only on al jazeera america ing right now we're looking at live pictures coming in from roseburg, oregon. we're awaiting a news conference to get an update on the college campus shooting that's left at least 13 people dead. in just a couple of minutes, we're expected to hear from the douglas county sheriff. hello, everyone, i'm adam may live in new york bringing you up to date on this campus shooting in the town of roseburg, oregon. recapping what we know right now. there are reports that at least 13 people have been killed by a gunman at the umpqua community college. it's about three hours south of portland, oregon.

the county sheriff says it was a lone gunman. he apparently got into a shootout with campus police and according to the governor, the 20-year-old male is dead. we're also expecting to hear from president obama sometime in the coming hour. we're told that should happen in about 20 minutes or so. he has been pushing for tougher gun control legislation. he has brought this up numerous times after many of the mass shootings we've seen here for quite some time.

this has been a staging area for family and the people in that community to gather. let's check in with alan. what is the scene there at the fairgrounds right now? i can only imagine so many people are still waiting for answers. >> yeah. really heartbreaking scene as you might imagine. just listening to a young lady describing being in the building and hearing shotses wandserring if it's another school shooting

and then hearing more shots. she described -- she's just sitting out on the sidewalk here. which was right next door to where the shooting happened who she said was in the military or had been in the military who stood up at a certain point and just said we need to go now and helped get everybody out of that room. she said that the community suffered a great loss but we'll be okay. she said this is an area where family and prayer are quite big and she said this is terrible but we will be okay. this is where people have been told to come meet the staff, students, faculty who were bussed out of umpqua community college. i just arrived here and we've

not yet made contact with the people who are organizing this scene and who are -- or made contact with any of the other people bussed off that college campus. but that's what we'll be doing in the minutes ahead. >> alan, as you were speaking, we just saw some very moving still pictures, new pictures that were coming there from the scene and it is just so erie to see how pictures conjure up memories of other shootings. what emotions are on their faces right now of the people? how many people are there? >> you know, the parking lot is just packed. it's full of cars. i'd say a couple of hundred. i'm going to walk over to the

building that's right over here. i'm just on scene, again. let's see if i can see any of the folks bussed out of that area. i can tell you that it's just very eerie seeing a group of people crossing the street. eer eerie. some people here are waiting for loved ones that won't come back. >> there's at least 13 dead meaning there's at least 13 sets of parents out there unsure of the fate of their daughter or son. they sent them off to school and now they're in this waiting game. waiting for information. i mean, it's just hard to take in, isn't it, alan? >> yeah. it's very difficult. i've just come to a place that says no media allowed. i'm being directed around the

corner. and i would caution that number 13 i know has been repeated over and over but it comes from just a single source as far as we can tell. the attorney general's office. we've been calling that office for several hours. have gotten no other information nor confirmation of that number. so i think we need to be careful. it may be 13 or it may not so we should be careful about that. >> very good point. >> lots of people standing around here now. >> where are you walking into, alan? you're probably one of the first national reporters to arrive on the scene there because you were already in oregon working on a separate report. what do you see? >> this is a building on the fairgrounds which is south of town in roseburg. east of i-5. i'm seeing perhaps 50 people. look like people who are waiting, all ages, adults, kids, a little bit of media but not

too much. and a building where we are not allowed to go which is clearly where a lot of the folks are going to be held until their parents or family members arrive and they can meet. we should also remember that the -- here's a gentleman who says do you need a ride home or do you need water. >> wow. >> are you here to meet anyone in particular or just here to help? >> yeah, just trying to help out at the scene. the woman we heard talking a while ago saying this is the type of community, small community, that they will pull together and they'll be okay. brave statements after what's happened. just a horrible day in a small town in southern oregon. >> i was actually in that part of oregon just a few weeks ago working on a report and i think there is this small town feeling there, this feeling where people walk by and they say hi, a very friendly part of the country and

small communities meaning close communities where people know everyone and there's no doubt that if the people there aren't directly affected by this, at least indirectly. they'll have known someone. this is a school of roughly 3,000 people or so. a gathering hub for southwest oregon. >> absolutely. and it's the only college in town. there's no other college in town. this is the center of higher learning. >> alan -- >> we're going to make contact and get you as much information as we can in the coming hours. >> yeah. all right. we'll let you do your reporting on the ground. >> just a few minutes ago there was a news conference at one of the major hospitals in the area. the individual speaking there was dr. hans nolenbloom the comedical director of sacred

heart medical center and they gave us an update on the injured. >> three are admitted. two of them went directly to the operating room. one of them is still being worked up with further diagnosis. we called in multiple extra resources, surgeons, emergency physicians, nursing, and others. >> all right. right now live pictures from the white house. again, the president is expected to make a statement here in about 11 minutes or so. we have not been told in advance of what he's going to say but white house spokesman josh earnest did speak earlier about the need of starting to address the issue of smart gun control in this country. this is according to some estimates, the 45th mass shooting of 2015 in this country so far. more than 142 mass shootings since sandy hook. it's obvious that there is some sort of failure in society.

