experts to the table. >> thanks, rich. much more straight ahead in the "newsroom," and it all starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hello again, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield in the "cnn newsroom." chaos and confusion on the streets of a small college town after a gunman opens fire. it happened last night in isla vista, california, just west of santa barbara. police say the gunman drove slowly through several neighborhoods, shooting at people in nine different locations. six people were killed, and seven others wounded. the gunman was found dead in his car after a firefight with police. ken law is live for us in isla vista and evan perez in washington. let's begin with you, kyung, right in front of a very active crime scene. what is being learned today? >> reporter: well, we have learned this is the second crime scene. we were actually just a short time ago at a sorority house,

where witnesses there tell us there were two people who were killed outside that sorority house. we do not know what relation they have with the sorority house, if they just happened to be outside, but that's one scene. this is a second scene, and you can see that there it plenty of police tape. there are officers here. they are still trying to piece together exactly the chain of events. there was one person who was struck here by that black bmw, right outside this apartment complex. there was also someone who was shot right outside the 7-eleven on the corner. if you take a look here, you can see that some of the students who live inside this apartment building, they're still waking up. some of them excited to be on tv, but they are just trying to grapple with what's happened here. if you look below the window of an empty business, it's been shot out. this is being repeated across this sleepy little town.

there are nine of these scenes where officers have roped off the area. they are picking up bullet casing, trying to figure out the exact path of the bmw, but it appears to us, fredricka, that what he's done is zigzag his way up and down residential areas. it was 9:30 in the evening. a lot of students were preparing to leave their apartments or were already out in the street for a fun night out. it is memorial day weekend, and it is something that a lot of the students here say that they are simply shell shocked by. fredricka? >> and then, kyung, our investigators, are they saying anything more about things they are examining? like this written note that may have been from the gunman? or the video evidence? are they saying anything more about what they're learning from that? >> reporter: they are looking through a large amount of written material that's been posted on the web, as well as a number of video blogs and video posting s they're quite disturbing. they have not released the name

of the suspect yet but have told us they are looking at this and believe this was planned. this was precede meditated, and thatand -- premeditated and that's what's most disturbing, worried that this was one of their own. someone who they possibly knew, who they went to school with. >> hmm. very frightening. thanks, kyung lah. ken perez in washington, checking his sources on the east coast. from the east coast. reaching out to many of them on the west coast. so, evan, you know, what are they telling you about what they're learning, how they hope to go about getting more information about the motive and the suspect? >> reporter: right, fred. one of the things that federal law enforcement brings to the table here is the ability to look through some of this evidence. obviously, there's a lot of bullet casings, shell casings to go through. the atf is on the scene, we're told, by the atf, they sent some resources there. they have a very active scene right there with some ballistic

testings that they can do. they can check to see where the gunman might have obtained the handgun that he used, and when he obtained this. again, that goes to -- to his preparation and whether or not -- you know, how long he's been thinking about doing this. there's also, obviously, some assistance they can render, the federal law enforcement authorities can render, as far as examining some of this video stuff. some of the written stuff that he ended up leaving behind. he does appear to have left behind a trove of evidence that tries to maybe explain why he did this. and so that's going to take the next few days, as authorities try to assist the santa barbara police that are trying to get to the bottom of this, fred. >> and the reason why federal investigators are involved is because it's an investigation that -- you know, the smaller santa barbara police, or sheriff's department wouldn't be able to handle? >> well, i think they probably have a good police department.

it's not a very small town necessarily, but it's probably something they don't deal with very often and sad to say, federal law enforcement has to deal with this all over the country repeatedly. we've had way too many of these things happen in the last few months. so sad to say they have a lot more experience in doing this stuff. we know from the sheriff's office that they've brought in the california department of justice crime lab to help them do, go through some of this evidence. so that's also in play as well. but, you know, the federal law enforcement has a lot more experience dealing with these scenes, and so they can lend some assistance where needed, fred. >> all right. evan perez, thank you so much. and kyung lah, appreciate it. we're hearing from several eyewitnesses, most still in shock and disbelief that this could even happen in their small college town. >> it's crazy. that's the last thing i would expect to happen. especially in iv. santa barbara and iv is like one of the safest cities, and nice

cities, too, you know? all of a sudden you just hear about shooting and this -- something like -- i still do not believe this happened. >> all of a sudden we hear, like, five really loud gunshots, and originally i thought it was fireworks or something, because it was so loud and we're kind of used to these loud noises around here. then all of a sudden a bunch of people from outside just started running into the store, and we're all, like, just take cover. take cover. everyone just comes pouring in. >> loud things happen all the time. then when people started running in, getting down, huddles in corner, that's when i was like, this is real. >> very real. our coverage continues, and when we come back we'll hear from the sheriff himself what he said happened during that deadly ten-minute shooting spree. if you wear a denture,

