stay with bieber. don't hate it, after all it's the free market right to choose who they endorse. we report, you decide. have a great weekend, everybody. ♪ ♪ this is a fox news alert. breaking news. we are getting reports of a mall shooting in columbia, maryland. local police and the fire officials are calling this an active shooter situation. people are asked to avoid the area. columbia mall is 45 minutes from washington, d.c. we have very few details about this shooting right now. we will keep you updated on the story throughout this hour. hello, everybody. i'm uma pemmaraju, live in washington. the latest on that story and more. in the meantime, let's move on to another big story making news. 10,000 american spectators and athletes get ready to travel to russia. many are questioning how safe sochi will be for the big

olympic games there. amid growing fears of possible terror attacks. can vladimir putin make good on his promise of ring of steel around these games? molly henneberg is joining us now live with details on the latest security measures in place. >> defense secretary chuck hagel says russia has not requested specific help from the u.s. to he prop text the societe generale games that start -- protect the sochi games that start next month. but they have military action in the region, including two ships. hagel says there are contingency plans if there were a significant terror attack. >> we need to extract our citizens, we will have appropriate arrangements with the russians to do that. >> meanwhile, the state department is warning americans who are traveling to the games to be careful. travel alert released yesterday said there is no indication of a specific threat to u.s. institutions or

citizens. but u.s. citizens should be aware of the surroundings and follow good security practices. u.s. citizens are urged to remain individual leapt and use good discretion if using public transportation. u.s. olympic athletes have been warned not to wear the uniform outside the official venue not to draw attention to themselves as americans. vladimir putin said the russians have a "perfect understanding" of the terror threat and how to combat it. he has assigned more than 40,000 police officers to patrol the 1500 mile ring of steel as the russians call it around the games. one former advisor to the british defense ministry says putin is trying to reassure people he is doing the best he can. >> artillery system that can take out performers and we have targets all over the area. security checkpoints and a

plethora of the checkpoints. the line of communication coming in. he has banned all unofficial cars from the area. you have the intelligence network which has access to 1400 cttv cameras which is hugely important. >> but kay says the terror threat is now quite high. and westerners should be vigilant wherever they travel in the world. uma? >> molly, thank you. the security alerts are prompting big-time concerns for both athletes and their families. so much so that now some relatives are opting not to travel to russia to cheer their loved ones on. as they go for gold. later in our show, you will hear from the mother of olympic bobsled star steven holcombe among a growing number of parents who are now staying home because of those threats. more now on the breaking news coming to you out of the mall shooting in columbia, maryland. we do know now that the howard

county p.i.o. is en route to the scene. the public information officer will be there shortly. local police and fire officials are calling this an active shooter situation. people are being asked to avoid the area. the columbia mall is about 45 minutes from washington, d.c. very few details about the situation, about any suspects or victims. we are understanding that -- we understand that the public information office her be briefing reporters shortly -- officers will be briefing reporters shortly and we'll bring those developments to you live. turning to a story where tensions are on high alert. chilly start to peace talks between syria's government and opposition forces. it took just 30 minutes in the first face-to-face meeting when both sides decided to call it quits. two sides speaking only through a mediator with the diplomats saying getting them to the table was an accomplish. in itself. meanwhile, the bloody civil

war continues with more than 100,000 people in that country killed. dubious anniversary to a revolution that began three years ago today dubbed "the arab spring" that would eventually lead to the ouster of egyptian president hosni mubarak. today, tanks on the way to the cairo tahrir square where soldiers stand behind metal shields. demonstrators chanting pro-military slogans to commemorate the event. there have been violent outbreaks, string of four bombings ki owe on friday. the -- cairo on friday. muslim brotherhood says it will not stay silent. conor powell has more on what is a volatile region of the world. >> uma, arab spring is best described as ongoing process rather than a singular event. today, three years after the demonstrations brought down the former strongman hosni mubarak, egypt is divide and

