news conference on the virginia beach shooting. 11 we know of. i'll hand it over to chris with "cuomo prime time." >> i'm chris cuomo. tonight it will be dedicated to the latest mass shooting in america at a municipality center in virginia beach, virginia. 11 are dead. at least six other hospitalized. the murderer is dead. he entered the building where he was an apparent disgruntled employee. he opened fire on multiple floors. police found a semiautomatic pistol and rifle so far at the scene. that's from law enforcement. we are told the suspect purchased the firearms legally. we got word about this situation from an anguished mayor of the city earlier. >> this is the most devastating day in the history of virginia beach. the people involved are our friends, co-workers, neighbors,

colleagues. >> heartbreaking for this community. but so frustratingly familiar for this entire country. now, we do want the information that we can get. we want to provide it to you. when the brief comes from authorities we will take it as soon as that happens but right now let's bring in virginia beach city councilman aaron raus. hate to meet you under these circumstances. you said that resonated. a small community, i've been there. many in this country have. it's tight. many people are going to be affected. they'll know somebody who was there or know somebody who knows somebody who was. how do you deal with this as a community? >> well, chris, i think the first thing we have to do is, you know, make sure the families

know that we are with them, you know, it's not enough to sinuously offer our thoughts and prayers. we have to start living by those words in which we pray by so that's the first thing. >> how do you do that? >> i do want to thank god -- well, once again, you know, you have to be able to stand up and lead. there's so much fear that's gone on in our country today. we have to make sure we put those aside. this is the land of the free, home of the brave. you know, in virginia beach we have tremendous strength here and as i said earlier this will not define us. we will define ourselves. we will show our strength. we will come together and it starts with not only opening our minds but opening our hearts and start living by those thoughts and prayers we see countless thoughts and prayers throughout our country. >> what does that mean to you in terms of, look, you got to be is there for the stricken. those who are fighting for their lives in the hospitals and their families, those who were lost, there will be need, immediate ones and longer term ones.

you got to be there. that's a test of a community n terms of what you do about this, i mean i don't have to tell you, you're a young man, you lived through this at srebrenica tech. you were at school at virginia tech when that shooting happened. those were the days when we thought we'd be able to stop these, aaron. i hate this has revisit the new your life at such a young age. now you're in a position of leadership. what does it mean this is the second time you're getten by the same vice. >> we must learn from the mistakes of our past. we cannot no longer allow these acts to continue and cannot show, you know, fear. we can't stand up here and be afraid to take on a tough challenge of whether the gun laws or not are safety measures to implement within our city and country. our leaders have to stand up this. is about the safety of our community, about our workers, about our public, our first responders. you know, we have to signify not

only to our citizens that, you know, we pride ourselves on keeping our environment safe but also we are conscious about the type of rhetoric and things we spew out there in the country that words do matter. and i think -- i go back to here in our community where we do have a large presence of military here in virginia beach and hamptons roads. but once again, you know, we are a prideful community and i think, you know, we have -- our leaders have to stand up and say, no more of this. you know, we have to put our morals and our principles first, you know, it's great that, you know, people can start go fund me pages and can raise a large amount of money to help the families and that's very important but the key aspect and i believe we're missing is opening our minds and our hearts and have a lot more tolerance and humility for our neighbors. that's where we start here in virginia beach and that's where our strength is going to lie. >> you know, listen, you're

saying the right things and, by the way, i salute you for saying it early on. very often leaders want to let the community process the pain, but, you know, the pain is the only moment when people are paying attention. the sad reality, it took me a while to track which shooting this is this year, which category it fits under. a workplace shooting. how many hundreds of those and what number is this an where does it rank and what happens is in the moment, you remember this from when you were a student, colin goddard, your classmate shot five times, made this a big part of his life mission after that to try to get sensible reforms to how do you identify people who are in distress, how you get them help and away from guns and how do we control access more sensibly? we never seem to get there. >> you know, chris, i think that the conversation has to be had around, you know, of this pain that we are experiencing here in vasarhelyi today will never go

