but with some 5 million individuals living in proximity to all of these monuments, all of these military bases and all these federal facilities that have been beefed up so much security-wise over the course of the last 12 years, which is fairly strict in terms of security protocol to begin with. evidently now something like this can happen we're learning this morning, bill. >> mike, stand by. it's now 12:00 noon eastern standard time. if you're joining us, we'll update you on what's happening in the nation's capital. at 8:20 this morning shortly after 8:00, there were reports of three shots fired at the washington navy yard. you can see it there on your graphic not far from capitol hill. it's a massive complex that houses several agencies connected to the agency -- to the navy. excuse me. there are reports right now that as many as four people have been killed, as many as ten people have been wounded. those wounded were taken to the

washington hospital center. the associated press reporting a short while ago that the shooter is dead. "the washington post" is reporting on the website that there may be as many as three shooters including one in military fatigues, and that brings us to where we are right now as this standoff is now beginning to enter its fourth hour. joining me by noen is mark willis. he is with the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms. mr. willis, are you with us? >> yes, i am. >> as you watch these scenes on your television set, you have been there before. we are reporting right now that the boston marathon unit, the boston marathon bombing unit from the atf is now headed to washington. can you confirm that? >> actually, that unit is based out of washington, d.c., so they're already on the scene there. this is the same special response team unit that was at the boston marathon bombing on the scene there.

they were there to assist, and they're here in washington, d.c. to assist with this operation as well. >> mark, i'm going to tell you i may interrupt at any moment because of the mayor of washington, d.c. is holding a news conference shortly. if we can put that up on the screen so we can keep an eye on it. as the reporters have gathered, but as you hear the reports that are coming in, one shooter, possibly three, one dressed in military fatigues. the situation with the boston marathon bombing team based in washington headed to the scene, what does that tell you about the severity of what happened at the washington navy yard this morning? >> i can tell you that that special response team has been on the scene for about an hour now already. it is a pretty severe situation, obviously. anytime our special response team is activated, it is only done so when there are violent criminals involved. >> continue, because i've worked

with that special response team. they are there because they deal with the things that the local s.w.a.t. team, for instance, would not. >> they're highly trained individuals, and it's a team -- we have a total of five teams across the united states which make up about 145 full-time and part-time personnel. they're trained tactical operators who are, you know, trained in mechanical breaching, hostage rescue. we have a crisis negotiator, and in addition, there's also a special special response that also travels with each team. >> as you see the images out of washington, d.c., is it your opinion we're looking at an active shooter scene? an active scene and not necessarily a crime scene investigated post-shooting, but a scene where we believe there may be a gunman still inside the washington navy yard? >> to be perfectly honest with you, all the information that's come into our headquarters as of

right now, the only thing i can tell you is that this is still an active scene. we have not had word that anyone is in custody as of yet. >> whether when we saw the images moments ago of the ambulances and bus appearing to be moving, is that an indication that something had changed since earlier this morning where it appeared that at least one of the shooting victims had to be medevaced out from the roof of the washington navy yard? >> i'm not at liberty to speak about that. i haven't seen those images that you're talking about, so i wouldn't feel comfortable talking about that right now. >> when you talk about the srt, the special response team from the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, we're not talking about a forensic team. to make it more common to the vernacular of the everyday man, a specialized s.w.a.t. team there to look for shooters, correct? >> yes, that's correct. >> what makes them different han

the other response teams we may have seen elsewhere? >> we're a federal agency, and we bring special expertise to the table. i'm not saying that other s.w.a.t. teams don't bring that same expertise, but we bring an added level of technical expertise that some local law enforcement -- >> what i'm getting at is they're not doing forensic work right now? they're there because it's an active scene where we're concerned about a shooter? >> absolutely, yes. >> do we have any indication from where you have been perched that there -- that as "the washington post" is reporting are three shooters. one dead, that leave two remaining, and a person in military fatigues? >> i don't have -- i can't confirm any of that information right now. i'm sorry. >> associated press is now reporting that as many as six people are dead. is that matching the numbers that you're receiving? >> again, i'm not at liberty to release any of that kind of information either.

i apologize. >> you heard just moments ago from a person who worked inside the washington navy yard, and you have been in washington and i've been in washington and new york is no different. it is a fortress. how do you get guns inside a complex that big, that secure without planning? >> i don't have an answer for that. i mean, you know, washington, d.c. has gun laws that are in place that, you know, there's always a way for someone with a plan and a mission to do harm to others who they're able to get those through. >> mr. willis, were you watching the screen just moments ago? we saw the gentleman with the ka k-9 in green camouflage. there's another unit. is that the unit we're talking about? >> i'm not watching the screen right now.

i'm sorry. >> okay. i can tell you, if you're not you're missing good pictures as far as the television audience is concerned. please stand by as we continue to watch the developments unfolding, mr. willis, if you would. mike viqueira, you still with us? >> i'm, del. >> sl any change on the ground where you are? >> reporter: no. we're still awaiting the briefing. i have my eyes on the chief of police and the mayor of washington, vincent gray. they're 100 feet to the right of this press club at third street and m street southeast. they're being briefed by several officials on the scene here. there's atf, fbi and other agenci agencies. >> wait a minute, mike, there are images right now. mr. willis if you're on the phone, are you watching the images where we have people walking out? what are you looking at? are you there? >> i don't have a television to watch.