the question is what do we do about it. and those answers range depending on where you are on the political spectrum and so far really no will to try to do something to prevent another one of these. we're also awaiting a news conference right now. you can see that they're getting set up for that. this is going to be coming from douglas county in southwest oregon in roseburg. this is where officials will be bringing us some of the additional information and hopefully flush out some of the details as far as clearing up the number killed, the number injured. alan was right. a single source in the attorney general's office saying there were 13 killed. other reports range from seven to ten. we did see some other reports that put that number higher. the number of injured we're told was right around 20 or so. and it's unclear if the number of injured also coincides with those who have been officially pronounced deceased. the president of the school will

also be speaking at this news conference. that will be very interesting to find out what he has to say and the information they have. the former president of that university said that last year there was a big debate at umpqua community college about security actually. ironically. and let's bring in j.j. green on the phone. he's al jazeera's national security contributor and he's in washington d.c. j.j., what do you make of the fact that just last year they had a big debate on campus as to whether or not this should have armed security guards on campus and we're also told that they did go through a number of drills in case there was some sort of amajor security issue or a mass casualty issue. is this where we are in this country right now where schools are forced to do this on a regular basis preparing for just this kind of awful scenario? >> yes, it is. it is. we're all there.

just from talking with homeland security and federal law enforcement authorities, that's where we all are now. and it's not a matter of being forced to do it. a lot of organizations are going out voluntarily and seeking this kind of training and seeking this kind of engagement when it comes to security. not being nos at that jibbitalg gentleman -- to be safe. so it is where we talgia -- to be safe. so it is where we are. people are taking it seriously. which is good. >> it's a sad state to say that this is where we are in the

country. here's the president of the school there. >> i'm the interim president at umpqua community college. today was the saddest day in the history of the college. the college just celebrated its 50th anniversary recently and this is a tragedy. our hearts and prayers go out to the families and to the staff and students who witnessed this atrowsty. this is a real crisis situation. we want to thank the amazing community support. taxi cabs are volunteering to take people home from the fairgrounds. grief counselors there for the students. law enforcement from various agencies. the fairgrounds opened their doors to us. the city manager has helped us. county commissioners have helped

us, the governor's office has helped. all the other colleges in oregon have offered help. we appreciate all the help from everyone today. we're still sorting through trying to reunify students with their families and that's the highest priority right now. we have families waiting for the last bus to arrive with students on it and we have grief counselors for those parents who have no children coming off that bus. so that's been our highest priority and why i have not been in front of the press before now. but as this rolls through, tomorrow the college will be closed. this weekend the college will be closed for all student activities that were planned. we will be open again for classes on monday. right now it is a crime scene so people in the neighborhood who are used to being on campus and walking in the afternoon, we're asking them to please stay away. we're trying to get to the bottom of this. it is extremely sad right now to watch these families wait for

the last bus. and i'm sure that you understand why we have priorities that put those needs in front of your needs right now. but thank you for coming. >> how many students were on campus at the time of this attack? >> it was a full day and we have about 3,000 students but they're not all there at one time. it was in the morning. so that's usually when it's the most busy. so i don't know exactly how many students were there. but it was a busy campus. >> what kind of security do you have on campus? >> we have security and we also work closely with local law enforcement. we have security on campus, a security officer and a security team. we have a plan in place for campus violence and we went into lockdown immediately and people did exactly what they were supposed to do and pulled in people who were outside and sheltered them. so all of that worked. we do not have armed security.

>> have you been given information about the shooter? >> none. none. >> can you give us a sense of the age range of students at the college? >> no because we have not identified all the students. >> just generally. >> it's a community so the student population goes from 16 to 60. so it's a community college. it's the same student demographic that all of them have. >> can you confirm how many security officers there are, ma'am? >> on campus? we have -- it's an interesting question. we have a campus security officer. we have a security -- head of that program that scheduled them 24 hours a day. then we have another supervisor who is -- has licensing to assist with that, who supervises that person. they were all on campus. we also have retired law enforcement personnel on our staff who moved into positions of control as soon as possible. everybody that was off campus came to help us out. >> we understand that one of the perpetrates that used to work there, security, said today that

they're only allowed to carry mace on campus and not allowed to have concealed weapons. is that true? >> we're not going to get into that. >> are you aware of any threats to the students, staff? >> no. we would have followed up on that. >> i personally was on my way to a president's conference in grants pass and i heard about it because my cellphone started ringing and i pulled off the freeway and found out and turned around to come back. >> the families have been reuniting with the students off and on all afternoon and they know to call mercy hospital and they know that some students were evacuated to eugene. >> are you able to tell us in general what your policy is for concealed weapons on campus? >> we have a no gun on campus policy. >> what are the repercussions

for those who bring guns on campus? >> i can't get into that right now. >> can you talk about drills >> >> we just had one at in service last week. >> last week? >> uh-huh. not for students. staff is responsible for student safety. >> i feel awful. i feel awful. i mean, to witness the families waiting for students on the last bus and to see all of the hugs and weeping and trauma that's gone on, more people were hurt than just the ones that were shot. the ones that were shot, that's one level of trauma but there's psychological trauma. we have veterans with ptsd on our campus. they had a particularly bad day. i have staff who have had experiences that this brought back for them. so we've been very, very concerned and appreciative of