away and for some families it will be there always, it will be always in our hearts and minds but they're not alone. we need to share their pain, we need to share and what they're going through right now and once we do that, you know, we will understand exactly what it means to be at the mercy of your neighbors and once again, it goes back to how we treat our neighbors, that golden rule, so to speak. treat others how you want to be treated. it's enough we have these tragic times and virginia tech when we had those times and we are virginia tech strong and now we are virginia beach strong, but i can tell you, quite frankly, after virginia tech our community came together in blacksburg, hokies, not even hokies but citizens came together and that's what we have to do in virginia beach. we will come together. you have to let those victims know, families know they are not alone. that's what america is about.

we have to get back to understanding because something happens in florida, because it happens in virginia or california or around the country, that it's not just happening in that part of the country. it affects us all as you can see and i know we all -- we tend to have that, well, you know, it hasn't happen the here yet. >> right. >> once it does, how do you respond and i know how we're going to respond. we're going to come together. we're going to bond. we'll open our minds and open our hearts and we're going to start living by those words that we pray by. >> you know, look, you're going to learn the challenges, you're a tough guy. you were a ball player in school and lived through this as part of a community. you'll get criticism just for having this conversation. i will too but that's the nature of the beast. people will say can you believe that guy rouse was talking about gun laws right after this happened. where is his respect for what just happened and, you know, you're in a tough state for this also. we were setting it up. like a finally tuned machine now on these situations. we know how to ask what

questions and what information, virginia, you can walk into public buildings in virginia with firearms. you got police stations that have signs that say please leave your weapon outside. people will say, what law would have made a difference? >> yeah, again, you know, i believe law are put in place for us to, you know, for society's structure. but as human beings, we have to live above the laws, the structure we place on our society, where is the thought for your fellow american, and your fellow citizen, where is your sincere, your morale is at? here again i think -- it shows the strength of our first responders and those men and women who put their lives on -- their lives on the line every single day and confronted this shooter and stopped it in its place. the bigger conversation is not the laws we have implemented but

how do we see each other? how are we treating our neighbors? what's the mind frame of america where you can have differences but yet you cannot have a conversation? >> you are 100% right. >> that's what we -- >> that is the part we never want to touch. we'll deal like this guy is in some kind of distress, how do you get him help? is he not? we'll go through and won't do anything about it because it will come into different conflicts. the gun thing, forget it but this third element uniquely american, aaron, you put your finger right on it, there is violence in other cultures but it doesn't turn to deadly violence, dead lynn intentions the way it does here. when we will get angry, they are not as quick to decide it's time for me to leave this place and i'm taking as many people as i can with me as i do here. that's not just about guns or mental health, that is about culture and how we see each

other. that's a tall task. >> indeed, indeed. >> well, listen, let me ask you one more thing about you personally on this. you lived it as a young man. 2007. now it's revisited. >> 2007, april 16th. >> when you heard word of this today, what did it mean to you? >> you know, chris, i was in shock. i was actually with my daughter who isn't feeling too well and when i heard this, i, you know, i immediately jumped into not again, this will not happen again. this cannot happen again. i cannot believe this happened here in virginia beach in our great city of virginia beach and, you know, i went from at virginia tech, i learned i went from feeling sorry and feeling helpless to now as a councilman

as i stand before you i'm no longer feeling that way. you know, i want to be fair. i want to be bold in making sure our community is safe. the men and women who we've lost today and the victims and their families were all just working. the kids i was going to school with just wanted to get a better education, i don't want that to happen to anywhere else in america and so we got to have those tough conversations -- we will have it but it's going to start here in virginia beach with humility, with morals, principles, an open mind and open heart and will show our strength. >> what i can pledge to you and do it in every one of these situations if you decide to fight this fight and need a place to get word out and what you think, you got a place here. god bless, i'm sorry to meet you this way but i salute your intentions to have everyone treat everyone better. if we can help in any way, we're

here. >> thank you. >> all right. much more to come. we're about to get worth of any new information from the authorities there and there will be. you know, you're all expert, aren't you? we should think about what that means, that you know everything you need to know in this situation already. it's that familiar. we'll give you the latest next. last year, the department of veteran's affairs partnered with t-mobile for business. with va video connect, powered by t-mobile, vets can speak to their doctors from virtually anywhere, and get the care they deserve, without it counting against their data, so they can return to their most important post. soulmate, best friend, or just dad. the va provides the care, t-mobile provides the coverage.

