>> if you need information, call the hospital. i'm sure they're doing the best they can to provide all the information for that school district. our hearts and prayers literally sd do go out and i literdo mean th. >> reporter: are any more patients on the way? >> i don't know of any, but that could change. >> reporter: chest injury, is that correct? >> chest area i would describe it. >> reporter: thank you so much. >> thank you. >> that's the latest update from utmb where they have three patients in their care, one in critical care, a female shot in the leg. that's the latest update they have, a male student 18 years old. we're going to continue

following the shooting at santa fe high school in santa fe, texas. i'm dana bash in washington picking up the breaking news right now. we are following a high school shooting in texas. inside the school, we now know that several people are dead. at least eight have died. this is santa fe, texas we're talking about just outside of houston. the harris county sheriff just minutes ago said the majority of those killed were students. as for the person or people who did this, police say one person is in custody, another person is detained and that the situation at the school is now contained. here in washington, president trump said he is monitoring it from the white house and had these remarks a few minutes ago. >> unfortunately, i have to begin by expressing our sadness and heartbreak over the deadly

shooting at santa fe high school in texas that just took place moments ago. we're close to monitoring the situation and federal authorities are coordinating with local officials. this has been going on too long in our country. too many years, too many decades now. we grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. to the students, families, teachers and personnel at santa fe high, we're with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever. my administration is determined to do everything in our power to protect our students, secure our schools and to keep weapons out of the hands of those who pose a threat to themselves and to

others. everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe. may god heal the injured and may god comfort the wounded and may god be with the victims and with the victims' families. very sad day. very, very sad. >> that's president trump speaking moments ago at the white house. i want to go straight to the scene. cnn's rosa flores is there in santa fe, texas. rosa, can you give us an update on what you are seeing and hearing, the latest? >> reporter: you know, dana, a lot of very intense moments here in santa fe, texas. according to the harris county sheriff, between eight and ten people are dead, most of them students. others are injured and have been transported to the hospital. now, i want to take you to the scene here, so take a look, this

is a very active scene. according to the sheriff, he has his bomb squad here. they are scouring through the scene to make sure there are no other individuals who are in harm's way. this is a multiple law enforcement agency response from local, state and federal partners here. here's the timeline. according to the sheriff, shots rang out at about 8:00 a.m. this morning. according to witnesses that cnn has spoken to, these are students who were in their first class of the day. they said that they heard a fire alarm go off. when all the students went out, that's when the shots rang out. now, according to the sheriff, there is an individual in custody and another one has been detained for questioning. the names of these individuals have not been released, but the sheriff does say that these two individuals were students. that's how they were able to gain access to this school. when it comes to injuries, according to the sheriff, one police officer was injured. now, we've heard from witnesses

that there are other injuries and that at least one girl was shot in the leg. now, again, this is a very active scene. the sheriff gave us all this information but warned that a lot of this is very preliminary because a lot of information is coming in, this investigation is ongoing, we have a lot of questions still lingering. motive, what did the school do? did the school have active shooter training? around the country, states, congressmen, they're having these conversations, dana, about how to prepare schools, students, teachers in the case of active shooter situations. we're going to be asking all of those questions here to see what kind of training these students and teachers obtain in ted in t months and yeears leading up to this shooting. it's sad news. people here in santa fe were supposed to be celebrating.

there was a cap and gown ceremony that was supposed to be taking place tomorrow, and instead, dana, these families will be planning for funerals. according to the sheriff, between eight and ten individuals are dead, and most of them students. >> absolutely heartbreaking and tragic, rosa. i was just told in my ear as you were giving me the information you have that there are 12 patients now hospitalized in the santa fe area. i'm not going to ask you about the specifics of them because i'm getting this information as you are, but broadly, you're there on the scene. is the sense there a feeling that this is now over? or because of the fact that you're pointing out what's happening behind you, is there a fear that it actually is still potentially active or is it an abundance of caution that they are going around with the bomb squad and things of that nature? >> reporter: no, according to the sheriff, this is a contained

scene. now, we've seen this in other active shootings, unfortunately, around the country, that they usually have a bomb squad sweep the entire school. a lot of the times it's a precautionary measure. here we specifically asked the sheriff that question, the type of arms, if there were pipe bombs involved. the sheriff did not confirm that was the case. but a lot of times, dana, as you and i know from covering these shootings in all parts of the country, that is process and procedure. they want to make sure the school buildings are secure, that they're safe. we're still asking a lot of questions. i asked the sheriff where did this shooting specifically happen? it was in a specific building? was it outside? was it inside? was it in a specific area? a lot of those questions are still unanswered because they're gathering a lot of information.