growing increasely violent. we are seeing it across the country. seven people were killed today as the supporters of the military backed government has gathered in tahrir square to mark the three-year anniversary. while antigovernment protesters have clashed with the security forces across the country. police have used tear gas and arrested hundreds of opponents of the current military regime. most of those killed and arrested are members of the muslim brotherhood who ruled egypt for a year until last summer when the president of the muslim brotherhood and the country of mohammed morsi was ousted by the military in a coup. today, rival protest have fallen, a rash of bombings both yesterday and today in which at least 20 people were killed. although, many in egypt blamed the muslim brotherhood for the attack. very little evidence directly links them to the blast. al-qaeda linked group from the sinai region have taken responsibility for the attacks, despite all the violence just last week. egypt approved a new constitution with a remarkable 98% in favor of this

constitution. and sometime in the next sort of eight weeks or so probably likely in march, uma, the country is supposed to have new presidential elections. the man behind that military coup in july, general alsisi is expected to run, despite this call for elections in march. the country is divided in violence. it's seen as not much of a chance of this election will do much to reduce violence or the deep divisions there. three years on this is a country that is, has a lot of problems going forward. >> volatile situation in egypt. we're watching the events closely. what are we hearing though in terms of her muslim brotherhood stands right now in terms of the demonstrations and the way that it is conducting some of the attacks on some of the targets? >> so the muslim brotherhood officially is calling for peaceful protests. by all accounts really since they were ousted in july, they have held peaceful protests

that at times turned violent. of course, the muslim brotherhood say they have been attacked by the security forces. the security forces say the muslim brotherhood attacked them. it's really a little of everything. it's a volatile situation in egypt. the muslim brotherhood continue to call for protests, say they will not stop until the military steps down. one thing you have to remember is that many of the seculars and christians who supported the military overthrow of the morsi government in july are really suspicious of the military now. especially with the general alsisi probably going to be the president or the leading candidate in march. there is a lot of returns about the military simply filling in and taking over where mubarak stepped down three years ago. uma? >> thank you very much. turning now to the breaking news at the top of the hour that we have been telling you about, the mall shooting taking place in the baltimore suburb. i understand that rob, we know a former homicide detective is joining us on the phone right now to tell us a little bit more about this area that is

45 minutes from the d.c. capital. news of another mall shooting raises all kinds of questions, rob. >> yes, it does, uma. it's unfortunate, but i will tell you i was out that way this morning and i was on 495. 495 is the beltway in the washington area and it actually will lead to that mall. columbia mall. and i saw a lot of police cars heading out that way, a lot of detective units. at the time i didn't know what was going on. i can tell you it's a major mall. there are a lot of people that live in that area. i personally shop at that mall at least once a month. it's a very nice mall. there is a cross section of people from baltimore and washington, d.c. columbia is in the center of baltimore and d.c. it's only about three mile, three to four miles away from the airport. >> police are calling this an active shooting situation.

we don't know what is happening at the moment. whether there are suspects under arrest or victims. >> that's right. us just after that, and i saw the police cars heading that way. uniform and plain clothes police cars. i thought it was a police chase. usually if you see that many police cars it's a chase. but i found out about the shooting at the mall. that mall is protected, though. it's important that the viewers understand it's right dead center between d.c. and baltimore and there is a lot of police out there. it's actually considered hartford county. >> we're just getting word now from the howard county fire department that three people are down and possibly the shooter as well. that is coming to us from a tweet from the howard county fire department is sending out at this moment. >> yes, that is howard county. it's right next to adarondo county. on saturday morning there

would be hundred of thousands of people out there. a lot to do. a large mall. it's not far from the airport. >> in terms of the shooting of itself this would be a first in this area that we have had a story like this where a development has taken place where there is a mall shatting in this particular part of -- shooting in this particular part of the d.c. area and surrounding suburbs. >> you are right. as a matter of fact, that mall is very safe. the other mall that you have close to there, obviously, we have the maryland casino which is only about four to five miles away. very well protected. a lot of police agencies in that area. then you have a lot of other malls in that area. like i said, washington, d.c. is only about 20 minutes away. washington, d.c. line from where the mall is located. historically we haven't had any major issues out there. it's really a nice area. it's a well-to-do area, a lot of people, a lot of families out there, a lot of restaurants.