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we got breaking news of the worst kind. this time it's virginia beach. another mass shooting. it took place at a municipal center, public utility employ, 11 of them are gone. 6 of them are fighting to survive in the hospital. we're awaiting an update and press conference from authorities. as soon as we get it we'll give it to you. there are things we should examine here. i want to bring in a special agent, cnn law enforcement analyst and common companion for me at studios talking about exactly the same issues as we do tonight. but there is something that familiarity breeds that is now frustrating. police know how to deal with these situations now so much better than we started this so many years ago. we have some of the coms, the communications between the officers once they reach the most critical moment here.

i want you to listen to the calm, listen to the coordination and how to figure out what to do. here's a sample. >> facing the south. >> clear the air. we have the suspect behind a barricaded door. stay off the radio. we need a key card access right now to the second story. we have north end of the building. >> one-two bravo, i have one. the co-worker has a set of keys. >> 35, i'm coming from the south side, i got a key card. >> come down the stairwell. >> we have him on the other side, 504. he is on the ground. hold the air. >> i'm sorry to confuse you. we have live pictures because we're waiting for the press conference. that wasn't the scene that went with the sound. james, the coordination, the

poise, the purpose. >> well, you talk about how we're becoming so much more familiar. for law enforcement this started 28 years ago with columbine. it's been 20 years. the term active shooter wasn't used before in our parlance. if you talk to a 7-year-old they understand what an active shooter is. listening to the police officers, every law enforcement officer that's been involved, the calmness they exhibit the right there keeping the air clear meaning people can't -- step on each other. somebody speak, it cuts out other important things. you got to get information quickly and responding officers, you and i talked before. we don't contain and negotiate anymore. those dog day afternoon 1975, the bank with the throw phone and, you know, sitting there patiently trying to -- >> they're coming for you. >> you have to move that doesn't mean you go in shooting but move to interduct the threat. these instances usually last between five and seven minutes. in this instance you're trying

to figure out a couple of things. what type of weapons are they using? are we equipped? we know one of the officers was struck in a bulletproof vest. that will stop a handgun round, they're not designed to stop, you know, rifle rounds. rifle rounds travel around 2500 -- >> you're saying unless it was a ricochet this officer that was shot and survived because of the vest had to be a handgun. >> absolutely. most wear level 3 or 3a vest designed to stop handguns. the other thing is the information vacuum. when you're responding in that situation, a call goes out, everyone is rushing to the scene now and have got to get to the shooter. you don't know how many people, you don't know what the argue nall of weaponry is and you don't know the motivation and that is so critical. yes, there are people who take hostages. in some situations whether it's terrorism or a hate crime or workplace violence or domestic issue or somebody who is mentally unstable, any of those situations, you've got to ferret that stuff out quickly.

cops have got to be olympic sprinters and mental health professional to try to read the situation and protect lives. it is about getting to the shooter as quickly as possible and looks like the virginia police did just that. >> they took him out as fast as they could and supposedly the response was shockingly immediate. let's bring in phil mudd. understands counterterrorism very well but it's about assess it. very little chance there isn't going to be somebody who knew something about this particular murderer going the wrong way, emotionally, psychologically, right? >> i'd change the question. it will be whether that information is actionable. that is you're going to find people who say he is disgruntled. i'm sure there are people that will talk about his mind-set. he may have friends and family that talk about mental issues in the past but the question we will get to like we had a year and a half ago whether there was a technical red flag that would