you can see a lot of vehicles are behind me, kept 1,000 feet from where the school is. the other things that are happening is parents are being reunified with their students. we learned this from parkland. there are a lot of tense, emotional things happening as students are experiencing the trauma of an active shooter situation and parents are right there with them with their text messages. in parkland we learned that a lot of them left their text messages behind, their cell phones, as they were ringing, so there is a lot of tense moments and a lot of, for sure, healing for this community to come. >> no question, rosa. thank you for that report. we'll get back to you soon. i want to go now to the phone. grace johnson is with us. she is a student at santa fe high school. grace, you were there this morning. tell me what happened. >> yes, ma'am. i was late coming in to school,

and i probably got there about five minutes before it began. i was in the band hall with my peers, and we weren't doing anything and the fire alarm began to go off. so everybody started going outside. and we have a lot of fire drills, so sometimes they're not that urgent when they go off, so we just kind of took our time going outside. at that point when we got outside, there is a hallway of glass by the art room, and from outside they started breaking and we heard gunshots. so half of our kids ran back inside, and the other half ran towards the area.

our band teacher rushed us up towards the attic where there is an air-conditioned room and a 200-pound sealed door which they closed and we sat up there. >> absolutely terrifying. i am so sorry that you had to go through this this morning. several questions. first, did you actually see the gunman? >> no, i did not. but the shots were being fired in the hallway outside of our band hall. so we could hear the guns, we could hear the yelling and screaming and we could hear the bullets. >> oh, my goodness. and you said that there was a fire alarm pulled. is that protocol? i'm guessing that your school, like many others, most across the country, has had drills. is that what is supposed to

happen with an active shooter? >> that has never happened before. i don't know if it was to get everybody into the hallway, or if it was to alert, but because the shooting didn't start happening until after people were outside or in the hallways. >> just to clarify, your school has done drills before, correct? >> yes, ma'am. >> and what's the protocol there? >> normally the police department comes onto the intercom or someone from the office will come on and there is a code word that they say. >> so it sounds like -- i mean, obviously, we have to get more information. what you think might have happened was that the fire alarm was pulled in order to get the kids out of the classroom and

potentially in the line of fire? >> that is an assumption that i would make, but i can't confirm that, no. >> so you are in a band. you were saying you were in the band. and your band director really helped. talk about how that went down. >> yes, ma'am. so a few months ago, we had a school shooting scare where there were threats made and then firecrackers were lit off to simulate gunshots. and it was not an actual shooting, but because of it and parkland, we began to do school shooting drills. and my band director is ex-military, so he's very, very calm, cool, collected, here's where we're going to go, this is how we're going to sit, nothing bad is going to happen because, you know, we have that cement room above our band hall, and it

has a steel door, and he stayed up there, kept us very, very calm. he gave us -- he had a puzzle for them to do to keep them -- the kids occupied while they just kind of listened to see what was going on. >> and grace, you're the band chaplain? >> yes, ma'am. >> so i understand that you led your friends and classmates in a prayer as you were -- >> yes, ma'am. >> tell me about that scene. >> we were hearing gunshots and many kids were having panic attac attacks. i'm a senior and about to graduate. we sat in a circle and we prayed for all of our peers that they were going to be all right, and

we prayed for who was doing this, that something changes in them, that even though they're doing something wrong, we pray for them. and i think ultimately it just made everybody feel better. >> grace, i have to say you're 18 years old, you are in the midst of something that no person, never mind a young person like you should go through, and the fact that you had the presence of mind to lead your classmates in a prayer and try to calm them down is really remarkable. and i'm so sorry you had to deal with this. i thank you for recounting everything for us, and i wish you and everybody there well. thank you so much. >> of course. >> and now i want to go to some other witnesses there in santa fe, texas recounting what they saw and heard.