this could have been an isolated incident. it's still developing. >> walk us through something like this when police get word of an active shooting situation. of course, the first priority is to get people to safety, to get evacuations possibly underway. can you give us a sense of what the place are doing to keep people safe under a very tense situation? >> the mall security officers trained with the local police department for responses to situations like this. so that is the good news. the police department out there is very much aware of that mall itself. what the police will do now is make sure there are no victims and making sure there is no more suspects. the information is filtering in. it sounds like it could have been one person, but we don't know. the police don't know yet.

they are questioning people that may have been involved, may have seen what happened. they will be critical because they will provide police with the information in terms of how many shooters it was, whether or not it was specifically targeted. you know what i mean? one person, two people, did the shooter come in the main entrance way? at that mall, there is a main entrance way. the main entrance way is by the foot court. that is the way that most people go in the mall. it's a mall -- [ inaudible ] you have a lot of stores on the lower level. these are high-end stores. macy's out there, j.c. penney and other specialty stores out there. i am sure at this time of the morning that mall was jam packed. i was just out there and traffic out there was really, really bad. i'm sure it's crowded. >> all right. giving us a really, a really

good description of that area. and the fact it's a popular site for the shoppers. particularly on saturday. again, to bring the viewers up to date, we are getting word of primarily from the howard county fire department, three people down in what they have been describing as an active shooting situation. possibly the shooter as well. we'll continue to update the stories for you throughout this hour. in the meantime, we'll take a quick break and do a reset with the rest of the top news stories. stay with us. at panera, we believe in starting the day right

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i want to bring you an update on a story we are working on as it's unfolding at this hour. we have understand there has been an anibel -- we understand there has been an active chuting at the columbia mall 45 minutes from the capital. we're getting reports from the local news organizations in that area, the columbia mall is in lockdown at this point. as police and fire officials are on the scene. we're told from the howard county fire department there may be three people injured at this point. we are also hearing that the public information officer for the police department is on

the scene there, and we hope to get a briefing in a few moments. hopefully that will happen. when it does, we will bring that to you. we are also hearing that people have been asked to avoid the area. it's in lockdown. people in the mall are told to . as well as being told to move toward a movie theater in the area as well. no firm details. when we have them, we'll bring them to you as they develop. now back to the story regarding the terror concerns from egypt to russia. joining us now, woody ferris, this is a busy news day. i want to talk about the fact that we have been seeing violent sparking in cairo. in light of the third anniversary in the ouster of

hosni mubarak. the fact that we have a completely volatile situation in egypt. three years from the day that this all unfolded. where are we with the muslim brotherhood and the military government is in charge in egypt? >> this is a process. the arab revolution and arab spring is not an overnight event. the first revolt that the anniversary is today, january 25, was by youth and muslim brotherhood against mubarak. now last june, there was a second revolt. and youth, the civil society backed by the military bringing down the brotherhood. so what is happening now the egypt society is celebrating the first anniversary, not the muslim brotherhood. they have committed to bring down the government. >> they are not staying silent. >> no. this is a large organization. we need to understand this is not 10, 20, 2,000. this is 200,000 members. imagine that the egypt government and the people are dealing with an organization

that has its own militia, fighting along the nile river and al-qaeda in the sinai. so let's not expect that things are going to calm down in egypt in next few months. >> turning now to the hot spot in russia now with big concerns about security for the sochi winter olympics. the fact that our government now has issued a travel warning, and that athletes are being advised not to wear team usa gear. >> look, the u.s. government is doing everything it can, i guess, because the number, the sheer number of american citizens and the members of the delegation are sort of targets. theoretically targeted by al-qaeda. of course, the russian leadership committed thousands of forces to protect the area. the jihadist will try everything they can. >> thank you for joining us on this busy newsroom. >> thank you. back to our top story. where police are on the scene

where we have an active shooting situation taking place at the columbia mall in maryland. ted williams joining us on the phone right now with more. ted? hello, ted, can you hear us? >> i can hear you very well. >> tell us what you know at this point? >> well, i don't know very much at this point other than the fact that there is a possible active shooter, at the columbia mall. where the columbia mall is really, really about 15 to 20 minutes outside of d.c. it's in howard county. there are a lot of surrounding -- >> let me jump in for a moment because we're being told that the howard county police are confirming now that three people are dead from the shooting. >> well, you know, i'm sure that there are cordoned off the area and trying to find out if they have the active shooter at this stage. if there are three people dead, there is a question mark here whether this is a

