become more tragic as the day ends and we continue to follow this story. We do know the shooter is in custody. The suspect`s name is 18-year-old Nikolas Cruz. And we know the sheriff has been keeping us updated. Scott Israel as we see that suspect there, saying that the student was not a current student. Or the shooter was not a current student, but has attended the school in the past. And we heard official say that this person had been to the -- had been a student in the past there and this person taken into custody and I`m quoting, "after committing a horrific homicidal detestable act." Nikolas Cruz taken into custody without incident. There was no confrontation. As this was going down, I was following the local media and it sounds like law enforcement did a great job. They were getting witness accounts. They knew the name, they knew what he was wearing and they were on top of this within the hour. They had him in custody, 1.4 miles away. They knew where he lived. So they were definitely on top of this. And the school superintendent of Broward County is Robert Runcie. He made mention very earlier on that mental health issues need to be looked at in this situation. So those are all situations and all the different aspects of this case. One thing that is chilling as well, and Ashleigh, you had mentioned it, the number of school shootings this year, my producer Sammy did some research. The number now in the year 2018 and we are barely into February. It`s 18.</s>BANFIELD: It is, isn`t it?</s>GALANOS: Eighteen.</s>BANFIELD: I don`t know. I thought it was 18. I wasn`t sure. I thought it wasn`t possible. I actually -- wow. Silly me. Six weeks. I didn`t think it was possible. But it`s 18. You know, Mike, I`m just going dovetail on that statistic because Bobby just handed me this statistic on this one now. Officially makes this the ninth deadliest mass shooting in United States history and we are just at least 16 at this time. If you need a reminder, number one is Las Vegas which we just came back from a few months ago. Number two is the Pulse nightclub. Number three is Virginia tech. Number four is Sandy Hook. Number five is Sutherland Springs. Number six is Collin, Texas back in 1991. Number seven is San Ysidro at a local McDonald`s back in `64. And number eight, if you can believe is Austin, Texas. The University of Texas tower that way back in 66. So now we are at number nine. By the way, we are only -- we`re only at a partial number we think at this point. Because we`ve been told at least 16 dead. And now you can see in the banner on your screen that an AR-15 style firearm was used in this shooting. And this has been the subject of so much angst for so many people. We are already hearing people on Capitol Hill weighing in on this. When will the deadly gun violence and when will we do something about gun control. Others are saying the only way to do something about a shooter is to have more guns. And still we find ourselves in this situation. The only country in the world that does. The only country in the world that finds itself with 18 school shootings. Eighteen school shootings and it`s only February 14th. I want to bring in Bradford Cohen. Bradford, I spoke about you earlier and I think we lost your signal. We`ve done interviews before. You are a defense attorney, you`ve appeared on our programs on HLN and CNN. And now it turns you -- it turns out you have a direct connection to this tragedy. Your nephew -- your nephew knew the shooter. What can you tell me?</s>BRADFORD COHEN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So without giving names of who the alleged shooter is, my nephew is now in private school. We actually removed him from the high school a couple of years ago. He attended junior high with the alleged shooter. And he told me that everybody pretty much knew this alleged shooter had issues not only with other students, but with the school and had some pretty serious outbursts with the school. And I think effectually he left the junior high school and I think that`s possibly when he went to this alternative school.</s>BANFIELD: So, Bradford, I can tell you right now...</s>COHEN: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: ... the police are releasing the name. It`s 18-year-old Nikolas Cruz.</s>COHEN: It is.</s>BANFIELD: They are showing pictures of the arrest. He was transported to a hospital and still in hospital gown, was then escorted by several very burley officers. Slowly and methodically in for processing at the law enforcement agency. So you are saying that your nephew attended school with Nikolas Cruz and that your nephew found Nikolas to be troubled back then?</s>COHEN: Yes. He described several incidences that were pretty troubling. I mean, where there were several outbursts, violent outbursts where, you know, it would cause anybody to have concern. And then my nephew said that he either left the school or never return or was thrown out of school. He`s not sure, quite sure what happened, but he knows he never came back. And I think that`s possibly when he went to a different school and then ultimately, an alternative high school before returning to Stoneman Douglas. So, you know, to me, and I said this often, I said it on your show in fact, you know, gun control to me is a Band-Aid over the mental health issue. And I think you are going to see some overtures of mental issues with this case. It`s a tragedy. It should never happen. None of these shootings should ever happen. And I think that gun control is one aspect of what the discussion should be. But it should also revolve around mental health issues. Which everybody kind of ignores when it comes to -- when it comes to gun control. They only want to talk about gun control. AR-15s and what we should do about it. But they`re not talking about these individuals that mentally show signs before anything happens. And this is just a guess from my end, but I think when you look at this young man`s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter accounts, my guess is that someone ignored the signs that were probably pretty evident that this individual is troubled.</s>BANFIELD: So, Bradford, I want to ask you a little bit more about these violent outbursts that your nephew says Nikolas Cruz displayed. And by the way, can you just give me a timeline. Is this a year or two?</s>COHEN: No.</s>BANFIELD: How long ago was this?</s>COHEN: This is -- so this would be in -- it would have been in eighth grade I think in junior high school when my -- when my nephew still attending Stoneman with this individual. And he can tell you, he told me in one of his classes, there was an outburst against the teacher and then the individual ended up kicking out a glass window and running off campus. And that`s just one incident. So we...</s>BANFIELD: And this was in, Bradford. Sorry. This was in eighth great that your nephew witnessed Nikolas Cruz kicking out a glass window after an outburst against a teacher?</s>COHEN: Correct.</s>BANFIELD: And how long ago -- it`s hard to tell when someone is 18 how long ago they were in middle school. I mean, some kids are, you know, two years older than they should be or younger. But how many years ago was this?</s>COHEN: So, my nephew is 17, he`s turning 18. So I would guess it was at least, I would say six years ago? I would imagine six or seven years ago. I mean, you know, I don`t know how old eighth graders are now, but I would imagine it would be at least six or seven years ago. He would explain I think...