the mental health people in the community who have swarmed down to the fairgrounds to help us. i can't even express to you how many people have come to help us and just showed up. the city manager, the county commissioner. all of them just showed up and just started helping. it was a very tight knight -- it is a very tight knit community and the whole community rose to the occasion today. roseburg high school sent their buses to evacuate the students. everybody has been helpful. >> does the school have any knowledge of the shooter posting on social media beforehand? >> no. >> one more question and then we're going to come up later this afternoon. one other question, we'll talk that right now. >> any changes going to come -- any changes in mind about security at the school? >> no. no. this is an anomaly. it's a tragedy and it's an

anomaly and, no. we have a beautiful, warm, friendly, loving campus and we intend to keep it that way. >> thank you. thank you all. >> thank you. >> okay. we're looking at live pictures now of the white house. the president will be making remarks here in just a couple of minutes. so we will bring that to you live as well. you were just listening to rita caven, the president of umpqua community college who says right now as we speak they're still trying to reunite students with family members. if you can imagine being there for a moment and taking what she said that there's one more bus load of students on their way to meet with parents and they have grief counselors waiting for the parents that don't have students coming off that bus. so there are still parents waiting to find out whether or not their children survived. a couple of pieces of

interesting notes that came out of that as well, she said they were not aware of any threats prior to this. she also said there were retired law enforcement officials on staff that helped control the situation at some point. the president speaking here in just about one minute. the staff there did have a security drill just last week. and that ties into the information that the former president of the school said that they have had a couple of drills preparing for the possibility of something just like this. for those of you that may just be joining us. the facts as we know them right now, we're going with the number of 13 students that are dead. 20 injured. here is the president of the united states. >> there are more american families, moms, dads, children

whose lives have been changed forever. that means there's another community stunned with grief and communities across the country forced to leave their own anguish and -- relive their own anguish and parents across the country who are scared because they know it might have been their families or their children. i've been to roseburg, oregon. they're really good people there. i want to thank all the first responders whose bravery likely saved lives today. federal law enforcement has been on the scene in a supporting role and have offered to stay and help for as much and as long as roseburg needs. in the coming days we'll learn about the victims. young men and women who were studying and learning and working hard, their eyes set on the future. their dreams on what they could make of their lives.

and america will wrap everyone whose grieving with our prayers and our love. but as i said just a few months ago and i said a few months before that and i said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. it's not enough. it does not capture the heartache and grief and anger that we should feel and it does nothing to prevent this cashage from being inflicted in rnage from being inflicted in america.

we don't yet know why this individual did what he did. and it's fair to say that anybody who does this has a sickness in their minds. regardless of what they think their motivations may be. but we are not the only country on earth that has people with mental illnesses or want to do harm to other people. we are the only advanced country on earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months. earlier this year, i answered a question in an interview by saying the united states of america is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient commonsense gun safety laws even in the face of repeated mass killings.

and later that day, there was a mass shooting at a movie theater in lafayette, louisiana. that day. somehow this has become routine. the reporting is routine. my response here at this podium ends up being routine. the conversation in the aftermath of it, we've become numb to this. we talked about this after columbin columbine, newtown, aerror a, charleston. it cannot be this easy for someone who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun.

and what's routine is those who oppose any kind of commonsense gun legislation. right now i can imagine the press release being cranked out. we need more guns, they'll argue. fewer gun safety laws. does anybody really believe that? there are scores of responsible gun owners in this country. they know that's not true. we know because of polling that says the majority of americans understand we should be changing these laws including the majority of responsible, law abiding gun owners. there's a gun for roughly every man, woman, and child in america. so how can you, with a straight

face, make the argument that more guns will make us safer? we know that states with the most gun laws tend to have the fewest gun deaths. so the notion that gun laws don't work or just will make it harder for law abiding citizens and criminals will still get their guns. it's not borne out by the evidence. friends and allies of ours, great britain have laws that have gotten rid of mass shootings. countries like ours. so we know there are ways to prevent it. and of course what's also routine is that somebody

somewhere will comment and say obama politicized this issue. well, this is something we should politicize. it is relevant to our common life together. i would ask news organizations because i won't put these facts forward, have news organizations tally up the number of americans who have been killed through terrorist attacks over the last decade and the number of americans who have been killed by gun violence. and post those side by side on your news reports. this won't be information coming from me. it will be coming from you. we spent over a trillion dollars and passed countless laws and devote entire agencies to preventing terrorist attacks on our soil and rightfully so.

and, yet, we have a congress that explicitly blocks us from even collecting data on how we could potentially reduce gun deaths. how can that be? this is a political choice that we make. to allow this to happen every few months. we collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones because of our inaction. when americans are killed in mine disasters, we work to make mines safer. when americans are killed in floods and hurricanes, we make communities safer. when roads are unsafe, we fix

them. to reduce auto fatalities. we have seat belt laws because we know it saves lives. so the notion that gun violence is somehow different, that our freedom and our constitution prohibits any modest regulation of how we use a deadly weapon? when there are law abiding citizens who do under such regulations, doesn't make sense