>> mr. willis is not in front of a television. what you're looking at -- in fact, i can tell you what you're seeing. these are federal government employees. you see them and you know that they're federal government employees because they all have the standards, the name tags on. it's part of the uniform of washington, d.c. they're all walking out right now with their hands up, an indication that at least one part of the complex, this massive washington navy yard, appears to have been secured, and some of the people who are inside who have literally been in lockdown since 8:20 this morning when the first shots rang out have been released. they're walking out with their hands held up, because as you've seen on a number of television shows and movies, there's always the concern that the shooter may be walking out among them and all precautions are taken so their hands are raised in the air. would that be a safe assumption, mr. willis? okay. we have lost mr. willis. okay.

we don't have him. we do have mike viqueira. mike, moments ago we saw a group of people marching out of the scene, their hands raised in the air. they had the typical washington, d.c. federal worker laniards around their neck with their i.d. badges. it should be pointed out those badges, the reason they're around the neck is because you cannot get into a building in washington, d.c. if you work in a federal complex without your identification. it is that secure, correct? >> it certainly is, and most of those buildings require you to go through a magnotometer as well as and some security screening. typically what happens, del, is in many facilities the security personnel know exactly what time you walked in. they know exactly what time you walked out. that's the expense of the evolution of security in washington. how on earth this could have happened today at the navy yard given all of that is something one of the first questions, i think, that many people are going to want to ask as soon as

we have an opportunity to do so. obviously, the situation here is still unfolding. i was mentioning a moment ago just over to the right we see the fbi and metropolitan police briefing the mayor of washington as well as the chief of police. we expect them to brief reporters. they're making their way over here, del, towards this press pit, this press conference location that had been set up just about three blocks west of the navy yard here. as we were talking a moment ago, the metro bus that is here is talking about the fact that oftentimes in this challenge with what you were reporting a moment ago that i couldn't see -- i can't look through the viewfinder at the telescopic lens, often witnesses are sequestered and quarantined, if you will, and put on a bus. now we have the mayor of

washington, d.c., vincent gray. i don't know if you can see these pictures. he's approaching the microphone with cathary lenier, the blonde-haired woman you see there. >> we're going to take that image right now. i believe it's os-10. we'll take it from here, mike. that is mayor vincent gray and also the fire chief to his left and right behind him is metropolitan police chief kathy lenier as they gather. while we wait on the mayor to speak, we're watching the white house to await the word from the president concerning his economic policies five years after the economic collapse that cost so many people their jobs and their homes around the country. we will take that to you live as well. right now, d.c. mayor vincent gray. >> the yard and the immediate area beginning this morning about 8:20 a.m. a shooter entered the building 197, which is a navy sea comm d command, and began shooting.

our active shooter team responded immediately there. they launched a search for the shooter and engaged at least one person along the way. we know that there are four wounded that have been removed from the scene and taken to a hospital. we are still trying to confirm the number of fatalities involved, and we'll have to do that later. as far as we know, this is an isolated incident. we don't know of any other installations that are involved in this. we would ask all the residents in this area to please stay out of the area. this is an active investigation that is going on. of course, because this involves the military and the federal government, we have been actively and directly and continuously involved with the white house about this incident

confirming what we know at this stage. i want to call upon our police chief now to provide additional details. she will be followed by the park police chief, teresa chambers, and we have other law enforcement officials here with us. again, i'm sure you all understand we're not prepared to answer a lot of questions at this stage because this is a continuing, active investigation, and we will reconvene at some point later this afternoon as more information is available to us. chief lenier. >> so, obviously, at this point it's still very preliminary. i'll give you what it is that we do have right now, and there's still a lot of work to be done. we won't be taking questions right now. we will do another briefing within the next two hours. we'll give locations for that briefing. right now what i can tell you is our initial call came in for a shooting on the navy yard. it came in shortly after 8:15.

there was a request for metropolitan police department assistance. our units were on the scene, active shooter teams were deployed and actually deployed on base within 7 minutes of the first call coming in. multiple active shooter teams from the police department, park police, u.s. marshals and also fbi. >> we appear to be having difficulty with the news conference coming out of washington, d.c. >> we also have other casualties. i will not give a confirmed number at this time, but i would say we have multiple victims inside that are deceased. we will give updates once we have those numbers confirmed. the big concern for us right now is that we potentially have two other shooters that we have not located at this point. so right now all's we have on those potential other shooters and this is not confirmed. we potentially may have two additional shooters out there.