have led law enforcement or mental health professionals to say something about weapons access. it's not just about whether he was unhappy. there's 330 million americans. it's whether it's actionable. >> that's the question. >> if it was about being unhappy there would be more people who, you know, are acted on than not and that's okay but it also goes to culture. i don't know if you were able to hear, phil, this young guy, a councilman, he was a student at virginia tech when it happened a ball player, a damn good one, aaron rouse and attacks the component, that third one, not mental health, stable, motivation, not access to the weapon but our culture of indifference to each other. our culture of violence. what you're talking about goes to that too. doesn't have to be a red flag that triggers law enforcement. culturally, if we had more awareness about being in tact with one another, we would know so much more about people like this than we do right now. >> i think that's right and i know i'm supposed to be the

tough cia guy but every time and this happens less frequently for me than i'm sure it does for you, every time i get an interview, i saw you on tv. if i see you where you live i'll beat the crap out of you. how do we encourage people in this country including mom, dad, schoolteachers to say the resolution to the difference with another person and partly unique to the united states, the resolution to a difference isn't to beat the crap out of somebody because that has an echo effect where you say maybe it's also for 0.1% of the population to shoot somebody. the idea that violence is okay is acceptable in culture. end of story, chris, you're right. >> we don't talk about it enough. i think there is a shame principle. i think we don't want to admit it about ourselves. look, you were in the service. phil was around some of the worst stuff that humanity has to offer. we are a particularly barbara barrous culture. we kill each other at a surprising rate and fight with each other and have animus that

is high compared to other cultures. that's part of this. >> so the planet is, what, 4.5 billion years old, man has been here for about 200,000 years and i suggest from the dawn of time the first man, there were violent conflicts. to your point why does it seem like in the last couple of decades it seems like there is a greater propensity for arguments and disagreements turning into that. look, there is a mental health component. yes, you can argue there are 335,000 americans and i think 300 million weapons out there and people that shouldn't have them have gotten access to some of those but you can argue about what we teach our kids, the violent video gail culture. you talk about culture. we were talking about that during the break. will people becoming so numb to it because young kids at the ages of 7, 8, 9 are playing games designed for mature audiences. is that part of it because does it numb them enough where they don't understand that, you know, shooting somebody on a video

game, you know, that doesn't translate in real life where we live in polite society and want to send your kids to school. >> you have to use moments like this for something. it's not enough to say and it's wrong to say, be respectful of what just happened. leave all this other talk out. no, now is the time. otherwise, you're not going to pay attention two days from now let alone two weeks from now. there is no respectful period and, in fact, if there is one it plays to the immediate. it plays to talking about it now and, look, you know, you got three guys on your television screen all of us have access to weapons but it's about your culture and your disposition that i would never think to resolve a conflict that way but so many of us do. so many people in this society when they're angry, they don't just think about taking themselves out, they take others out. why? what do we do about that? how do we speak about it, aaron rouse, the youngest guy involved in this conversation had the most wise things to say.

we have to focus on what words we use and how we are with one another. we don't do it and it's part of the problem. gentlemen, i need to you stay. we're waiting. we're just minutes away from an update at virginia beach and they'll tell us things that will not surprise you and we are going to be in a position once again where we have to decide whether or not we use this as a moment to build or is it just another aspect of a horrible new normal. stay with cnn. it's lil jon. even he knows that. thanks, captain obvious. don't hate-like their trip, book yours with hotels.com and get rewarded basically everywhere. hotels.com. be there. do that. get rewarded.

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you got to get that under control. [ dogs howling ] seriously? embrace the mischief. say "get pets tickets" into your x1 voice remote to see it in theaters. all right. there is still a lot we don't know about the latest mass shooting in virginia beach and the good news if that's what you want to call it we're about to get a press conference from authorities there and that should be helpful. while we're waiting on that i want to bring in a member of the virginia beach city council. he's been a member of this community for almost four decades. his name is guy king-tower. thanks for joining us. when the press conference is ready, i apologize in advance if i cut you off so we can get to it. what do you want people to know tonight? >> well, i'd like people to know that virginia beach is a lovely city. it's a beautiful city full of

beautiful people. have a great deal of angst over the families of these folks who worked in a building very near where i go when i go to city council meetings. i also had thoughts of my colleague aaron rouse, i knew very well that he had been part of that virginia tech horrible day and also think today of, frankly, of the dylan rule and the inability of cities in virginia to enact gun safety laws. >> tell people what the dylan rule is. >> -- city councils think is best. the dylan rule is a rule that's been around for 150 years that basically says the state, a state that follows the dylan rule preems localities on laws.