>> i heard three shots and then four more shots. >> all the teachers were telling us to run, run, go. >> i heard people saying there was gunshots and people were dead and i was like shaking, my anxiety was bad. >> pray. that's what we need right now, guys. just pray for our kids. >> because whoever did this is really selfish and cold-hearted. these are innocent people at our school. >> if you would have heard what i heard this morning, the fear in my loved one's voice because of my son being in that classroom. >> really scary. really, really scary. >> it was very scary. my brother was in the classroom when it happened. we're still trying to get contact with him. >> nobody should have to go through this, nobody should feel that pain. it hurts my heart to see this. >> it hurts everybody's heart. i want to report that the texas governor, greg abbott, is on his way to the scene and should be there this afternoon. meanwhile i want to bring in our

crime and justice reporter shimon prokupecz, also law enforcement analyst and former fbi director tom fuentes. shimon, tell us what you're learning from your sources, and explain what it means when law enforcement officials say the situation is contained. >> i think the whole point now is to really start building out the crime scene and laying sort of the groundwork for what happened here, why did this happen. there is some concern, as we've heard from the sheriff, that there may be some suspicious devices, packages there that the bomb squad is going through. but officials are a little cautious in saying whether or not they are actually explosive devices or what they are. we know about an hour ago the bomb squad was there going through the scene, and that law enforcement was still trying to clear the school. that is, go through the entire school, make sure there are no other people who have been injured, no other people who have been killed, and also generally just to secure the scene. we've heard a lot that the scene is contained. essentially what that really

means is that it's safe for law enforcement. there is no other active shooters. but still there is this concern of suspicious packages, suspicious, perhaps, devices that may be there. we've also heard a lot about the fire alarm. the fire alarm, we hear time and time again in these kinds of shootings, and some witnesses are saying the fire alarm was pulled, they think, before the shooting -- >> that's what grace johnson who just talked to me said. >> there is a lot of confusion in these situations because as the fire alarm is going off, people are hearing gunshots. another witness said they heard the fire alarm start to go off after the shooting started. someone pulled it as a way to get students -- these students and teachers out of the school. so there is always, in these situations, as we know, conflicting information. then the other thing is always there is this assumption that there could be more than one shooter because two people are detained. again, the sheriff says they believe there's been one shooter. they have detained a second

person and they are questioning that person. these situations are quite common. we see this in a lot of these kinds of shootings. unfortunately a lot of questions still remain because we have no idea what happened here. the other thing is we really don't know how did this student -- if he's a student, he got inside the school. some of the students said it was a shotgun. there was a whole host of questions. we keep hearing from students that there are drills. we do these drills, we do these drills. but how do you protect students from getting killed at their own school? there's no easy answer no matter how many drills and no matter how much you prepare for these situations. >> as i go to you, tom, i just got a text from senator ted cruz who says he is also headed to the scene. what are your biggest questions, tom fuentes, as you watch what's going down there with your law enforcement brethren? >> first off, who was the

shooter? was he known to law enforcement? was he known to officials? was he known to be dangerous to fellow students? we've seen this so often in the past where we have a very mentally disturbed individual who everybody that knows him knows he's dangerous but yet no real action is taken. we can't lock him up, we can't do what needs to be done. we don't know that yet but i would like to know if that's the situation. secondly, i would like to know what weapon is used. the sheriff didn't describe that they've obtained the gun and they've sent for a search on the background of that weapon. i'm curious about that. where is the gun? who has it? what's being done with it? have they located the residence of the shooter, done a search there examining laptops, any typed of pamphlets, brochures, any meeting at that residence which might shed light on the whole situation.