</s>BANFIELD: Were there any other incidents that you -- were there any other incidents he described?</s>COHEN: He described some incidences in P.E. class of outbursts and you know, just -- he told me that this individual had everybody kind of knew that he was -- and I don`t even like to use the term crazy. Obviously I`m using what a kid would say. But that he had serious issues. You know, in terms of the way he behaved in school and the way that he behave towards teachers. I don`t think this is something that just sprung up overnight. And like I said, I think that a lot of people ignore the mental health aspect of this. And that, you know, when someone needs help or someone is looking for help and then coupled with if there is photographs or things on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram that cause alarms, those are individuals that need to speak up. And I don`t think anyone really speaks up.</s>BANFIELD: Is there...</s>COHEN: I`m going to put money on that there is going to be something on his Instagram, Facebook or Twitter account that would have displayed issues that he was having.</s>BANFIELD: And you know, without question there is a lot of vetting that goes on before that can go up on television. And so certainly we have (Inaudible) of people who are combing through the social media aspects of this person`s history. And then, trying to vet whether it`s really that person. I mean, that`s one of the difficulties that we have.</s>COHEN: Of course.</s>BANFIELD: Bradford, I don`t want to you go just yet. And I understand your feelings about the commitment to mental health and the gun control debate, et cetera. But we`re still in the -- we`re still in the breaking news and I`m still trying to get my head around what, who that person is and what kind of like that person has led up in these 18 years. And so right now you are my only connection and your nephew is my only connection to try and get some insight into this.</s>COHEN: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: There is the incidence in the P.E. class. Can you give more detail about that?</s>COHEN: He didn`t go into great detail. He said that there was -- it was an issue with a teacher. And that it was a -- it escalated past a verbal argument, but he didn`t give great detail about it. My nephew is not the great communicator. So, you know, when we are discussing things, of course, it happened at least six or seven years ago. But when we`re discussing things he gave an overview of the individual than he did of every specific incident. And the overview was pretty much everyone that was, you know, anywhere near this individual knew that he was a troubled kid. And it was a kind of the norm to stay away from them.</s>BANFIELD: Can I ask if anyone...</s>COHEN: So nobody really got very close to him.</s>BANFIELD: Well, then that`s sort of where I`m going. Once this Nikolas Cruz who we are seeing again in the hospital gown being led into the police station presumably for booking on multiple first-degree murder changes, that`s my guess since we have 16 people dead and he is the alleged shooter according to authorities. Once he left that middle school, did anyone have any other contact or was he sort of a, you know, a lost connection to them? Did they have any other information on him after he left? And actually, Bradford, hold that thought. The sheriff is giving a live update. I want to hear what he had to say. Just a moment.</s>SCOTT ISRAEL, SHERIFF, BROWARD COUNTY: It`s horrible. It`s catastrophic. There are -- sad to say that 17 people lost their lives, 12 people within the building, two people just outside the building, one person out on Pine Island Road and two people lost their lives in the hospital. There are people that are still undergoing surgery. We just pray for the city and pray for this school, the parents, the folks that lost their lives. It`s a horrific, horrific day. As I said before, my triplets attend and graduated from Stoneman Douglas High School. It`s just horrible. Absolutely horrible. We will -- we continually ask you in the media to continually put out the message, if you see something, say something. If anybody has any indicator that someone is going through a behavioral change or on the social media, that there are disturbing photos, or perhaps bombs or firearms or just, you know, videos or pictures that are just not right that there is something, please make sure law enforcement knows about it. We`re already -- you can follow us on Twitter. We will put out numbers where people can possibly call and what have you, so.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, (Inaudible) are all of the victims, all of the wounded and fatalities students or a mixture of students and teachers and can you give anything on...</s>ISRAEL: We don`t know. (</s>OFF-MIC) ISRAEL: Can you go back there. There was -- it`s very distracting.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you go back to whether these are students or teachers or mixture of both.</s>ISRAEL: It`s a mixture. I don`t know if there are any teachers, but there would be, you know, there are certainly students and there are certainly adults. (</s>OFF-MIC) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were there any signs that you know of?</s>ISRAEL: I believe there will be once -- our investigators have -- that`s a great question. Our investigators are certainly began dissecting social media and looking at the web site and Nikolas, I think it spell his name as N-i-k-o-l-a-s Cruz was the killer, he is in custody and we`ve already begin -- began to dissect his web sites and the things that social media that he was on and some of the things that come to mind are very, very disturbing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can you tell us about him? And we understand he may be a former student.</s>ISRAEL: He`s 19 years old. He was born in 1998 in September. He was a former student of Douglas High School. He got expelled for disciplinary reasons. I don`t know the specifics. I think he might have surfaced at Taravella High School. We`re still trying to confirm that. And this morning when he woke up whether he was a student or not, I don`t know.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you speak to weapons he had and whether or not we heard there is fire alarm was pulled off. Was that in this investigation for shooting that took place?</s>ISRAEL: I don`t know anything about the firearm at this point. He had countless magazines. Multiple magazines and at this point we believe he had one AR-15 rifle. I don`t know if he had a second rifle or not.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you speak to the fire alarm that was pulled?</s>ISRAEL: I know nothing about it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he say anything when he was apprehended and he was taken to Broward Health North. What are his injuries then how did you get him?</s>ISRAEL: Yes. I think he`s left Broward General North. I don`t think his injuries were anything significant. I believe they arrived at the public safety building. The investigation will continue. I will keep Broward County informed. Anything that we uncover, anything that`s important to report to the media, you know, we will -- I know it`s going to be a long night for all of us, but on behalf of my family, BSC family just continue please to pray for these victims and these families. We`ll give you a briefing the next time...</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a quick timeline from when the first shots were fired in the first...