local -- localities in virginia can only enact laws to the extent that the state government permits them to enact those laws. and firearms are one of a number of areas where the state and virginia preempts localities from acting. >> you know, one of the boxes we check in now analyzing these situations that we're so familiar with is, hey, what was the security like at the building? what did they know? was this person checked? was there security there? were the protocols followed and obviously this is a public works building. it's not supposed to be a hardened target but in virginia, you are allowed to legally enter buildings with weapons unless i think if it's a school or courthouse you can't and the anecdote that comes up, police stations will have sign, please leave your weapons outside. that's a tough starting point to make change. >> yes, i know one city in virginia, i recall, had to move

their city council meetings from the city council chambers to a high school in order to take advantage of that exception that allows the prohibition of guns in schools because of the number of people carrying guns and the feeling -- threatened feeling that members of council and the public had about that. >> any data suggest that having more weapons and more accessibility with them has made you safer? >> i am not a student of the data there, so i wouldn't speculate about that, but i certainly have a strong gut feeling that we need -- we need to further restrict at least the licensing of guns in the state. >> it's hard. it's always hard to come up with a change that would have made a difference here. now if you do have this murderer fall into the realm of people who were deranged, mentally ill, if there was something there then there are changes and protocols that could be put in place that should make it easier

to identify and get people help like that. you don't want to demonize the mentally ill either. they're more likely to be victims of violence than assail ans but the young man, aaron rouse, who lived through this at a tender age in college he made a point i hear least often, mental health matter, access to guns matters, but the biggest controlling factor in this culture is the propensity for violence. we go after each other in a way that is unusual in developed societies and mentioned that's want your take. how do you value one another? how do you speak to one another? what do you think is the right way to resolve conflicts with one another? that matters too. >> well, i'm a lawyer by training. i'm also a trained mediator and my life has been full of trying to resolve conflicts in a peaceful way. indeed, that's what the law is all about. it is, frankly, a way to resolve disputes without resorting to

violence. that was how laws first came into being. so, i'm very comfortable being around people who are disputing. it is part of my life and i take great comfort and pride in being able to bring people together. having said that, if someone brought a loaded weapon one of my immediate yags or to a deposition in a legal matter, it would be unsettling to me and i wouldn't be able to do my job in that context. i think we should promote -- i think mediation is a great way, promoting it even in schools. you know, there are lots of schools that have mediation programs for children to solve their own problems. >> yes. >> they're supervised by adults but they've been quite

successful. >> yes. >> they give some sense of sfloeper's an underfunded part of the curriculum. you have to focus on the three rs. i think we need to start teaching adults but certainly also kids how to treat one another. like a civics class like i used to have when we grow up. >> i agree. >> we don't know how to ago anything. >> yeah, i saw aaron's interview with you, chris, and i endorse everything he said i believe he's right on the money. >> look, i can tell you are understandably affected by this and i'm sorry for that, councilman. i truly am. i hate to see communities join the ranks of those who have a desperation to never see this happen to anyone else. and your community is now in that and i do not envy that position at all but council guy king tower as i said to council rouse, if there's anything we can do, let me know and i will give voice to your concerns and your requests on this show.

that i can pledge. everything else -- >> i appreciate that very much. >> be well, god bless and i'm sorry to meet you this way. all right, let's take a quick break. we're waiting on the authorities and make sure we time out the show right. when they are ready to do their press conference, i promise i'll bring it to you next. calling all sunscreen haters. you're gonna love this. new coppertone sport clear. not thick, not hot, not messy, just clear, cool, protected. coppertone sport clear. proven to protect. do your asthma symptoms ever hold you back? about 50% of people with severe asthma have too many cells called eosinophils in their lungs. eosinophils are a key cause of severe asthma. fasenra is designed to target and remove these cells.