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and-and -- and, like, i just thought it was like an air soft gun or something. so i was like -- i was like, hey, what up? then i turned around and i started walking the other way, and -- he shot, and i -- i just felt the wind like past right by my face. >> that young lady is describes her close brush with death, saying she -- is one of the people, the gunman actually shot at last night in isla vista, california. i want to update you now on this breaking news out of southern california. police say a gunman drove through that college town near uc santa barbara shooting and killing six people. seven other injured including several people hit by the gunman as he drove through the crowd, an area, right in that downtown area. johnen tearpalmenterry is an af dwlat was on the scene and gave

us an update just a bit ago. >> it doesn't appear that we know of that he was trying to drive into people. i haven't heard any eyewitness say he was weaving around and doing that. you have that shot of the windshield of the car you've been showing our audience that is smashed in as it -- in the location where it wrecked, at the final stop where the suspect, alleged gunman, was taken out of the car and had that head injury, and that windshield is smashed in, and witnesses and experts from the investigation team have told me personally that that kind of impact, smashes the windshield like that, is definitely from someone going up and over and into, and pointed out saying that's the bicyclist that hit the windshield. we believe on that same street, del playa drive, one stop from the ocean's edge on illa vista, always crowded on a friday

night. both by bikes. heavily used bike community. and on foot. anybody driving down that street is likely to hit somebody, if they're driving either, speeding, running from the cops or driving erratically. it's a tragedy and that also speaks to that they were calling on the police and fire scanners aggressive lir for as many ambulances as they could and trying to deploy them and make sure they could sort them out, and that particular victim may not have been one of the first ones that was assisted by an ambulance service, but was assisted by sheriff deputies on the radio calling, we need one here. we need an ambulance for this bicyclist with a traumatic head injury right now. that was in addition to the responses but the gunshots going on at the same time. >> next, we'll hear from the sheriff. what he said happened during that deadly ten-minute shooting spree near uc santa barbara.

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the timeline, as we've been able to put it together thus far is as follows -- at 9:27 p.m., the sheriff's dispatch center received calls of multiple gunshots being fired in the isla vista area. we had deputies in the area on foot who also heard a number of shots being fired. the deputies began responding in the direction of the gunshots, and immediately found several victims who were suffering from gunshot wounds. as they were performing first aid on those victims, they were also receiving suspect information and a vehicle description. as this was occurring, additional shots were fired, and calls were received by the sheriff's dispatch from several areas in isla vista. during this initial stage, both the suspect and suspect vehicle descriptions were broadcast to those law enforcement personnel

who were in the area. at 9:33 p.m., six minutes after the initial call was received, the suspect engaged a group of responding deputies with gunfire. the deputies returned fire and the suspect fled in his vehicle. seconds later, the suspect was again spotted by another deputy. another exchange of gun fooifir occurred at that time. the suspect fled down del playa, and eventually crashed into a parked vehicle. the deputies approached the crashed vehicle and determined that the suspect within that vehicle was dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head, a handgun was recovered from within that vehicle. although we have preliminarily

identified the suspect, we are not releasing the suspect's name until a positive identification can be made. currently the sheriff's office is not looking for any additional suspects. we believe this suspect acted alone. this is still a very active investigation, and as you can imagine, a very chaotic series of crime scenes. it is still in the very early phases of the investigation. we've identified nine separate crime scenes within the area, and multiple victims who were either shot or injured as a result of -- apparently as a result of the suspect's actions. seven victims are in area hospitals being treated for gunshot wounds or for traumatic injuries. at least one of those victims has undergone surgery for life-threatening injuries.

we currently have seven confirmed dead. that includes the suspect and six victims. we are in the process of identifying those victims and notifying their next of kin. we have obtained and we are currently analyzing both written and videotaped evidence that suggests that this atrocity was a premeditated mass murder. the sheriff's office is currently interviewing multiple witnesses to these crimes, and we are asking for the public's assistance. if there's anyone who has not yet been spoken to by law enforcement authorities, we would ask if you have information about this crime, or series of crimes, if you would contact the santa barbara county sheriff's office tip line at