shooting of individuals who knew each other, or is this just a loner, perhaps a gunman that committed this offense. so there is a great deal of investigation going on right now. i would have to believe that the f.b.i., the maryland state police, and the local police are converging on that area. >> this, of course, being a busy shopping day. saturday, of course, where lots of people are out and about shopping and also going to the movies. >> yeah, uma that is a very busy mall. you are absolutely right. this is a saturday morning. it's very cold here in the washington, d.c., area. but there are, in light of the fact that this is an enclosed mall, there is quite a few shoppers out there. i would have to believe they have cordoned off the area. they are clearing the area. they are really maybe some state of confusion. they are trying to determine

what they have on hand and do they actually have the shooter at this time in custody? all of those things are going through the law enforcement mind at this time. >> we think back, there have been other shootings at malls and the one that comes to mind recently was during holidays, of course, in new jersey. where there was a shooting in a parking lot. >> i'm aware of that shooting during the holidays there. again, i'm sure there is a great day of confusion out there. but you have some excellent law enforcement officers. by the way, what you find in light of the shooting in new jersey and other malls, individuals are in law enforcement that are ready and properly prepared to respond to these kind of incidents. >> we are getting word from the howard county police that there is one subject located

near gun and ammunition, but the i.d. is unknown at this point. what does it tell you? >> they may, we can only speculate, they may have the shooter. but they don't know if it's a shooter or shooters. so what they are trying to do is properly identify not only the shooting victims but they are trying to definitely make a determination whether they have the shooter or the shooters in custody or under control. >> we were talking about the fact that earlier, today, the mall security, the officers hired specifically to keep watch inside the mall are better trained and better i quipped to handle the emergencies. >> not only are they better trained to handle this but

they are specifically trained. what you find is a lot of times the malls will have almost officers, off-duty details at the various malls. >> i am on the highway and i can see a large contingent of law enforcement in the direction of that mall. so the big question mark is do they have an active shooter or have they been able to cordon off the mall to determine where the shooter is? do they have the shooter under control? all of those things are going on in law enforcement mind. >> we're told that the mall is in a lockdown mode. >> people at that mall are asked to stay in place and do not move. >> that is so significant and

important. the viewers have to understand right now there are a lot of shoppers out there -- they are in plain fear. we are in the age of the cell phone so quite a few individuals are on the cell phones talking to their loved ones or again, a great deal, i'm sure of confusion. to some degree. but you have a lot of professionally trained law enforcement officers and i'm sure they are doing their best out there. >> we have our folks here trying to get as much information as possible. my colleague jamie colby spoke to someone at the ann taylor store inside that mall who told her that the doors are shut, employees are hiding. they did not hear shots but were told there was a shooting in another part of the mall. she goes on the report that apparently a movie theater

employee is reporting that the movies that are currently running are running as scheduled. so people are allowed in the theater there but all must show i.d. and cannot leave the theater once inside under any circumstances until the police give the all-clear. that person said they did not hear any shots fired. so it is believed the incident did not happen in or near the theater in that part of the mall. i know you know the area really well. give us an idea of the layout there. >> sure, this is a large mall. you have quite a few merchants out there. in relation to where the -- you just mentioned the ann taylor store. i know where the theater is at that mall. it isn't in the area by the ann taylor store there. but the problem you have again

is you have a great contingent of customers out there, law enforcement is trying to determine who are the bad guys or the bad ladies or what is going on. in light of this with other malls have procedures in place to immediately act. so if they are closing down the theater, or individuals are in there, this is part of the mall procedures. they even go through -- [ inaudible ] i would have to believe again that there is a great deal of confusion. but it may very well be under control. >> you are always great to have with situations developing. stand by for a moment. we are going to a break but we are getting reports of three people dead. and that is coming to us from

the howard county police department. we will bring you more information right after this break. stay with us. really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat too, and has five grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i -- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? oops. [ female announcer ] as you get older protein is an important part of staying active and strong. ensure high protein... 50% of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good e. [ major nutrition ] ensure high protein. ensure. nutrition in charge! and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks.