</s>ISRAEL: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you go over the number of fatalities and the victims again?</s>ISRAEL: Yes. We have 17 confirmed victims. Twelve victims were within the building. Two victims were outside, just outside the building. One victim is on the street at the corner of Pine Island. And two folks are people who lost their lives at the hospital.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Do you think this kid woke up this morning hell bent on causing massive destruction at the school?</s>ISRAEL: I have no idea.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Sheriff, do you think the shootings started inside or outside? Any idea?</s>ISRAEL: It started outside and went inside. Thank you. Seventeen fatalities.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): How many injuries?</s>ISRAEL: At one point, I reported that there were 14 folks that went to the hospital. Two succumbed to their wounds. I don`t know if more people were wounded or we are just finding out that more went to the hospital. Perhaps they were not transported by us. Perhaps by their own families or friends transported them. But we will keep you updated.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Have the families been notified?</s>ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, PRIMETIME JUSTICE SHOW HOST, HLN (voice over): So the sheriff then leaves this most recent update with a couple of critical pieces of information.</s>BANFIELD: That is that the shooting began outside the school. Victims were everywhere. Twelve of them found in the building. Two of them found outside the building. One of them found on a street corner. Two died in the hospital having been transported from this massacre. Nineteen years old Nikolas Cruz. Nineteen years and critical to the investigation, the social media and as the sheriff said, his websites which the sheriff determined to be disturbing. He was expelled for disciplinary reasons which coincides with what our last guest just told us about his nephew. And what Bradford Cohen`s nephew experienced as a school colleague of Nikolas Cruz about six years ago in middle school, that there were violent outbursts in middle school. In one incident, an escalation with a teacher that led to violence and breaking of glass. Another incident with P.E. teacher that got more than just verbally violent. And as Bradford Cohen put it, an attorney who works with us oftentimes here and now, finds himself intersecting with a crime firsthand because his nephew knew this alleged shooter. Everyone knew. That`s what Bradford Cohen`s nephew says about Nikolas Cruz. Everyone knew that this person had issues. And now we know where this person is headed. He was taken from a hospital as the sheriff said. Didn`t think there were serious injuries. But certainly left the Broward Health North Facility where he was taken -- and may I just add, that is the second facility that was reported to have received victims in this shooting. So God knows, if Nikolas Cruz was taken to the same hospital where many of his alleged victims were also taken and God forbid, the two who died in the hospital may have died at that hospital, we don`t know that yet, but he is now at the public safety public. The visuals you are seeing now is Nikolas Cruz in a hospital gown being led into the public safety building in Parkland, Florida. I want to bring in Joseph Scott Morgan. He is a certified death investigator, also professor of forensics at Jacksonville State. Joseph, the process that now needs to be for lack of a better word, collected, in order to prosecute that 19-year-old adult, it`s massive. And the forensics scene at that one crime scene alone and I don`t know how many others there may be. Walk me through the school, what it looks like, what some of those investigators are doing, the yellow cones that they putting down where where they find casings from that AR-15 and the multiple rounds that the sheriff just announced were found. Just help me understand the massive forensics project they have ahead of them.</s>JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Sure, Ashleigh. I can characterize this in one word and that`s chaos. And it`s reminiscent of the Jonesboro, Arkansas shooting back in 1998, which is almost 20 years ago next month as a matter of fact. If we remember then, one of those boys that did that shooting up there pulled the fire alarm. And what happens with that as you create a chaotic situation within the school, they are overstimulating the children as they are moving. And all of a sudden, someone just starts firing. If this is the case that that fire alarm was initiated, it sounds like it may have been, these children are very vulnerable in this environment as are the staff. You will have potentially people that were trampled, that have sustained injuries relative to that. There will be a tremendous amount of blood evidence that will be found on all of the surfaces where the shootings took place. And the idea is we had to straighten out the dynamics of what exactly happened. Remember, we had a prosecutable case here with an assailant who is still alive. You mentioned well earlier that unlike other cases, this individual is not deceased. Florida will move ahead with the prosecution in this particular case, I`m sure. And so it is mountain of evidence. And then we have people that were removed from the scene. And they have both evidence that is at the scene. Their blood evidence always -- the people that will survive. And there is evidence that is contained on their clothing at the hospital, also any kind of -- this is hard to say, but any kind of projectiles that are still within their bodies that is removed at surgery. Those automatically become evidence as well. So it is a huge mountain that Broward will have to climb here. I know that they are up to the task. Their crime scene people are fantastic, particularly aided with the ATF as well as the FBI in processing this. We are talking about a cavernous structure here, multi-buildings. Obviously, we got people that were outside of the building that were injured as well. It was mentioned just a moment ago that we had one person that was deceased on the street, two outside of one of the buildings, as well as the 12 within the buildings. And of course those victims that had passed on at the hospital and currently being triaged and evaluated and undergoing surgical treatment, I`m sure.</s>BANFIELD: And I am just sorry to say from the empirical experience that I have in covering these things, with 17 people dead now, we had that as an at least when it was 16, but now 17.</s>MORGAN: Right.</s>BANFIELD: It is very possible there could be other fatalities elsewhere.</s>MORGAN: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: We have seen shooters who have killed parents or siblings or friends prior to or even after wreaking havoc inside those facilities. We don`t even know at this point what the story is of Nikolas Cruz`s parents, whether they are safe, whether they are in that public safety building alongside him. I just wish I were the fly on the wall who could hear that Miranda being issued and see if it`s being honored or if it`s being broken. Because at 19 years old, you don`t get a whole lot of mulligans, especially if Miranda was done perfectly. Anything you say can and will be held against you. And this I am going to say flat out will be a death penalty case. You just can`t mow down 17 people with an AR-15 in the United States and not face the maximum penalty. Because that`s why we have the death penalty. We have the death penalty for suspects like this young man in this hospital gown being led into the public safety building in Broward County becaue 17 people at least are dead. Seventeen families and all the friends of those 17 people will never see those people again. This is how it shook out. This is where the casualties were found. And you know what?