>> tom, i hate to interrupt. i want to let you know we're getting new information as you're speaking that possible explosive devices have been located at the school and off campus. law enforcement is in the process of rendering them safe. school has been evacuated, obviously, and what the santa fe isd is saying is call 911 if you see any suspicious item. is that what you're referring to, shimon? >> that's exactly right. we were told by law enforcement lfs so there was some concern, and kind of common practice in these kinds of situations where law enforcement goes through. the shooter may have taken a car there, so they go through that. there may be a bag he left behind at the school that they're going through. they may have seen something suspicious there. that seems to be what they're indicating here. they have some concern that there may be some explosive devices here, that there are ieds, is how some folks

described it to us. this is what law enforcement says. while it is contained they are still going through the process of going through that entire school to really make sure it's safe. >> just to use layman's terms, tom fuentes, it could be booby-trapped. >> this is a situation that comes up. why do the searches take so long? why does it take so long to be able to clear that building completely? that's because law enforcement has to be very cautious, very meticulous with every door they open, desk drawer they open, student lockers they open with master keys. on the other hand, if they have wounded students hiding, they can't take forever to get to them because they might bleed to death while they're in a wounded situation. so this is an extreme, difficult process for law enforcement clearing the building of the rescue of possible wounded versus coming across explosive devices if they go too quickly.

>> absolutely. everybody, stay with us. we have to take a quick break. a lot more on our breaking news. this is the 22nd school shooting in 2018. the 22nd shooting in a year that is not even halfway done. a lot more when we get back. how do you win at business? stay at laquinta. where we're changing with contemporary make-overs. then, use the ultimate power handshake, the upper hander with a double palm grab. who has the upper hand now? start winning today. book now at lq.com.

welcome back. we're going to get right back to our breaking news. at least eight people, possibly more, are dead at a high school in texas. that's after at least one person started shooting this morning just as classes were getting started. the sheriff in santa fe, texas says the majority of those killed are students. we don't clearly have the

numbers about how many people were hurt, but at least 12, we understand, and we don't know their conditions. but as far as who did it, police say they have one person in custody, a young man they believe is a student at santa fe high school. one other person also believed to be a student is detained. let's get right to cnn's rosa flores who is at the high school on the scene. rosa, what more can you tell us about those who are killed and wounded? >> reporter: you know, dana, since we last talked, we do have some new information. this coming from santa fe isd. the district here saying that there are possible explosives that were found on and off campus, and that law enforcement is processing those scenes at the moment. it's unclear how many scenes, but we do know from our last conversation, dana, that the sheriff pointed out that his bomb squad is at the scene here that you see behind me. let me get out of the way so you can take a look. this is a very active scene, but they do say that it is

contained. here's the timeline. according to the sheriff, shots rang out at about 8:00 a.m. according to witnesses, they were in their first period class when they heard a fire alarm go off. the students went outside of those classrooms, and that's when these students, these eyewitnesss that te eyewitnesses, they tell cnn that's when they heard the shots being fired. according to those witnesses, there were multiple people injured, and at least one girl whof who was shot in the leg. >> rosa, i'm sorry, we have to interrupt you and get to a press conference with local officials right there in santa fe. >> we are grieving the loss of members of our santa fe isd family. we have received an outpouring of support from across the state and we appreciate your continued prayers for our students, our staff and our community. i'm going to turn it over to our chief of police walter ron to share with you some details we

have at this time. thank you. >> as you're aware, a horrific event occurred today at santa fe high school. at this time the campus has been cleared of all students and staff members, and the students and staff have been relocated to a unification site and are in the process of being reunited with their families. we're in the operational stages right now of an investigation. we know there's been at least six transported, including one santa fe isd police officer that has been shot. we have one suspect in custody and one person of interest detained. anyone with information regarding this is asked to call the santa fe isd command center at 409-927-3310. we can confirm multiple fatalities, believed to be fewer than 10 at this time. we will not release any other

information until we have a confirmed number. injured students and staff have been transported to area hospitals. any parents and family members can go to the alamo gym which is located at 13306 state highway 6 for any additional information regarding their student. our primary focus at this point in the investigation has been to secure the schools and evacuate all the students to the evacuation relocation facility. there are multiple agencies on-site to support our district and our community such as the fbi, atf, texas department of public safety and other area law enforcement agencies and first responders.