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-[ sighs ] louise dustmann -- [ ding ] -brahms' "lullaby," or "wiegenlied." -when will it end? [ ding ] -not today, ron. 11 dead in virginia. suspect is dead. suspect. he did it. now he's dead. a massive investigation is now under way. let's bring back james gagliano and phil mudd. we all have these silly defaults in the interest of fairness when it's one of the most unfair situations we have. to the point we were talking about earlier as we await the press conference for the latest information they're starting to come. when they're together we'll go to it. i put that question to people and they are hear about our conversation, how we need to think about culture and i can't tell you -- it's twitter which is a toxic crucible. it's literally an avenue for outrage for people who can't say

it right to the person. people not treating each other better. we are talking about an entrenched thing in this culture. >> there is a turf question to have that people will think is un-american. there is a distinction between free speech and hate speech. others in places like europe has -- have figured this out. when someone in this country say they hate an immigrant, they hate a black person, they hate a white person, we see that's accepted speech and that you should be protected for that. if you want to protest in charlottesville, virginia, in some ways that is protected speech. as an american citizen i don't buy that i don't think hate speech is free speech and if we want -- i know we're far afield from what happened in virginia beach but if we want to say we hate people i think we ought to protect organizations like social media who want to stop that stuff. hate speech is not free speech, chris, in my opinion. >> i hear you with it but, look,

i know you know this and you know for those who don't know phil that well, i do. i knows it is protected speech andinterestingly, if you go back to a seminole case of earlier first a.m. md speech judges say you don't get to say whatever you want. talk about my momma types of rules. you know, the hate speech were fighting words but we've moved away from that and become more inclusive with speech because we don't want thoughts censored. >> we want civil liberties and right to prive very. we want all of our amendments, first amendments, all the rest but want to keep people safe and have to find a sweet spot. my wife is a deputy county attorney for an update new york county and one of the biggest thing her office does is goes into schools to teach about cyberbullying. it is happening at ridiculously young ages and social media is

the avenue for it. we love it. we get our news from that and communicate with people. it's a wonderful platform but it's also something that again in young kids, elementary school kid, middle school kids are using that as a vehicle to go after each other on. >> we've seen a shift over time too, phil. i mean, you know, depending on what stats you want to pick and ironically we don't keep violence and gun violence stats the way we should, but, you know, look, we see it and people can dismiss it as social media at first. oh, well, they're just talking on social media, it's just talk. it's just hype. that's how they are there and the next thing you know people are taking the bait showing up at your house and next thing you want to know they want to get into i akon fronttation and their body can cash checks their mouths are writing then ultimately you get to people who why not use a weapon? why not use a weapon? if you have access to it and you're that angry and you don't have any confidence to resolve a matter any other way, why are we so surprised we keep seeing

this? >> then i'm sorry, i think we're going to the press conference. i'll let you go, chris. >> here's the governor. let's take the press conference. the virginia governor in the aftermath of the latest mass shooting at virginia beach, 11 people dead. 6 still fighting for their lives in the hospital. >> good evening.

this is a horrific day for the commonwealth of virginia. our hearts ache over the senseless violence that has been inflicted upon the virginia beach community today. my deepest condolences and prayers go to the families of those who left home this morning and will not return tonight. they were all someone's child and many were someone's parent. they were heading into the summer weekend. that they should be taken in this manner is the worst kind of tragedy. their families are facing painful loss and grief. they each leave a hole in a family, in their neighborhood, in this community and in our

commonwealth. we mourn with their loved ones, but sympathy doesn't fill that hole. we must take care of these families. these horrific tragedies test our souls. grief doesn't pass quickly. it lasts far beyond these coming days and these families will need support in the months and years to come. i'm also praying for those who were injured in this tragedy and hoping for their full recovery. along with the pain of their own injuries, they face a loss of their co-workers and their friends. i want to commend the local and state law enforcement officers, the first responders, the medical teams and all others who