</s>MORGAN: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: The sheriff just said that the surgeries are continuing. There is still an emergency going on right now in at least two hospitals. Quickly, Joe, before I leave you, will there be more than two hospitals given the magnitude of the casualties?</s>MORGAN: Yes, I would think so. This is a mass casualty event. As all counties have over the past few decades, you prep for this sort of thing with mass casualty events such as plane crashes and this sort of thing. So you will have -- police will have to be on their toes in the collection of evidence. Let`s also not forget that the medical examiner and again I hate to say this, will be very, very busy tomorrow. That`s another piece we have to consider going forward. You were talking about this case in terms of the aggravating circumstances. Remember what the sheriff said. This individual showed up with -- he was very specific. He said multiple magazines. That to me states that he came there to kill and fire and maim as many people as he possibly could.</s>BANFIELD: And that will be an aggravator in any case. Let`s just say this case may never go into a courtroom at all. This could be a case that pleads. This could go any number of ways, but if it pleads, I don`t know. I`m not sure if I were a prosecutor in the state of Florida that I would be so willing to plead out a death penalty case when there are so many witnesses, so many dead, and just so much incredible mayhem. Joe, I am going to ask you to stand by for a moment, if you will. I just want to let people know that the FBI -- it`s a sign of the times when we have a hash tag, "Stoneman Shooting." The hash tag "Stoneman Shooting." That`s where a lot of people are getting and giving information about hash tag. The FBI has also established the old-fashioned tip line for anybody who might have information, who might have anything and no information is too small about the shooter, the alleged shooter, Nikolas Cruz, or the shooting itself. Again, there may be 3,000 somewhat students at that school, but this is critical in terms of being able to get some answers and put together an iron-clad case. The FBI, the lead investigator now on this case is going to need as many eyes as it can get. And you can`t say it loud enough or often enough, no detail is too small. If you ever see the programs like "Forensic Files," they sometimes turn on the tiniest pieces of evidence and information. So, this is critical. If you knew anything or know anything about this person or this person`s travels or this person`s -- throughout the day and throughout the week, social media, anything at all. That`s the tip line. 1-800-call-FBI. I want to go to Mike Galanos, if I can. Mike, I know you have been monitoring a lot of this as the information comes in pretty quickly with the updates and the locations of the dead. Do you know anything about those who are still in surgery or whether this number on our screen is going to go up?</s>MIKE GALANOS, ANCHOR, HLN: Nothing definite, Ashleigh, we will say that. The number 17 is still just unbelievable to soak that in. We know that it was 14 and then we know two lost their lives on the the hospital. It`s 12. It could be more. You make a great point when you hear of 12 killed in the school, two outside, one on the street, and two lost their lives in the hospital. There could be others elsewhere. So, we are monitoring all of that. It was a very enlightening and sobering press conference from Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel starting with the fact that this is catastrophic. Let`s listen.</s>ISRAEL: Seventeen people lost their lives. Twelve people within the building, two people just outside the building, one person out on Pine Island Road, and two people lost their lives in the hospital. There people that are still undergoing surgery. Just pray for this city, pray for this school. The parents, the folks that lost their lives. It`s a horrific, horrific day. As I said before, my triplets attended and graduated from Stoneman Douglas High School. It`s just horrible. Absolutely horrible. We will continually ask you and the media to continually put out the message. If you see something, say something. If anybody has any indicator that someone is going through a behavioral change on the social media, that there are disturbing photos, perhaps bombs or firearms or just videos or pictures that are just not right, please make sure law enforcement knows about it. We are already -- you can follow us on Twitter. We are going to put out numbers where people can possibly call and what have you.</s>ISRAEL: We don`t know. I keep hearing that. Can you go back? It`s very distracting.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Are they students or teachers or a mixture of both?</s>ISRAEL: It`s a mixture. I don`t know if they are teachers, but certainly students and certainly adults.</s>ISRAEL: I believe there will be once our investigators, that`s a great question. The investigators certainly began dissecting social media and looking at the website and Nikolas Cruz was the killer. He is in custody. And we have already began to dissect his websites and things that social media that he was on and some of the things have come to mind are very, very disturbing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Tell us about him. What can you tell us about him? Is he a former student?</s>ISRAEL: He`s 19 years old. He was born in 1998 in September. He was a former student of Douglas High School. He got expelled for disciplinary reasons. I don`t know the specifics. I think he might have surfaced at Terra Bella High School. We are still trying to confirm that. This morning when he woke, whether he was a student or not, I don`t know.</s>ISRAEL: I don`t know anything about the fire alarm at this point. He had countless magazines, multiple magazines. And at this point, we believe he had one AR-15 rifle. I don`t know if he had a second one.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you speak about the fire alarm that was pulled?</s>ISRAEL: I know nothing about it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Could you say anything, when he was apprehended and he was taken to Broward Health North, what are his injuries</s>ISRAEL: I think he has left Broward General North. I don`t think his injuries were anything significant. I believe he arrived at the public safety building. The investigation will continue. I will keep Broward County informed on anything that we uncover and anything that is important.</s>BANFIELD (voice over): That is the sheriff in this case giving the update. Sheriff Scott Israel, also personally connected, his triplets went to that school and graduated from that school where Nikolas Cruz is now alleged to have killed 17 people. Waiting to find out if the number climbs. Waiting to find out how many in that number were the adults, how many were the students. The sheriff just simply does not know at this time. Tyjanai Thomas is a student at the school. She she saw her teacher shot while trying to protect students. Tyjanai, can you hear me?