one being a white male who was last seen around 8:35, 8:40 this morning in a khaki tan military uniform, short sleeved with a beret hat. appeared to be like a naval uniform. that white male was last seen around 8:35 this morning with a handgun. we also have a lookout potentially for another chuter involved. that was a black male approximately 50 years of age who may have been possession of a long gun. that person was wearing an olive drab colored possible military-style uniform. we have no information to believe that either of those folks are military personnel, but we do have information that those individuals are wearing military-style uniforms. so anybody that has information that may have been seen someone that matches those descriptions, we are asking for them to call

the metropolitan police department on 202-727-9099. so in terms of the investigation, it is still very active. we have asked four members of the community to please remain out of the area and in their homes until we finish doing this search. obviously, we have a large area here that we're still actively engaged in a search on. with that, i want to thank all the other agencies that have been here. this is a very active, ongoing, unified investigation at this point. the fbi has been here fully engaged from the very beginning along with park police, metro transit police, d.o.d., naval criminal intelligence. so we've had everybody here along with us all along. as soon as we get additional information, we will certainly push it out. i will let chief chambers have an opportunity if she has any comments from park police. >> d.o.d. naval criminal intelligence, so we've had everybody here along with us all along.

as soon as we get additional information we will push it out. i will let chief chamers have an opportunity for comments from park police. our officer is in stable condition right now in surgery. >> the only thing to add, we were with the mpd very quickly on the scene, and that happens a lot in washington, d.c. of course we have our aviation component helping with still eyes in the sky as well as medevac. we'll be part of this fluid investigation and be back with you later today. thank you. >> reporter: is there any indication -- >> we're not prepared to answer questions at this stage. we'll be back in a couple hours as we gather more information. we certainly don't want to provide information that hasn't been confirmed, so please bear with us as we continue the investigation. in a couple of hours i'm sure we'll have more. thank you all very much. >> thank you. >> you have been listening to a news conference just moments ago, that being mayor vincent

gray. d.c. police chief cathy lanier and teresa chambers. the reason the capitol police are called in is because of the crime in the area. when crime in the city got so bad, the jurisdiction of the capitol police expanded to deal with situations. mike viqueira, as you were listening, pretty much what we've been reporting. only we add now that what? there may have been three shooters including two that were dressed in military fatigues, which causes considerable concern in washington. >> reporter: well, there's ominous signs that we were talking about just a while ago. unfortunately, it appears to be true. extraordinary situation here unfolding now approaching the fourth hour, and now we know why there are so many conflicting reports. it's taken so long to get any definitive information. this is an active investigation, and there are two alleged shooters at large right now. chief lanier said they got the

call to the metropolitan police shortly after 8:15. they deployed the team, and they were on scene within 7 minutes. multiple victims inside unfortunately that are deceased. there may potentially be two additional shooters according to the chief that we just heard. they described a white male in khaki tan fatigues with a short-sleeved shirt and a beret hat last seen some 20 minutes after the initial reports came in at 8:35 a.m. on the east coast. that individual is still at large. a black male approximately 50 years of age with a longer gun. the fact that they're wearing military-style uniforms cautioned the chief, don't jump to conclusions these individuals are actually in the military. still very active. a very concerning phrase we heard from the police chief indicating that this is an

active shooter scene here, that individuals are at large within the navy yard. we assume within the navy yard, del. certainly no shortage of law enforcement entities responding here. the d.o.d. criminal intelligence, and there was a metropolitan police officer who was evidently injured in this shooting. the chief reported that individual is in stable condition, and then we did hear from the park police chief, chief chambers, talking about some of the assets that were deployed there as well. bottom line here, del, a very unsettling situation here. some almost four hours into this, an active scene. two individuals potentially at-large as described by the chief of police wearing khaki military-style uniforms. not necessarily in the military. last seen with a handgun and a long gun.