805-681-4171. and i would like to acknowledge and thank those allied agencies who are currently assisting us in this investigation in addition to patrol and investigative personnel from the santa barbara county sheriff's office, we are being assisted by the uc santa barbara police department, by the california highway patrol, by the santa barbara police department, by the district attorney investigators, by the california state parks law enforcement personnel and by criminalists from the department of justice crime lab. i know that this information that i'm giving you at this point is somewhat preliminary. we are going to work diligently to get you more information in detail, including the identity of the suspect and the victims.

the next press conference is going to be scheduled for 4:00 p.m. today at a location to be determined. we will notify you through our regular processes of where that press conference will be held. two things that i just want to say in closing. the first is -- i want to commend the deputy sheriffs who engaged very resolutely this suspect very shortly after we were notified of this incident. there's no question in my mind at this point that their resolute actions and valor in doing so very well may have prevented further loss of life and injury. i also want to let the families of the victims know that our hearts go out to them at this tragic time, and we will be doing all that we can in the -- in the near future to try to

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people in a california college town are trying to come to grips with a nightmare that unfolded on their streets last night. investigators in isla vista, the home of uc santa barbara, say a gunman opened fire from a slow-moving car, shooting at people on the sidewalk. we have crews covering every angle of this story. kyung lah is live in illa vista and also from washington. kyung what is the latest? >> reporter: they're still trying to piece together all of the evidence. a large number of bullets and many, many locations. we are at the second location. you can see that the tape is up.

officers still trying to figure out the exact events of what has been a devastating rampage. the eve of the memorial day holiday weekend turns deadly. this, after multiple drive-by shootings in the small college town of isla vista, minutes from the uc santa barbara campus. >> he shot and i felt the wind pass right by my face. so i started running in the opposite way and then i heard it again, like, two times. so i was just sprinting. >> reporter: in all, authorities say seven people were killed, including the gunman. seven others injured. those hurt sent to a local hospital for gunshot or traumatic injuries. >> we've identified nine separate crime scenes within the area, and multiple victims. >> reporter: 19-year-old summer young says she was almost run over by the black bmw, and witnessed the shooting. >> saw the car run down here and he was just firing off shots and then we just ran inside the nearest restaurant and just waited until some stuff calmed

do down. it was really hectic. >> reporter: fraught and lost authorities continues to dig on the gunman's past, who was found dead of an apparent gunshot wound. they're trying to see where the suspect obtained the gun. analyzing radio and video evidence that suggests this was a premeditated mass murder. >> the problem with an incident like this is, it's obviously the work of a madman, and you are, you know, it's just unfortunate that these kinds of circumstances occur, but there are very, very limited ways in which they can be prevented. >> reporter: shock and disbelief in this small college town, with many questions. including the big one -- why? back here live, what you're looking at is one window of this commercial building that appears to have its window shot out.

some of the students who have been mingling around here told us that they did hear the gunfire, that they saw at least one person run over at this location. there are a number of places like this we've walked through. the students all tell us the same things as well. that they saw bullets. they saw people almost getting run over. there was a bicyclist at the end of this where the black bmw ended. the bicyclist appears to have been hit by that bmw. also a statement from santa barbara city college. they're extending their sadness but not very specific on whether or not the person, the suspect involved here, was a student or not. fredricka? >> all right. kyung lah, thank you so much. appreciate that. all right, let's check in with evan perez now. evan, what are you hearing from your contacts about this investigation? >> reporter: well, fred, the federal law enforcement has been brought in the to help the santa barbara sheriff's office do this

investigation, and what they bring to the table is, simply the ability to help trace the gun, the firearm that was used here, and recovered at the scene. tear also -- if the santa barbara sheriff office needs it, they can provide some evidence analysis help. the fbi offered its assistance. it's not clear whether the sheriff office needs it. they mentioned at their press conference at 2:00 a.m. they were looking to, for the help of the california justice department crime lab to help do some of the analysis here. now, in the next few days they're going to look not only at the shell casings, kyung mentioned, also there were several crime screens. nine, i think the sheriff said. they'll look at those in the next couple of days and some of the video evidence, some of the writings of this person who is believed to have carried out she's shootings and trying to see whether this explains perhaps his va