acted swiftly to respond to this situation. their actions likely saved lives and they have experienced scenes and injuries no one should ever have to face. my thoughts continue to be with the victims and their families. to them and to the city of virginia beach, i offer the full support of the commonwealth of virginia. tonight, we are all about virginia beach. i'd now like to turn the podium over to our mayor of virginia beach, mayor dyer. >> yes. today is virginia beach's darkest hour. a senseless crime happened and imposed tremendous grief upon the people of virginia beach, the commonwealth and this

country. when we get through the shock of it all and we get through the details that we must go through over the next day or two, i believe that our community, virginia beach, along with our neighbors and our other cities and hampton roads and our commonwealth and our country will be there for not only the families because that's when they're going to need us going forward, but we're going to show that virginia beach is a city of resolve and dedication and, you know, we are going to be there for all the families, the friends and our community in a big way. and for that i thank you and i would like to turn this over to

chief cervera for an update. >> as i said earlier this evening as we are able to gather more information, we will give that information out, so this is the additional information that i have at this time. again, it will probably change a little and it may increase as we move forward as we're investigating this case. right now we have a team of investigators, detectives from the city of virginia beach being assisted by forensic technicians from the fbi and the state police in processing this most horrific scene. we are in the process of identifying the victims, of making notification to their families. i can tell you that we do have an additional victim to report. we now have 12. one victim succumbed to the injuries on the way to the hospital.

we also have four additional victims being treated at area hospitals and we have reports that others may have self-transported so as we get more information on that, we will begin to release it. our our process is always to notify family members prior to releasing names. we do know who the suspect. is we have not been successful in notifying certain family members. once we are able to do that, we will release his name once. we are going to mention his name once. and then he will be forever referred to as the suspect. because our focus now is the dignity and respect for the victims in this case, and to their families. i can tell you that when the initial call came out, of an active shooting in building number two, building number two has public works, public utility, plus the printing

operation. this building has the potential of having over 400 city workers at one time or other in the building. when the original call came out, immediately four officers responded. two are seasoned veteran supervisors from the detective bureau. we have two canine handlers who are assigned to our special operations unit. they immediately made entry into the building. due to the sound of gunfire, they were able to locate the floor in which the suspect was committing his crimes. they immediately engaged with the suspect, and i can tell you that it was a long gun battle between those four officers and that suspect. we've recovered a .45 caliber handgun, with multiple extended magazines that were emptied at the time. the suspect was reloading

extended magazines in that handgun, firing at victims throughout the building, and at our officers. i want you to know that during this gun battle, basically the officers stopped this individual from committing more carnage in that building. when the suspect went down, due to his injuries, our officers then immediately rendered first aid, as they were removing him from the building, to the waiting ems personnel. and i need to say that a second time. even though he was involved in a long-term moving gun battle with these officers, when he went down, they did what cops, do and they rendered first aid to this individual. he succumbed to his wounds. we have found victims on all three floors of the building, as well as one victim who was outside in a vehicle.

right now, as many as 90 people have sought support from the family assistance center. and again, we are in the process, our goal now, is to identify everyone in that building as quick as we can, so we can make the proper note vickses to t vickses, notifications to the families of those victims do. we have any questions? >> chief, you were saying outside, what was the relationship of the victim outside? >> i mean not the relation, but what can you say, it was a vehicle -- >> an individual was in his vehicle, when the suspect shot him. >> there were reports that this was a disgruntled employee. having recently been fired. were there any indications of any workplace trouble? >> i have no information at this time as to the background of the individual area than he is a city employee. again, as we work through all of this, we will be able to give more information at a later time. >> he was current up until -- that's correct. >> he started shooting victims outside before entering the

building? >> there was one victim outside. he entered the building. he was armed with a .45 caliber handgun that had a suppressor on it. >> tell bugs, tell us about the magazines. >> i'm sorry? >> they are extended magazines. they have more ammunition than a regular magazine. >> in terms of the numbers, 12 people were killed, and then the gunman was the 13th person? is that correct? >> we have 12 victims. and a deceased suspect. >> thank you, sir. >> chief, were any of the victims targeted or was all of this random? >> at this time, i can't comment on that. as we work through the investigation. >> do you know if all of the victims were employees? >> i can't give you that because we are in the process of identifying the victims. >> i just want to make sure we're straight on the number of