</s>TYJANAI THOMAS, STUDENT AT MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL (via telephone): Yes, I can hear you.</s>BANFIELD (voice over): Can you tell me a little bit about what you went through today, what you saw?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): We heard the fire alarm go off and our teacher told us like normal procedure to get our things together and walk down to our zone. So, we all started walking and me and my friend Brianna have paused for a second because we`ve seen someone coming down the hallway. And he stopped in front of our door because the door was open and he was trying to get more students, but our teacher started to like interfere and protect the students so he shot him.</s>BANFIELD (voice over): So, the shooter came to the door of the classroom you were in and shot the teacher in your classroom right in front of you?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): I wasn`t in the classroom with him. I was about to go down the stairs, but I was standing like halfway so I can still see out into the hallway. And that`s when I seen him approaching my teacher and we heard it go off and he fell down.</s>BANFIELD (voice over): Do you know if your teacher was able to get away or to move after the shooting?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): Later on I heard that he died. He didn`t make it.</s>BANFIELD (voice over): What did you witness?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): I witnessed him being shot.</s>BANFIELD (voice over): Did you see him fall after he was shot?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): Yes. After that, we took off running.</s>BANFIELD: Did you see him shoot at any other students or teachers?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): No.</s>BANFIELD: And where did he go after shooting your teacher?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): I believe he went back the other way where he was coming from.</s>BANFIELD: And at that point -- and please don`t name your teacher if I can ask you please until we get next of kin, we don`t want to identify anyone and cause any more stress or mental trauma to a community that is already been through hell today. Tyjanai, when your teacher was shot, what happened to the rest of the kids who were all around your teacher, who your teacher was trying to protect? What happened to them?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): They ran out. He went the other way. We don`t know why or for what reason. They all took off running. It was so much smoke around, people were bumping into each other trying to get out of there.</s>BANFIELD: There was smoke as in from his gun or do you think he set off some kind of smoke device? Did it seem like that?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): Right now we are not even sure. It looked like someone set off fireworks in there. There was so much smoke.</s>BANFIELD: It looked like fireworks from the amount of smoke. What did it smell like? Did it smell like the fireworks smell?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): No. That`s how we knew it was like real and we were in danger.</s>BANFIELD: So when you say smoke, was it so smokey you could barely see or did it look like it was -- I`m trying to figure out if the shooter might have actually tried to set off some smoke bombs to make it more catastrophic and difficult for people trying to get to safety.</s>THOMAS (via telephone): I`m pretty sure that`s what had to happen with the amount of smoke that was there, couldn`t have came from just the gun.</s>BANFIELD: It did not seem like the amount of smoke that you witnessed seemed to have been able to come from a gun.</s>THOMAS (via telephone): Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Tyjanai, can you stay with me? I have a lot of questions for you about what the shooter looked like, but I want to go to the doctors who are updating us.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We received eight patients and one suspect. The suspect was treated and released in police custody. Of our eight patients, we had two mortalities. Three in critical condition and three are stable.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): What condition was the suspect in?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot disclose that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Can you repeat again, 17 patients at Broward or more? I don`t believe that`s correct.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. System-wide in Broward Health, there was a total of 17 patients. Nine here, seven at Broward General and one at Coral Springs.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you talk about what type of injuries? How serious are these?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of the eight patients that we had not including the suspect, two mortalities, three critical condition, three stable.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): What are you seeing? What kind of wounds?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of respect for the family members and our respect for our patients, we are not going to disclose that information.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Are they all gunshot victims?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they are all gunshot victims.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Sometimes we see people that are trampled on their way out or sustained other sorts of injuries so that`s why we wanted to clarify. Of the eight victims here, they are all gunshot wounds, correct?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s correct.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you elaborate on the ages of the patients brought here?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, we can`t talk about the age or any information related to the patients out of respect to the families.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you talk about -- I know you guys were in lockdown, but can you describe for us if this is a mass casualty incident? What was it like inside as these patients were coming in after the shooting?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. We work very closely with our pre-hospital personnel. Fire rescue on scene and in conjunction with Broward Sheriff`s Office. Pre-hospital communicates information to us. We routinely run drills at our institution to be ready for instances like this. So we have a process in place that gets initiated so there is calm collected care that our patients receive.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you tell us anything about the fatalities, their ages, and do you believe they are students and possibly people working at the school?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We prefer not to comment on our patients in respect for our patients.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Can you talk about this personally? I mean, seeing this sort of thing, knowing that they are -- I mean, just as human beings outside of being doctors, treating these people who have come in here after experiencing if not the worst event of their lives, having the responsibility of treating these people and ensuring the best outcome, I mean, how does that affect you all as human beings?