news special report. now reporting, george stephanopoulos. good morning, we are coming on the air because there are early reports of a shooting at a park in alexandria, virginia, where members of congress were playing baseball. we have video right now showing police coming in on the scene. that is the -- there are the helicopters coming in. reports of a shooting. one report the gunman is down. all the latest from our senior justice correspondent pierre thomas. >> reporter: well, george, we're trying to get additional information from law enforcement and rescue officials, again, early reports about a possible shooting at this baseball practice. again, we don't have additional details at this point but we are making additional calls trying to get some information. but based on that helicopter

there, there's something going on at that park. we're just trying to get additional details. >> our congressional correspondent mary bruce, as well. mary, there are tweets from members of congress suggesting that a high-ranking member of congress, steve scalise might have been shot. >> reporter: yes, we're just seeing reports coming in, which members may have been injured, we are still working to confirm members of congress, of course, are learning about this just as we are. we should note there are several congressional teams in the area. usually a great team building opportunity, a chance for lawmakers to spend some down time together outside of the halls of congress. but, of course, this morning it seems that some kind of practice here went terribly wrong. >> one of the tweets coming in reports that my former house colleague steve scalise has been shot and others injured as well. praying for them and their families. i want to go to ben childers. what did you see? >> i was sitting in my apartment this morning and heard shots and

ran downstairs because we saw the congressional members running off the field. there were three members that were kind of headed over towards our apartment so we ran down and got them into our apartment and they could shelter in place. they also said that steve scalise had been shot and was on the ground in the baseball field. you know, they just practice there a couple mornings a week for the last couple of months getting ready for their baseball game which i think is tomorrow and -- >> so, did have to life flight somebody out. we're not sure of the condition there. >> do you know if anyone else was injured? >> i don't know anybody else who would be injured. >> okay, well, ben childer, thank you very much. you're saying you just were seeing another helicopter come in right now? >> so, a helicopter came in about 15 minutes ago and then one just touched down, i didn't see anybody get into it and then left. >> okay, ben childer, thanks very much for that information. now to cecilia vega at the white

house. learning anything, cecilia. >> reporter: no response yet from the white house, george. but here's what we do know. the alexandria police have tweeted they believe a suspect is in custody. they are warning people to stay away from the area asking people to let emergency vehicles through. you can see that police presence right there on the scene. the big concern police say right now is getting assistance to the victims that are on that scene. george, this is about 7 1/2 miles away from the white house in alexandria, virginia. a number of people in washington live and commute -- live in that area, commute into the city. congressman adam schiff was just saying in an interview he hasn't heard directly about this incident but that he is extending his prayers and, of course, he is -- this is for him and for, of course, many members of congress bringing back horrible memories from 2001 when gabby giffords was shot. we don't know what's happening but a very real fear for members of congress and we're waiting for details to come in.

we know this congressional baseball game for which we're told these members of congress were practicing took -- is to take place saturday so wouldn't be unusual for them to be playing and practicing this early in the morning before they head to work out here on the hill again not that far away from washington. >> annual tradition. mary bruce, steve scalise, the number three ranking republican in the house of representatives right behind the speaker of the house paul ryan and the leader kevin mccarthy. >> reporter: scalise is the gop whip. key member of republican leadership. you often see him standing there next to the speaker and another republican leadership at all of these events. it's been a key player in every major republican fight, of course, over the last -- during this administration. he's a constant presence up on the hill, the key player in the health care battle recently. you know, we are awaiting any response from gop leadership at this point. >> as the whip you're responsible for getting votes so one is well connected throughout the house of representatives. want to go back to pierre thomas

for more on this. any indication about motive here? who the gunman may have been. >> reporter: unclear whether this is street crime or something else. we have information the fbi has arrived on the scene. that is not typical that the fbi would arrive on the scene for any sort of generic street crime so obviously there's concern that the congressman may have been the target of this alleged gunman so, again, we're getting additional information but we're being told the fbi has arrived to the scene. we're also reaching out to homeland security officials, who are trying to get additional information. >> pierre, stay on that. meantime, i want to go back to cecilia. you've gotten some comment from the white house press secretary sean spicer. >> reporter: well, george, sean is tweeting saying that both president trump and vice president pence are aware of the developing situation in virginia and i want to quote here, our thoughts and prayers are with all affected. so clearly this is something that the white house is monitoring very closely. as i mentioned this is not that far away from the white house and, again, you know, a number