victims that were taken to the hospitals. can you just give the sum total of the number? >> i originally reported we had 11 victims. we have an additional. one victim did not succumb to the wounds on the way to the hospital or at the hospital. and i am told that we have four others at the hospital right now going through surgeries. >> so if my math is correct -- >> your math would say that we have 12 deceased. >> so we have -- >> i did. again, that was the information that i had at that time. it was updated. >> so now it is ten injured. >> no. we have 12 deceased. >> we have 12 deceased. and we have four who are injured. >> who are currently -- >> going through surgery. >> chief, have police had the opportunity to search the

shooter's home, have they found anything that is of interest, any additional weapons? >> we are in the process of continuing our investigation at this time. >> there was a report that there was a rifle at the scene as well? >> we're in the process of continuing. that's the best i can tell you at this moment. >> chief, can you elaborate more on the extensive gun battle between the officers and the shooter? >> i can tell you that it was numerous shots fired by the individual. shots were fired from various places down the hallway, at the officers, at one time, returned, basically the ammunition that they had, so when we talk about this kind of a situation, and many times, when we talk about an officer-involved shooting situation, it may be minimal rounds, by the suspect, and by the police officers, and this was well beyond that. this was a long-term, the best i could describe it, it was a long term gun battle for police

officers. >> and can you go into the time line how long -- >> i can't give you seconds an minutes because we don't have a stop watch when we're engaged in this. >> do you know the time of the suspect's death? >> you know what time the suspect died? >> shortly after we entered the building and confronted him. so the call came out at, right after 4:00 p.m., so it will be somewhere after that. we don't have the exact time right now. >> can you tell us about the security around the government buildings. how many security are normally there and are people allowed to enter these buildings with weapons? >> the individual in question is an employee. he has access to the building. he came in with a weapon today. >> so he could not have been -- >> no, he would not have been. >> any officers injured? >> one officer did sustain a wound during the gun battle. fortunately his bullet-proof

vest basically saved his life. and we did, he was seen, he was tended to at the scene, but then we brought him to the hospital afterwards to make sure everything was okay. >> you say a suppressor, is that a silencer, is that the same thing? >> it is a suppressor. it is a sound suppressor. >> was the gun legally obtained? >> we are working through atf at this time. it is part of our investigation. >> has your department recently, i know in the past, you had prepared for a scenario like this, how recently was the last time you prepared for this? >> we train continuously. we train not only as first responders for police, but we train with fire, and we train with our ems personnel, because we know that when you have a major scene like this, you're going to need all first responders into that particular area, so we do train extensively. both on what we call tabletop

exercises, as well as an all hands on exercise in a building. so i can tell you that we do train extensively, and how many weeks or months prior, i can't give you the exact number. but our officers and our ems personnel and our fire personnel are highly-qualified, unfortunately, in a situation, of an active shooter case. >> so chief, there were four officers, two -- >> canine, that's correct. >> okay. thank you. just one final thing. i've said it before, and you heard the governor and the mayor speak of it. we have numerous victims. and we have numerous families. let's make sure that we keep their dignity and their respect, as the number one piece of news that we're going to give out, and i know that our local media always abides by it, because their lives have changed,

forever. the folks who work in that building, their lives have changed. i have a number of officers right now who are processing through what best could be described as a war zone. their lives are going to be changed. thank you. >> can i ask a quick question? >> the last part of that information probably the most relevant as we are once again as a country processing another mass shooting. be good to one another. be sensitive. be kind. to the people in that community. obviously. in virginia beach. who are processing the loss of loved ones. and now we know four are in the hospital. 12 have been lost. be kind. it's time now for more coverage from cnn. there are a lot of unanswered questions. don lemon picks up the coverage right now. >> and the police chief said it. their lives have changed. chris thank you so much. i appreciate that. you know our breaking news, it is tonight, i'm don lemon, the latest mass shooting in this countr