there have been explosive items found in the high school and outside the high school. because of this, everyone should be on the lookout for suspicious items and anything that looks out of place. do not touch any tuchitems thatk out of place and immediately call 911 so the appropriate authorities can respond. our thoughts and prayers go out to our students, staff and our community. please pray for sfisd. >> my thoughts and prayers go out to the people involved in this this morning. i just want to warn our community members to keep a vigilant watch around the areas in your neighborhoods for any suspicious items you may see and please call 911. there have been confirmed reports of explosives found both

on the campus and off the campus, so that's our main concern is to keep the community safe. so is please make the call if you see something suspicious and someone will respond to assist. that's all i have. god bless. >> i'm mark henry. i'm the county judge, galveston county, texas. i'm the chief elected official for galveston county. galveston county is providing all the assistance we can to the santa fe isd police agencies and the city of santa fe. i don't really have much else to add. i do want to emphasize this was a tragic loss of life this morning. the first call came in at 7:32. i received my first phone call about 7:45. it has been a difficult scene, difficult time for everyone involved. so again, i ask that you pray for the people who suffered some injury and loss today, and i want to emphasize again, i was just informed recently they did find -- suspect material off

campus. so it's not isolated to height scho -- to the high school campus. anything you see, please do not touch it. please call 911. we have the retiring mayor and incoming mayor justin tabor. >> i'm mayor jeff tamborelo. i want to thank the law enforcement and other emergency responders that came so quickly to the aid of santa fe isd and our community. i'm just asking everyone out there to pray and put their thoughts and prayers into all the people affected and for our community to heal through this situation. thank you. >> i'm mayor jeffrey tabor. please pray for santa fe. if you see anything suspicious, call 911. our community is at a loss right now. >> i don't know that we can

answer any questions at this point, so we're going to go ahead and wrap up. we do expect the governor to be landing at the scene any minute now, so i'm going to head back over to the scene. i'm sure we'll have another press conference in a couple hours. >> thank you guys. thank you. >> you were just listening to a press conference with multiple agencies, local officials there. tom fuentes, i want to ask you about what we just learned there, but first i want to report that president trump spoke to texas governor abbott. that's according to the deputy press secretary who said he offered his condolences to those affected by the shooting there. tom fuentes, the news out of that press conference was explosive devices found in the high school and in adjacent areas, and also they suspect material off campus. so this speaks to what you were referring to earlier in the hour. >> right, dana. i mean, the off-campus part

could be at the residence or if the student had been using some type of hotel room or staying at a friend's home or had a vehicle and they found some material in that vehicle, you know, it would indicate that he did have materials to possibly make explosive devices somewhere else in another location, made some devices, placed them near the school and in the school and now they have to contend with that. again, it does slow down the searches because they have to be all the more meticulous with every door and drawer and sewer cap or anything else they lift up because it could be booby-trapped. >> booby trap is the word that keeps coming into my mind, shimon, and the idea that actual explosive devices were found in there. maybe it seems obvious that somebody who wants to come into his own school, apparently, and shoot his classmates want maximum damage, but this takes it to a level that we haven't

seen a lot of. >> absolutely, it just escalates it because now you have a larger public safety concern. all these officials who appeared in this press conference are all saying if you see something suspicious, call 911. there is obviously concern that there may be other bombs out there, so to speak, other explosive devices they don't know about, and obviously law enforcement there is extremely concerned that this is quite -- could be the case, that there may be other explosive devices. also i think what this tells us is that there was some planning here on the part of the shooter, right? the fact that if he did go out there and plant these devices in different places, that would indicate that there was some planning that went into this to make these devices. there has to be a place he made them. perhaps it was his home. so all of that are indications

that there could be someone speaking to law enforcement. we don't know exactly, but it is an added value when you have someone alive and able to speak to law enforcement. >> there are a dozen injured, but as of now, fewer than 10 fatalities. still a lot. and especially on the heels of, as we said earlier, this is the 22nd school shooting of the year. i want to read a statement that was just released from the parkland kids group. it says, though this was the 22nd school shooting this year, we urge those reading this not to sweep it under the rug and forget. this is not the price of our freedom. santa fe, we are with you and we will do whatever we can to support you as the days go on. i can also say that danielle diaz, our producer up on capitol hill, saw the congressman from