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welcome back to breaking news. a shooting at the columbia mall, 45 minutes from washington, d.c. we have three people dead and we don't know if it includes the shooter at this time. the police are calling this an active shooting situation. we understand there are briefings coming up shortly but at this point the mall is in lockdown. people shopping on the very busy shopping day, of course is a saturday, are told to stay in place. and that the police are asking everybody to stay away from the area as the investigation continues.

as i understand it, we have somebody on the phone. randy brooks who is a customer right there at the shopping mall -- excuse me. owner of one of the stores there at the mall. randy, welcome. tell us what you know at this point? >> we don't know a whole lot except for what people are texting us. we're in a lockdown situation and the back of our store right now. about an hour ago. we saw everybody running in the mall and we heard shots fired. we heard people were shot. we heard now that the shooter himself was shot. >> that is what you are hearing but we haven't got confirmation with police. how many shots did you hear were fired? >> we heard a couple of pops and saw people running. the mall cleared out quickly evacuated everybody. ran in the store. we're in the store right now. i have six employees and we have five people that ran in

to our store. >> are you in the back of the store? >> we're in the back of the store. they told us to stay in back of the store. >> have the police come by -- >> no. we're getting everything on the phone call that told us what to do. >> was there a sense of panic from those fleeing the area? >> definitely. panic that people yelled there was a shooter in the mall. >> bng saturday there are a lot of folks at the mall today. >> yes. the understanding that the man was on the upper rail, top by the food court and shooting down in people at the foot court that were down there having lunch. >> from what you are hearing this was a suspect randomly shooting at people at the foot

court? >> on the upper level shooting in the food court. >> any word about the individual at all? young, old? >> i can't answer that one way or the other except for the fact that one man said he looked like he had a shotgun and he was shooting in the food court. >> are you hearing as well that there are three victims? >> yeah, we have been told that two civilians have been killed and we heard that the shooter himself was killed. we also are told by somebody else they got a bunch ofpeople o the hospital. >> is the mall officially in lockdown? >> the mall is definitely officially in lockdown. nobody can get in or out. >> as far as folks cooperating, you depend on each other to stay calm in a very tense situation. what has that atmosphere been like for all of you, for the customers and the employees? >> everybody has been

cooperative. quiet. everybody is on the phone contacting the loved ones to make sure that they know everybody is okay and we're safe and sound in here. >> overall, the focus on security there is something that people like yourself, owners of retail stores are familiar with in terms of the procedure? >> yes. >> the latest from the howard county police are -- excuse me for a moment. listen to producer for a moment. the police are telling people that to leave -- that they are going to -- okay. the mall is now secure. and that people should leave quietly. they are confirming that people are dead in the shooting. this has to be feeling of being surreal for you, randy. >> this is, i have been here for 43 years and we never had anything like this. it shows you what is happening here in america today.

how do you recover from that? i feel bad. we have a couple of young children here with their mother. they just don't understand. they were trying to come to the mall and go shopping with their mom on saturday. they are hunkered down in the jewelry store here. being told there is a shooter in the mallp and people are killed. >> it must be unbelievable to hear that. as it's unfolding for you and others there. the police are trying to clear people out to safety and the mall is believed at this point to be secure. >> good. >> but people inside should still wait for the police to give you the all-clear. that's what we are told by the howard county police department. >> yeah. that is the exact same thing that my other staff over here in the store tell me the same thing. we still have to stay and they are going to escort us out of the mall. >> also, you should know, viewers as well, the person who is among the dead is believedded to be the shooter, as you pointed out, too,

earlier and told us that your information you had been given that the shooter was indeed brought down. by whom, we don't know. whether it was the mall security or whether it was the police officers from howard county. at this point, though, would you say people are starting to relax a little bit? >> everybody has a concerned look on their face. i think right now it's just starting to sink in that you are telling us it's secure and the shooter has been shot. before that, it was just total nervous apprehension on everybody's part. not having lived through this before. we have just seen it happen somewhere else. you never think it will happen here in columbia mall. >> absolutely. >> that is the last thing in world we came to work thinking about today, we'd come in and be locked down that somebody is shooting people in the food court. >> it's just awful. horrendous. about the other victims do you know anything about them at this point? >> no. no. >> people are telling you whether they are male or female? >> no. we haven't heard anything,