these two individuals are at-large within the navy yard. >> mike viqueira, stand by. the scene you're looking at right now is outside the washington navy yard in southeast washington, d.c. along the banks of the of the anacostia river known as the place where the lincoln conspirators were housed once they were rounded up following the assassination of president abraham lincoln. it's that old and fortified. the walls outside are some 10 feet tall. it is literally a fortress in southeast washington, d.c. not far from the capitol, which itself is not far from the white house. as a result, most of official washington has either been notified and responded or is now in some sort of extended or temporary lockdown, including the washington navy yard where there are some 3,000 workers who are housed there. i want to show you some videotape that came in just moments ago, some images you saw live if you were watching. they are of those workers, of

those 3,000 people housed inside there since 8:20 this morning, now four hours waiting and wondering exactly what is going on. they came out with their hands raised in the air. do we have that videotape? they came out with their hands raised in the air. here's that video. these are the people that are federal workers simply because if you work in washington, you realize that there are the iconic name tags around their necks. it is a piece of equipment that is status quo in washington. every place you go to now has secure doors and metal defectors. six schools in that area are now confirmed to be on lockdown. in addition, as we were told just moments ago by a spokesperson, not necessarily a specs person but an employee of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and confirmed by aje earlier than that, or

al jazeera earlier than that. the atf special response team is on the scene and has been on the scene now for quite some time. they are the unit that responded to the boston marathon bombings. do we have j.j. with us? >> we have j.j. green on the phone? >> i am on the phone with you. >> we're joined now by our al jazeera national security correspondent j.j. green, who is in the nation's capital. j.j., i know for a fact that you are wired into all of these national security apparatus. what are they saying, and what is their major concern today? >> well, the big take-away, del, came a few minutes ago as mike viqueira pointed out. as police chief cathy lanier was giving a description, she indicated that one was deceased. they also indicated there may be another or a couple, two more they're looking for. one of them, she said, was wearing a military uniform, a

tan-colored uniform. she also said that a second might be wearing an olive drab type military style uniform. i believe that i heard her say that there is some question as to whether or not they're actually attached to the military. this is a big question and a big concern, and it's probably a part of the reason why while i was out at the navy yard earlier today i noticed a swarm, a beehive of helicopter activity. the coast guard has informed me not too long ago that a temporary restricted zone has been set up around washington, a temporary safety zone has been set up blocking boating traffic in the air. so the air, the land, and the water around washington, d.c. is being very heavily scrutinized right now. >> j.j., i want you to think about something as we take a commercial break. you are aware in commercial television we have to pay the bills. the thought that i want to come back to you on when we come back from break is how did these

people possibly get guns into such a secure environment? so please stand by. for our viewers, please stand by as well. we're going to take a break. we will be right back.

our continuing coverage is into the fourth hour. to update you what happened shortly after 8:20 this morning, a gunman walked in and witnesses report hearing through shots. after the three shots there were reports as many as four people were dead and some ten people injured. washington, d.c.'s mayor essingng reporters moments ago. we will get to the sound bite in a second and also from witnesses who told us exactly what they

heard. before we went to break, we had the national security correspondent j.j. green on the phone. j.j., as we were talking moments ago, the police chief saying they're looking for two suspects, both wearing what may be military garb. >> whether you look at the nationwide bulletins blasted out over the last year and a half, maybe even two years, you find this constant stream of reminders of people dressed in military garb or the possibility of them posing as military officers and arriving at military facilities or other facilities and passing themselves assist military officers. it's easy to get this kind of gear and it's easy to get

weapons if you know what you're working for and what you want to do and how you plan to do it. this is when you -- when you consider the fact that on a monday morning at this base and every other base here in washington as the summer is over, there's a flood of people trying to get into these bases. these situations are not unusual for people to be overwhelmed at the gates. you like at situations where traffic is flowing in there. there's lots of different ways that people arrive at these bases, not just cars but there are metro trains as well. it's speculation at best to say how the individuals got in and on the base. and there's lots of different ways to get on the base in terms of the uniforms. there's lots of different ways to get their hands on them, too. >> j.j., i want to avoid any speculation at this point in time as we appear to have the lost the image from washington. one can't ignore the fact this

comes less than a week after a spokesman from the middle east called for attacks. is there a concern any shred concern among people that you talked to in washington and inthat there are many that this may be more than what we know? >> there have been a couple of reports about that this morning. and earlier this afternoon, and i have seen other reporting suggesting that this is possibly a workplace dispute. it fit doesn't fit the standard profile of a disgruntled worker. if they determine there's no other suspects out there, it may default to that. it is not unusual as well when they have these situations where you have a shooter on a base where you have an active shooter scenario, you may have several different descriptions of the same individuals. so we're not sure yet exactly how far this will go, but i can

tell you at this point what the folks in the intelligence and law enforcement community are trying to do at this point is connect the dots and figure out what the truth is, the truth on the ground is, and at the same time they're trying to make sure they have all the bases and that is no pun intended obviously. they're trying to make sure they have all of the area covered that they need to be responsible for today, specifically considering the fact that if this does turn out to be a disgruntled worker, they're covered. >> i'll show the audience the other story we're watching out of washington. we're awaiting word from the president right now. we've been begin the two-minute warning he'll address the nation on the 5th anniversary of the collapse of lehman brothers and the state of the u.s. economy. stay tuned for that. j.j., as we continue our thoughts on the situation unfolding at the washington navy yard, if you can tell me,