parkland who represents parkland, ted deutsche, a democrat, walk off the house floor a moment ago and give a hug to republican randy weber who represents santa fe, texas. we ask the representatives in washington that it's time for action. tom fuentes, as we kind of again digest what we heard from local officials there, as somebody who has been in this kind of situation, unfortunately, you're going in and trying to make sure that you can get as much information as you can, what else is law enforcement doing right now? >> well, i think first of all, again, going back to verifying the identity of the shooter in particular and then trying to examine every possible trace of information about him, whether it's digital media, social media, searching the residents if they're locating him,

searching the vehicle if they've located it, and now very carefully if they know that explosives are involved. if he's put postings out, if he's made phone calls, sent e-mails to friends, neighbors, colleagues, former students, put this information out that he had this intention or some grievance, major grievance against society or against the school, or against fellow students or everybody in general. i think that's a big part of this now is to try to find out who has this person been in contact with, what messages were exchanged and what information may come from that that will further the investigation or maybe identify others who have a similar mindset. he could be in communication with other students at other schools saying, you know what, i want to do that at my school, too. this may lead to a wider investigation that's very critical. >> no question. and shimon, as you've been pointing out, we've been

pointing out witness reports tend to change, understandably. but one of the early witnesses reported that the gunman walked into an art class and began firing what looked like a shotgun, which is a different kind of gun that we've heard about in other school shootings which have the ability to shoot many, many more bullets at one time without having to reload. again, we don't know exactly what it's going to be at the end of the day, but what does that tell you, at least in the short term? >> it doesn't really give us any indication more than what we already know. i think the fact this started in the beginning of the day. first period is what one witness said, that they were in art class and the gunman walked in and started firing. we don't know obviously how this person would have gotten their hands on a shotgun, but that may be something that's relatively easy in texas, right, getting your hands on a shotgun. so that will be interesting.

i think we'll learn that down the line. i think the biggest concern, at least for me right now, is that there may be these explosive devices that have been laid out across the community, across this area, and it seems, at least, for law enforcement that's a big concern as well. you'll have to deal with the tragedy of this situation. there appears to be a safety here, a risk for the community that they are still trying to address which certainly seems to be the priority, at least right now for law enforcement, while they have the school somewhat contained, they don't think there are any other suspects out there, they don't think there are any other shooters, but the big thing is getting control of these explosive devices. >> and obviously on a very human level, here we are in mid-may at a school where you have a whole senior class preparing to graduate. apparently exams were supposed to start next wednesday, tomorrow.

that was supposed to be a baccalaureate, and now, unfortunately, as we've seen too many times, you have a community terrorized and preparing to bury young people who they were celebrating -- supposed to start celebrating moving on to a new part of life. we're going to have a lot more as we gather details on what exactly is currently happening on the ground with those explosive devices that local law enforcement told us they are looking at. we're going to take a quick break. break. stay with us.

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[ inaudible question ] >> yes, the younger patient is a male. >> inaudible question ]. >> yes, it came from that area. >> do you have any idea of the type of gun? >> i don't have that information. i can tell you that the male patient that's in the operating room had a gunshot wound to the arm. the male patient that's under 18 had a gunshot wound to the leg. and the female patient who is in the operating room had a gunshot wound to the leg also. [ inaudible question ] >> yes. no. [ inaudible question ] >> it was close to his chest. upper arm, yes. >> is he still in the operating

room? >> yes. >> in surgery? >> yes. [ inaudible question ] >> we have no idea how long his surgery will be. >> when you say someone is critical from a gunshot wound to the arm, what does that mean? >> he did suffer significant blood loss and that's why he's in critical condition. >> are the other two patients scheduled for surgery? >> the female, who is middle aged, is in the operating room now. and the 16-year-old, we don't anticipate he will need to go to the operating room. >> is the 16-year-old awake, talking? >> i haven't seen him, so i don't know. >> what about the woman? >> she's been taken to the or. >> if the 16-year-old is not in surgery, can we assume it was more of a graze? >> i don't have details about his exact injury other than it's a wound to the leg.