whether they are male or female except for the fact we heard there was more than two people shot. we did hear that for sure. >> randy, you have been terrific with your information. i wish you all the best. this has been a very upsetting situation i'm sure for you and your employees and customers. >> yes. >> stay safe. we wish you all the best. i want to bring in mark furman now who is going to be joining us in this developing story. we have been telling you, we have three people dead at the columbia mall. mark, thank you for joining us. former l.a.p.d. dective. thank you for being here. what are your thoughts hearing the news? >> it's a difficult situation when you know you have three victims, or what you believe to be three victims. you never know if it's possible suspect involved in those three down. i have read and i don't know if it's been confirmedded that one of the people deceased there was a gun and ammunition near that body.

i don't know if it's been confirmed. >> that's what we're being told, yes. we're told, the howard county police are giving us this information through their tweets. they said one of the victims was near ammunition and a weapon. >> let's go with that. i mean you have no idea if that person is law enforcement, somebody allowed to carry a weapon in that municipality. that tried to return fire with the suspect that is now gone? that is the problem. that is what the lockdown is about. you have a to secure a crime scene before you can investigate it. they have to clear the crime scene. make sure that there is one suspect involved and that suspect is the person that is now deceased. if they had a self-inflicted gunshot would or otherwise. not as easy as everybody wants

to believe watching a movie. you have to go in there and even if you believe 99% that the suspect is down, that he is one of the three dead. you still have to go through and make sure that that area is secure before you bring in emergency service personnel. medical personnel, coroner and detective. >> that is a good point. we were just speaking with randy there who owned a jewelry store inside the mall. even though it appears that the police is saying that the area is secure, they are still hunkering down there, because no one told them otherwise to do anything different. >> even the people that know best, law enforcement officers, swat officers that are at the scene right now, they know probably without a doubt that the suspect probably is on the ground, or on the floor dead.

with a gunshot wound. you still have to go through all the motions to make sure that the scene is secure. if the suspect wanted to leave ammunition and gun next to a body that would bring the conclusion he is the suspect but you can't go that fast. >> that's right. you don't know if there might be other people involved. >> you have no idea. you haven't been able to get in the wallet of these people, or the purses to see who these people are. if you have a security person. a police officer that has a weapon that was trying to engage the suspect. that could be the possibility. you also have to if you can, if there was a moving shooting and you have casings, which most people use automatic or semi-automatic mandgun or rifle, you want ---handgun or rifle, you want to make sure it's consistent.

that you don't have multiple sundays. if you do have multiple suspects there are at different locations and a possibility there is two suspects not just one. >> you know, the recent reports of a mall shootings, you know, in the course, there is mall security. people would like to feel that they are going to be safe as they are shopping but you really are vulnerable. especially when you a lone wolf out there. >> you are vulnerable. this is the very reason that the police officers carry weapons, the very reason they are trained to use those weapons. this is living in a dream world to think you have a target rich environment that you have somebody willing to engage and kill people that they won't. then you don't have the type of security that can engage that person. unarmed security in a mall is

kind of silly. what is it for running juveniles out of the mall? is it for getting shoplifters? i don't know. security should be for the one threat that is the most important; that is, life and death. >> absolutely. mark, thank you for joining us. we appreciate your insight as always. i want to go now to tom ruskin joining us on the phone as well. he is a former nypd management director from the giuliani -- crisis management director from the giuliani administration. he knows these situations well, especially when it comes to emergency response by police departments. welcome. tell me your thoughts as you hear the events unfold over the last few minutes. we're hearing there are victims inside that mall. there are people hunkered down. there are people worried and concerned about what is happening; particularly, at a time when this ball is in lockdown. and the fact that we are being

told that we believe that one victim may be the suspected shooter it's still a fluid situation. >> right. police train for this nowadays. i'm sure that at this mall as they do in malls around america, they have drills. they have, you know, different times that they will actually go in there at night. and drill. plus mall security has done a lot better in the recent past. especially with the shooting in new jersey and other shootings around this country. so at this point in time you have emergency response and ambulance response and you have to slowly clear the mall. the police go through schematically. you don't know if you have one shooter, two shooters or multiple shooters and police slorely will clear the mall and -- slowly clear the mall and get people out. >> we're getting word that federal authorities who are not on the scene but are receiving reports from the