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do this every day. So what we saw today, we have the trauma center. That is what we do every day. Fortunately for everybody, we are located very close to this high school where this shooting happened. So it is fortunate for everybody they brought these patients to our hospital and we were able to do a great job to deliver care.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): The suspect was brought here. I know you can`t say much. But from people at home, they might be surprised that the suspect was being brought here. How do you guys take the Hippocratic oath and do your job knowing that this guy potentially did what he`s accused of doing?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every patient gets treated as a patient. We take care of them medically. That`s what we do.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Was there any particular reason why he was brought to this facility versus one of the other facilities?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of the location. They have to go to the nearest facility. We are the nearest.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Is this the biggest mass casualty you can remember?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At our hospital, yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Are you expecting more victims?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot comment.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you tell us if it was a large caliber or small caliber?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Do you know the update on conditions for the other hospitals?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not right now.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Are any of them still in surgery or did the surgery go on after?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still have three patients in the operating rooms. They are in stable condition.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Did all of them undergo some type of surgery?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you describe what their demeanor was like and if it was obvious, can you describe it for us?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I prefer not to comment on specific patient`s demeanor. But as a human being, you can imagine that they would be in shock or be emotional about the whole situation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): That`s it, guys. We have to go.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pardon me?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We work closely with our pre-hospital personnel to set that up.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): One more question.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Can you walk through what`s next for these patients specifically, the three in critical and three in stable, in terms of services? I understand Chaplains are now here?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are going to have successful surgeries and probably go home.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Thank you.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks very much.</s>BANFIELD (voice over): So these doctors are giving sort of</s>BANFIELD: Three in critical condition, and three who have been stabilize. That`s hard to tell given the other numbers that he gave out. 17 total treated. And at least we know at this time 17 total treated and I hope that means that we`re not going to see this number climb much more and God forbid it climbs at all, but at least not much more than that. But we do have three in critical condition still. Can`t discuss the suspect because yes, that suspect did arrive at their hospital and was treated. Obviously alongside some of the victims and then transported. And as we know now, it didn`t appear to the sheriff that those injuries and the suspect were significant. Doctors however can`t discuss that. Lots of reasons out of the respect of families, but also HIIPA laws. There is a lot of reasons why doctors can`t get into the details that those reporters were hoping for. Just before we went to the doctors news conference, I was speaking with a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Tyjanai Thomas, are you still with me? Can you still hear me?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): Yes, I can hear you.</s>BANFIELD: Tyjanai, before we went to the doctors, you were telling me about the smoke in the hall, that you saw the shooter come to the doorway of the classroom where your teacher was protecting students. You saw the shooter shoot your teacher and I will remind you, please don`t say his name at this time. I know you heard later that your teacher didn`t survive, but we are still waiting for official confirmation of those who lost their lives. Can you describe what the shooter looked like, what the shooter was carrying, and if you saw the shooter`s face?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): OK. Considering the amount of smoke, it was really hard to make out the facial features, but you could tell he was a relatively average height. Maybe a little taller than that. He was like hiding something behind his back. That`s how we knew right away something was wrong. It was really hard to make out who he was.</s>BANFIELD: Could you see a gun?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): Yes. You could see the handle of it like from behind his back where he was holding it. You could see it.</s>BANFIELD: And did it look like one of those rifles that is referred to as an AR-15, but it`s looks like one of those military-style assault rifles?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): It looked like a heavy-duty gun. I`m not really sure how to describe it.</s>BANFIELD: Could you tell what the shooter was wearing?</s>THOMAS (via telephone): No.</s>BANFIELD: Could you tell, Tyjanai, if the shooter had on any of that -- that kind of</s>THOMAS: I believe so. Like the figure looked like a little bulky and like we were believing that that`s what it was like a bulletproof vest or something.</s>BANFIELD: It appeared to you he was wearing a bulletproof vest, Tyjanai?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Did you see him carrying anything other than what looked like the gun behind his back? Did he carry any other kind of -- nothing else that you saw?</s>THOMAS: Not that I could tell.</s>BANFIELD: Could you see his face at all?</s>THOMAS: No.</s>BANFIELD: And did he say anything? Could you hear him saying anything?</s>THOMAS: Not at all.</s>BANFIELD: Was he running? Was he walking slowly? What was his demeanor? How did he appear to you?</s>BANFIELD: The way he appeared was like a very strong, dominant person. Like he had a plan. He knew what he was doing and he just trying to get there. But something got in his way and he got rid of it.</s>BANFIELD: So it seemed to you the shooter that you witnessed who shot your teacher was methodical and calm throughout this?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Didn`t look nervous or afraid or erratic?</s>THOMAS: No.</s>BANFIELD: And when he turned away after shooting your teacher and walked in the other direction, did he walk with purpose or was he running?</s>THOMAS: He was running. He ran the other way. How long after that did you get out of there?</s>THOMAS: Right after I heard it, we ran. Everyone that was in the hallway, they just ran down the stairs.