>> do you know the age of the adults? >> they're middle-aged adults. i don't have the specific ages. i think probably 50s. >> all three patients were from sach santa fe high school, right? >> the first one went to league city by her husband, and then transferred here by ambulance to our trauma center. the helicopter brought the second patient from the scene and the third patient arrived by ambulance from the scene. [ inaudible question ] >> we have not heard that we will be receiving more patients. tragically. [ inaudible question ] >> our staff are busy taking care of these patients and are standing by ready for other patients to come in. that's what's going on in there right now. i think there are a lot of personal feelings that people are having, and as the father of

a 16-year-old at friendswood high school, this hurts. [ inaudible question ] >> can you tell us what's going through your mind? i think everyone is feeling what you're feeling right now. >> it's a horrible tragedy. our hearts go out to the folks in santa fe and the high school students and their teachers and their administration, and we're doing the best we can to be a community partner to take care of them. we're going to continue to do that, and that's what we're here for, and that makes me feel better about being able to do that. >> when you say that you were waiting for more information, does that mean maybe there were more survivors? >> we haven't heard. we were understanding that there would be additional patients. so we made ourselves ready. >> have any of the relatives showed up already here? >> there have been some relatives who have shown up. some who don't have students

here or patient hes here, but t don't know where to go. that information about the family reunification center at the alamo gym in santa fe is very important for parents to understand that that's probably the best location to go to locate a child. [ inaudible question ] >> no, we haven't. we've gotten support -- or offers of support from colleagues like md anderson have called and said, if you need us, we can come help you, but we haven't talked to hospitals who have received other patients. >> do you do crisis drills here? >> we do drills probably quarterly at utmb to keep our level 1 trauma center status intact. it's sort of what we practice for these sorts of situations. that's why we're good at it, that's why we're ready at all times. [ inaudible question

>> level i means that blood products are always available, everyone is always available to take patients. there is less degree of resources available at the lesser ranked ers. >> are you the closest level 1 trauma center to this high school? yes. there are three, memorial herman, ben taub and imtb. [ inaudible question ] >> md anderson is bringing their mobile unit to be in front of our hospital. they'll be there at 11:30. they'll set up and take blood donations today, and if we need them to do it tomorrow, they'll be here tomorrow.

>> i think what dr. marshall said, we have one patient who is critical and actively undergoing surgery. the other two are stable and in fair condition. >> are those bullet wounds, shotgun wounds? we're hearing different things about the gun used. do you know anything about it? >> i'm not knowledgeable of that at this time. [ inaudible question ] >> it's difficult for me to give an estimate. [ inaudible question ] >> are you feeling good about what's happening in that surgery room right now with the student patient? i know that's hard to say, but do you have any information? >> so he is critically ill and he is stable. critically ill but stable in the or. [ inaudible question ] >> i'm not aware of the actual

number of surgeons in there. >> do you know if any of law enforcement has been able to interview or get any information from the patients? >> i'm not aware of that information. >> there were some ancillary explosive devices. [ inaudible question [. >> as dr. marshall suggested, we are a level 1 trauma center. we have accurate number of staff and resources available to take care of those patients if the need arises. >> and none of you guys have met with the patients? >> no. >> do you plan on doing that? >> i hope to see the patients, but that might not be today. >> so can you confirm that the

patient that's in critical condition is the resource officer that was shot at santa fe? >> that's our understanding. [ inaudible question ] >> i don't know his technical status. >> but he was one of the officers on duty at the high school? >> that's my understanding. [ inaudible question ] >> we can ask mr. reyes. raul? when will our next briefing be? >> we're talking about 3:00 and we're thinking of a better location where you all can get better sound also. we'll let you know, but possibly inside genesee hospital. we're about to make a decision. we'll let you know to make a better locale for everyone. >> can i get a correct spelling of each one of your names. >> david, marsha-a-r-s-h-a-l-m-.