police on the scene there, that the gunman reportedly turned the gun on himself. >> this is not uncommon. we have these people who take these desperate acts because either of their illness or they want to make a name for themselves. and at the end, they kill themselves. but again, until police actually start releasing information, this is only less than an hour old. so at this point in time, you know, police are actually going through store by store by store by store. interviewing the people that they are clearing. to see what they saw, especially as you get closer to the shooting site. >> again, as we spoke to one of the store owners there, the reports that they were getting from phone calls, from some of the colleagues and some of the friends who were also in the mall was that this shooter was allegedly shooting from the food court. according to them, he was

shooting randomly at the victims. we're hearing that there are two others confirmed dead. >> we don't know. it's sort of early to say if he was randomly shooting. >> in their words. i'm giving you their descriptions of what they have been seeing and hearing. >> but as someone who responded to the instance, the initial response can be wrong. he may have targeted, it could have been a domestic violence issue or anything like that. the fact that only two people are shot makes me believe it's a targeted thing than someone going in and spraying a mall to try to cause devastation or carnage. >> that is an interesting point. >> and the fact that he killed himself, makes me believe he had it preplanned out. it could have been someone eating at the foot court at that point in time -- food

court as that point in time. >> are you there? >> yes. >> you faded out for a moment. we have been pointing out this is saturday and there are shoppers there. as far, you heard mark fuhrman a moment ago offering concerns about in some malls security personnel there don't wear guns. >> well, but you know, what we're seeing is more training for mall security and where the mall security is now carrying guns. there is a lot of malls now that are arming their mall security. not everyone is armed, not all the guards are armed, but a certain number. plus, we are just getting the idea that there may have been off-duty officers who may have also been shopping with their families who may have responded. >> you know, there are real concerns right now about the fact that we have been seeing unfortunately more of these kind of shootings taking place. >> yeah. i think it's just the world we're moving to. unfortunately, you can't even take your family and your kids

and your love ones to a mall anymore on a saturday without possibly risking being involved in some kind of shooting incident. it's a very scary world we're moving in to. >> stand by for a moment, tom. we were talking with rod wheeler a few minutes ago who was making his way to the area because he knows the area very well and he apparently was at the mall just in morning as he was telling us. are you there? what are you seeing right now? >> well, i'm on route 42. i'm right outside the mall area. i'm only about five minutes from the entry doors to the mall. but i can tell you traffic in all directions is backed up. there is a lot of media out here. i'll tell you a lot of police cars with the lights and the sirens on just went past me at a high rate of speed. going toward the mall. so, i'm -- the area still in a lockdown position. that is pretty obvious. the way we can tell is because traffic is not moving in any

direction. even away from the mall. it seems like everything is backed up. so that is what is going on now. i think the situation is still a fluid situation. even though there has been reports that the shooter is dead. until that is confirmed, the is. until that is confirmed, police will keep this area on lockdown. >> that is obviously a very good point to make. you heard from tom ruskin there saying since we don't have actual confirmation about whether this alleged shooter was targeting his victims or shooting at random, the fact that he allegedly shot two people, including himself, suggests this may have been a preplanned event. >> you're right. the other thing i also heard someone say earlier, i think you were interviewing a guy from the jewelry store inside the mall. he mentioned it appears as though the shooting took place in the food court. if you recall earlier when we

spoke, i said the food court is considered one of the main entryways into the mall. the food court is on the lower level of the mall. when you come in, there's a lot of restaurants there, a lot of fast food restaurants. then you also have the escalator to take you to the second level or you can stay on the bottom levels right by a champs sporting goods place. it's a very busy area. a lot of people sitting in the food court. i wasn't surprised when the guy from the jewelry store said it occurred at the food court. typically these shootings take place closer toward the entry door of the shopping malls. the reason for that is because the bad guy knows he can only get so far inside a mall carrying a weapon or something that appears to be a weapon. that's why these shootings tend to take place more closer towards the entry and exit doors of shopping malls. >> just some additional information to bring you that we are getting from some of the federal officials there who are