</s>BANFIELD: And Tyjanai, were you on what`s been described as the tenth -- I think it`s the tenth floor or the building -- I`m looking for the name of the building and the floor where you were.</s>THOMAS: The 1200 building, the freshman building.</s>BANFIELD: The freshman building and the third floor?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: How many shots do you remember hearing?</s>THOMAS: If I`m not mistaken, I believe it was three.</s>BANFIELD: You heard three shots. Were those the three shots he fired at your teacher?</s>THOMAS: No. Those were three shots I heard from like downstairs.</s>BANFIELD: So you heard the shots downstairs and then you saw the shooter come upstairs?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: How many times did he fire at your teacher?</s>THOMAS: If I`m not mistaken I believe there was one or two.</s>BANFIELD: It was one or two?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Were the other students screaming or were they frozen?</s>THOMAS: They were like in panic mode, but like they didn`t really know what to do on that situation. Everyone was just so shocked. We just kind of stood there for a second trying to get together in our minds what was actually happening. Were there any other adults with you at that time or were you pretty much left alone as a group of kids once the teacher was shot?</s>THOMAS: Yes. We were pretty much left alone until all the other teachers - like it was weird. We didn`t see any other teachers out in the hallway, no other classes. So we were kind of confused as to what to do.</s>BANFIELD: And this was again, you call at this time freshman building, right?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: And it was the third floor in the freshman building called the 1200 building where we had heard earlier there were about 10 classrooms. Do you have any idea how many kids have been up and down that hallway? How many kids would have been in those classrooms at the time this was happening?</s>THOMAS: No, I`m not really sure.</s>BANFIELD: Tyjanai, had you ever seen this shooter`s face before? Did he look familiar?</s>THOMAS: No. Like he -- I couldn`t really tell anything.</s>BANFIELD: And no one else around you knew who he was?</s>THOMAS: No, not until later. We heard the last name and someone was like he sounds really familiar like he knew them.</s>BANFIELD: The name Nikolas Cruz sounded familiar to someone you know?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: And did they say anything about Nikolas Cruz at the time?</s>THOMAS: No. They just said that they just knew his name, like the last name sounded familiar to them.</s>BANFIELD: Tyjanai, when you ran from the hallway after your teacher was shot, did you come across anything else? Did you see anything else, any kind of other victims, any kind of carnage, anything and broken glass? Did you see anything else on your way out of that school?</s>THOMAS: On the very first floor of the building, that`s where it was another big amount of smoke and we seen like something that appeared to be a body on the floor closer to the other end of the hallway.</s>BANFIELD: That`s on the first floor?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: So there was smoke on the third floor in the hallway where your teacher you witnessed being shot. There was smoke on the first floor hallway where you said you saw another body of a student or an adult or a teacher?</s>THOMAS: We are not really sure what it looked like.</s>BANFIELD: Was that victim in the hallway or in a classroom?</s>THOMAS: In the hallway.</s>BANFIELD: Could you see anything else in the hallway?</s>THOMAS: No.</s>BANFIELD: Could you see -- go ahead.</s>THOMAS: But at the end of the hallway, we -- as soon as we got downstairs, we seen something there come threw out of the corners that appeared to be another figure. So we all ran outside.</s>BANFIELD: You saw another figure at the other end of the hallway coming into the school?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Did it appear to be the same person you saw who was the shooter or did it appear to be, say, a police officer perhaps?</s>THOMAS: I`m not really sure who it was. But I don`t think it was the shooter. I don`t think he could have gotten down that fast. I`m not sure.</s>BANFIELD: Were you able to see into any of the classrooms on the third floor or on the first floor?</s>THOMAS: No.</s>BANFIELD: Did you see anything on the second floor as you were descending down the staircase?</s>THOMAS: No, we all just ran right past it.</s>BANFIELD: So there is no way to tell if there was smoke or anybody shot on the second floor as far as you witnessed, Tyjanai?</s>THOMAS: No.</s>BANFIELD: When you got outside, did you finally find a teacher or find an adult or someone to give you direction to get to you safety?</s>THOMAS: That`s what we were looking for until we heard more gunshots so we started to run the opposite way and then we heard it from that way and ran back and finally seen security. They were telling us to just get off school grounds. So we jumped the fence and headed into the complex that is right next to the school.</s>BANFIELD: So Tyjanai, if I`m not mistaken, I`m trying to get a start to finish, you know, accounting of your experience. But you said you heard a number of shots when you were up on that third floor and saw your teacher shot. And then you heard additional shots when you were on the first floor or outside. Can you just clear it up for me how many shots and where you heard the shots.</s>THOMAS: When I first heard the shots I was on the first floor and then when we got outside we kept hearing them, you know. It was just like someone repeatedly at least shooting the gun.</s>BANFIELD: How many times do you estimate?</s>THOMAS: Maybe three or four times.</s>BANFIELD: And that was on the first floor.</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: But just one shot on the third? I`m just trying to get a clear indication. When your teacher was shot and you witnessed that on the third floor, that was one or two shot, correct?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: And then on the first floor, three or four additional shots, is that correct?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: And when you got to safety, how did that happen? Who found you outside the first floor and where were you taken and what was that like? What were you asked to do when you were rushing from that school?</s>THOMAS: No one found us. We looked down the hallway, a longer hallway, seeing one of our security guards pointing towards the gates and telling us to get out and go somewhere and hide.</s>BANFIELD: I`m just going ask one last question and it`s probably a repeat. But you will have to forgive me, Tyjanai. It`s important. When you saw the shooter, as smoky as it was, you could see the gun behind his back and it did look like he was wearing one of those police-style armored vests, tactical vests, is that correct?</s>THOMAS: Yes.</s>BANFIELD: Was he wearing anything on his head?</s>THOMAS: I`m not sure.</s>BANFIELD: But you are very sure he appeared to be wearing one of the bulletproof vests?</s>THOMAS: Yes, that`s what it appeared to be.</s>BANFIELD: Tyjanai, thank you so much for helping us with this information. It is invaluable and it is so difficult for grown ups to process this stuff. And so for you to go through this, you know, are you with your parents now?</s>THOMAS: No, I`m not, but I can be.</s>BANFIELD: I want you to be. If you can be. It would be great if you can be with your parents, sweetheart. Thank you so much, Tyjanai. I just wish you the best, sweetie. As you go through getting past this and the things that you have seen.