gulshan, shara. >> you've been listening to a press conference at the university of texas medical center where three victims are being treated. two are, they say, in good condition, those two apparently are children. but there is one who is an adult who is in critical condition and is now in active surgery, and that individual is a resource officer or a police officer who was on the scene. again, he is in critical condition and in active surgery. as we were listening to that, our shimon prokupecz who is here, got new information about the shooter. >> we learned that the shooter here is a 17-year-old student, as we've been saying, at the school. he was a 17-year-old male. he's in police custody. we don't know if he's

cooperating with police there, if he's providing any information. that obviously will be a key part as police try to figure out what happened here. certainly at 17, it brings up a whole host of questions about weapons and how did he get his hands on this weapon. witnesses have described it as a shotg shotgun. we'll see if that is actually what it is. >> texas law, we understand, is that you have to be 18 to have a gun, 21 to have a handgun. >> these are federal laws to purchase. it's funny, we went through this during the last -- the school shooting in parkland where you have to be 21 to purchase a handgun, but you could be 18 to purchase a long gun. so that could be -- that could have happened in this case. it could be someone may have purchased the weapon for him. it could be that it belonged to someone in his family or whatever and he may have gotten his hands on it that way. who knows.

i think that will come down certainly as an important part of this investigation and goes to a lot of the issues we've talked about for a long time here, and that is gun possession and gun rights, and certainly that will come up, no doubt, probably in this case. >> and tom fuentes, texas is not a place where there are liberal laws with guns or about guns, and guns are probably not that hard to get despite the laws in place. what does it tell you that this young man was 17 years old? >> it means that, in a way, the laws are irrelevant because he didn't legally purchase that gun, so no matter what laws are on the books, it didn't matter to keep that gun out of his hands. if someone else purchased it legally or his parents, you know, were the purchasers, however that would go, it would indicate that he didn't go in a gun shop and buy that weapon. somebody else bought it and he got his hands on it. >> presumably, unless he

purchased it outside the -- >> or he stole it. >> exactly. or he stole it. and then there's the question of the fact that he's 17 years old. obviously he's going to have to go through a trial. he's technically a juvenile. what does that tell you? >> he could be tried as an adult. most states, especially that close in age, whether the state requires 17, or under federal law 18, they could make a motion to state authorities to go ahead and try to prosecute this individual as an adult. now, we're going to have all of the legal pleas that he's insane or mentally disturbed or not mentally cognizant to stand trial. again, that will be a big part of the investigation is what led up to this and did he tell people he planned to do it. and also, you know, often these type of individuals are

narcissistic. he may want to brag to the police, look how great i am that i killed all these people. we just don't know yet if that's the case. >> the fact that the law enforcement officials down there are saying that, effectively, they think that the school and maybe even the surrounding areas were booby-trapped with explosives speaks to what you were just saying, tom. thank you so much. i want to bring in sanjay gupta about the press conference we just heard from the hospital. sanjay, the adult that they were speaking about, apparently a police officer in critical condition in surgery. what else did you take from that press conference? >> obviously it was a very quick transport from the scene by helicopter. they were worried about this man. he was shot in the arm but we don't know where the entry wound went beyond that. he is in the operating room. they said he is in stable condition but critical. that means his vital signs, which they're monitoring, obviously are not changing but

there's still concern most likely about blood loss. this is a level 1 trauma center. this is different than the other two hospitals where patients have been transported to. this is where patients who are the greatest at risk are likely to be transported because they have all these capabilities within the hospital. 3:00 is when they say we're going to hear what's going on next and probably get an update on him at that point. but right now it sounds like he's in the operating room. they're doing everything they can to save his life. >> sanjay, i just want to ask before i let you go about the human part of this. you saw the doctor who said he was the parent of a 16-year-old understandably getting upset. they are a part of the community. he said they do train for this, but when you have these kids and a police officer, but particularly the kids coming in and you have to deal with them in a trauma environment, doctors are human. >> no question. and it's really hard. you have to sort of, obviously,

do your job, but they live in this community as well, dana. i know the community i live in, i know many of the people in our community. my kids go to school there. you know the teachers. it's heartbreaking but you've obviously got to do the job, which they're doing. >> they sure are. thank you so much, sanjay. i'm going to thank you for watching and also go right over to wolf blitzer who is picking up our breaking news right now. hello, i'm wolf blitzer. we start with our breaking news. it's happened once again right here in the united states. multiple fatalities after a shooting at a high school in texas and now fears from police as they say they have found several explosive devices both at the school and in the area. the shooting happened at santa fe high school in santa fe, texas. that's just outside ho