reporting to us from their reports they are saying there is not an active shooter at the moment. the preliminary information at this point is suggesting this could be a domestic situation. the local police are in charge there. the federal authorities are helping out with the forensics. again, one of the three of the victims is believed to be the shooter who we are being told through various reports turned the gun on himself. rod, what do you think about we were talking about mall security and the fact some malls allow the security guards there to carry weapons. do you know at this particular mall if security guards are allowed to carry a weapon? >> that is a good question. i heard you talk about that earlier with another guest. i'm not 100% sure. i want to say they do not carry weapons at that mall. i'm in that mall once every two weeks. i just don't remember seeing the security guards carry weapons at that mall.

what i can tell you is howard county police have a station inside the mall on the second level by the jc penney. howard county police is always in that mall. i would say it was a howard county police officer who engaged the gunman this morning because the police are always in that mall. i don't think that the security officer carry weapons. i do know the security officer at that mall and the other mall in this area practice at the shooter response training with the local police department. in this case it would be howard county. one other thing i want to say quickly is that the howard county hospital and anne county hospital have been put on alert there may be victims coming. those are the two closest hospitals to the mall. >> that is good information. the fact you point out the police department has a sub

station would account for a quick response. >> that's right. howard county police are always in that mall. they have the substation on the upper level. they are always in that mall. i'm actually driving as i'm speaking to you and getting a little bit closer to the mall here. i can see a lot of activity. again traffic is down to a snarl. i'm going to try to get closer to get more information. it appears as though the rush from the police department is over. i'm looking at several police cars with their lights and sirens on heading in that direction towards the mall. this was the columbia town center mall. it's right here by merryweather post pavilion. it's a very popular arena for concerts and things like that. just to give you an idea where this mall is located.

>> rod, keep us posted. get closer to the scene and bring us updates. >> joining us on the phone is shannon who works at another store in that mall called the art of shaving. what can you tell us? >> i just got the word that the coast has been cleared. sounds like they did find the guy. i would say maybe around 11:00, maybe a little bit after 11:00 first shots were fired. i work closer to nordstrom wing. from what i understand it was the other end of the mall. one of my co-workers who work in the mall actually saw good night with the gun and she did confirm there was an active shooter in the mall. pretty much people started running. the people who work in the mall did a good job. we pretty much locked our doors and hid. nobody knew where the shooter

was. >> at the time, were there a lot of customers in your store? >> actually in my store, no, there were not, luckily. there was one and he was on his way out as i was getting information. on our end of the mall, especially nordstrom and macy's there were a lot of clients. >> from what you could see, panic from a lot of folks? >> definitely panic. there was nothing but panic. >> as you were saying a moment ago, you heard shots. do you know how many actually were fired from your vantage point? >> i do not, but from one of my co-workers in the mall there were about three that she heard. >> again, we are being told that this took place in the food court area. is that what you're hearing? >> yes. >> and there were two victims there in the food court who had been hit. and that the shooter was also

found with a lot of ammunition around. is that what you're hearing as well? >> yes. >> as of now though, the all-clear has been given. is that what you're saying? >> i'm waiting for the mall officer to start calling us back. my cell phone is going off now, if you bear with me. >> i understand. it's a very unsettling situation. shannon, thank you for giving us your update from your vantage point there. thank you again. telling our viewers we have reports, three people dead at the columbia mall in maryland, about 45 minutes from washington, d.c. we are told howard county police believe one of those victims is the shooter who reportedly killed himself. that's the report we are hearing. again though, not confirmed yet whether the all-clear has been given officially. there is going to be a briefing with reporters, we are told. when that happens, fox news will be presenting that to you.

for now, we are going to turn our coverage over now to jamie in new york to take over from here. fox news alert, there are reported according to police at least three people dead after a shooting at a maryland shopping mall. police also saying one of the dead is believed to be the suspected shooter. >> it happened in columbia, maryland. we are still trying to figure out where in the mall the shooting actually took place. police are in the mall right now to help clear people out safely. that mall is now on lockdown. joining us by phone we are going to talk to some people throughout this newscast to let you know what's going on. we are going to go to ted williams who has information about it, as well. >> let's talk to him. ted, thank you so much for being