</s>THOMAS: Thank you.</s>BANFIELD: Tyjanai Thomas. Wow. A freshman. That`s what a freshman`s day was today. Tyjanai saw her teacher shot. Tyjanai heard her teacher was killed. We don`t have confirmation on that yet. HLN anchor Mike Galanos is with me now. Mike, that`s the first indication and witness account that I have heard describing smoke in the hallways both the third floor hallway and the first floor hallways in the 1200 building, the freshman building. And it`s the first count that I have heard of a shooter wearing a tactical vest.</s>MIKE GALANOS, HLN ANCHOR: And I`m still taking in the strength of this young lady.</s>BANFIELD: I know.</s>GALANOS: A freshman in high school who could recount to you the detail with such clarity and strength. So - and I`m with you, praying that she can heal through this. It may take time, but to hunker down with her family. Ashleigh, let`s get supposed details as we take in that riveting interview. The numbers, again, they are just so heartbreaking. Seventeen dead. And we just heard the number taken to hospital total was 17. It sounds like and this is a rudimentary number, 14 injured, sounds like still fighting for their lives. At one hospital, we know three in critical condition. Another number that is equally astonishing and saddening, this is the 18th school shooting this year and we are just six weeks into 2018. So family and victims are number one, but we do know the name of the alleged shooter, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz. Had trouble that we know, at least dates back, at least anecdotal stories tell us into eighth grade five years ago, violent outburst, expelled from his high school because of disciplinary reasons. So we are taking all that in. The sheriff talked about this social media footprint. Websites that were very disturbing. What did he use to carry out the horror, this hellish attack on students and teachers. An AR-15 with multiple magazines. We know that. And as we get back to family, you know, our hearts go out to the families that are at a Marriott in Coral Springs. Parents told, if you are looking for your child, go there. What are those? We hope reunions like. But for some it will not be a reunion. It will be a moment of unthinkable horror and grief as they enter into a fraternity they never wanted to be a part of. Ashleigh, back to you.</s>BANFIELD: Yes. And you know, I just got handed a note that after this many years, you think that you would be</s>GALANOS: I mean, Ashleigh, when you stop and think, 18 already this year? We are on an average of what let`s say, we are six weeks in three a week. Three per week school shootings? I mean, thank goodness for teachers who are heroes who can stand up. And we hope that that teacher survived. It doesn`t sound like it. That would stand up and be a deterrent and save who knows how many lives. Just by allowing students like Tyjanai to escape and get out of there. And then for her, as you mentioned, a 14 or 15-year-old to witness this and have that in her mind`s eye for the rest of her life. Again, this is just something.</s>BANFIELD: You know, I interviewed someone and I`m looking at the clock. 7:16 now eastern time. I don`t even know when it was. It might have been an hour and a half ago. Here is her name, Melissa</s>BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And Ashleigh, at this point, you can imagine that sort of the adrenaline has worn off for these students. Maybe teachers and administrators in that school and now it`s all sort of settling in. Before I get to the students I were able to escape. I do want to mentioned that the Broward County sheriff`s department did just tweet about a hotline that anyone can call, a crisis hotline to get any help. And a little bit earlier in your newscast, Mike actually jogged my memory. When I was covering Orlando, the Pulse nightclub shooting, I remember meeting a group of folks that unfortunately has Mike used the word fraternity. They became a part of the fraternity as some of these mass shootings, not just school shooting, a mass shooting that happened all around the country. Parents have banded together who witnessed tragedy, have felt tragedy and losing loved ones through the shootings. And ever since they sort of lost a loved one, they sort of moved around the country trying to support as new tragedies happen. So you can imagine the same group I talked to at the Pulse nightclub shooting will now be heading here to Florida to help families who are grieving. Because again, We know the number of people that were kill. We don`t know their names yet. We don`t know how many are students. We don`t know how many are teachers. We don`t know how many are administrators at this point. But yes, Tyjanai really gave you a good idea of what she witnessed. But we talked to other student who is witnessed incredible things. One student said, you know, this was a time of reflection, sitting in there, being in lockdown upwards of two hours waiting for the SWAT team to come by. I`m sure having anxiety and stress and wondering what was going happen next. And here are some more accounts on what students said they were going through during that time.</s>GINGRAS: And these are all the different accounts we have from students as this continues to unfold. Just like that student there, rushing out of the building and some escaping to that Marriott where they were hoping to be reunited with their family. Some going to a nearby Walmart that was adjacent to the school. And again, other students are being in lockdown situations for several hours waiting for that SWAT team to clear them. So just incredible stories again, Ashleigh, as we continue to see this story just sort of happen in front of our eyes, waiting until we get more news about who is injured and who was killed during this. And that`s all going to sort of bring this to a close in some ways as far as the adrenaline. Just people now processing.</s>BANFIELD: You know what, Brynn? I don`t know about you, Brynn, but I am struck. It`s just sort happening as I am doing this coverage. But I`m struck by the composure of these kids freshman, you know, 14, 15-year-old kids. The way they are able to report the accounts to us. And it makes me wonder if it`s a sign of the times. Because it is -- maybe it`s just not so foreign to them that this stuff happens. Yes, it`s a shock when it happens to you, but maybe not so foreign. School shootings to them now are part of their lexicon. Part of their culture as they grow. And yes, it happened to them, but it`s not so unfamiliar. And that`s a really distressing reference. I mean, it`s really distressing thing to note. We see these pictures a lot, you know. Brynn, I have to fit in a break, but sorry about that. I have to fit in a break. But I just - I want to dove tail off of what Brynn said. And that is that there are people who are in the business of consoling. They are brought in to help those who are emotionally afflicted by this and they are busy, busy people. More and more, they are busy, busy people. They go from the Pulse nightclub. They come to this school. The 18 other schools that have been hit just this year alone in six weeks. And with this being the fourth worst school shooting in U.S. history, let me put it into perspective. Seventeen people were killed in this school shooting. And if Columbine really stands out to you, that was 13, a sign of the times.