of gop congressional members expected to be -- we believe were out there practicing for this baseball game. >> i want to bring back mary bruce for more on this. mary, we've seen other attacks on the capital as well. most thwarted. senior members of congress, the very senior most usually have security, usually their drivers but you wouldn't expect there would be security on the scene for practice at a baseball game. >> reporter: absolutely. they do have security but, again, this is outside of the congressional compound. this is -- i believe in a more residential area, a baseball practice. this is not, you know, where you would be surrounded by the normal capital police present in the congressional building in the capitol itself. scalise does have security, unclear at this point how much was with him but, again, this is an early morning baseball practice. this is, you know, a rite of passage, a tradition here on capitol hill. there are many of these congressional baseball teams, it's really a fun opportunity for lawmakers to spend some time together outside of the halls of

congress and clearly this has turned into quite a tragic incident if for those just tuning in reports of a shooting at a virginia park, alexandria, virginia, a senior member of congress, steve scalise has been shot. i want to go to our fbi analyst brad garrett, former fbi special agent and just learned from pierre, brad, fbi on the scene. what's the first thing they'll do? >> well, to make sure, george, you only have one shooter. you know, the biggest concern, you and i have talked several types when you have a shooting, is it contained or do you have other events planned by other people that may be coordinated with the shooter. it's going to be the real key to start with and obviously the very, very quick thing to do is make sure you've got medical emergency and medical personnel and paramedics at the scene to handle people seriously and minorly injured. >> we've seen overseas incidents where there are multiple attacks in multiple areas. so far this does seem to be contained. >> it does.

it sounds like a lone shooter at an event. we'll guess obviously there's got to be some targeting since it's apparently gop folks together. but motive is secondary. primary is contain the scene. make hour it doesn't expand beyond what they have in front of them and treat the people. >> and get it all contained. okay, brad garrett, thanks very much. i want to go quickly back to pierre thomas. what more can you tell us about who is responding at this moment? >> reporter: again, we know that the alexandria police are on scene and the fbi is on scene, again, that is unusual. they don't typically respond to local crime this way. obviously there's great concern that the congressman may have been targeted. again, we don't know motive yet but the fbi is on the scene investigating vigorously. >> mary bruce, i want to get you back on the phone as well right now. we were just talking to brad garrett, the possibility of other attacks. no indication of that at all right now but can you tell us do you know of any activity in the capitol, any alerts going out to

members of congress, their office, any extra security precautions being taken. >> reporter: george, none so far that we have seen but i would imagine there will be a heightened sense at the capitol, this information is coming in, everyone trying to figure out what is going on and on heightened alert but i would not be surprised if we see extra measures on capitol hill today. >> it is a busy time at the capitol right now. congress just back after its memorial day break as mary was saying practicing for this baseball game, a lot going on at the capitol on health care, dealing with the various other matters before the congress right now and seen all of these hearings also on russia and terrorism, but, mary, talk a little more again, nothing being done right now, but in recent months and years, the kind of security precautions being put in at the capitol since both 9/11 and these other incidents at the capitol, all the visitors go through metal detectors. >> reporter: yes, all visitors go through metal detectors.

there is a real heightened sense of security around the capitol over the last few years, in order to get into the capitol as a visitor you have to go through detectors, all bags are searched, all people are served as they go through those detect terse, even members of the press, every morning when we go in even though we are credent l credentialed, we have to go through. steve scalise and other leaders, of course travel with their own security, even within the halls of congress often, you know, we see the leaders walking back and forth going from their offices to the floor they are always surrounded by their personnel details, as well. this is a very -- it is a building that is stepped up in security in the last few years and, again, remaining questions about how close security was with those lawmakers this morning on that baseball field. >> cecilia, the white house being kept up to date? >> reporter: george, they are and the president and the vice president are monitoring the situation closely and i can tell you it seems its business as usual here at the white house. typical level of security outside the grounds that i can see right over the fence here but, george, i do want to read

to you an interview that representative mo brooks from alabama just did on cnn and described what he saw during this game. some pretty frightening details coming in right now. he says that he was on deck about to hit batting practice on the third base side. he heard -- he looked around behind third base and in the dugout he saw a rifle and he saw a little bit of a body. now i want to read this. at the same time i hear steve scalise over there near second base scream. he was shot. he said he took off his belt and another congressman applied a tourniquet on to the congressman to slow down that bleeding. brooks says the gun was semiautomatic. he interview he just did on cnn and said this was a security detail, it appears perhaps of congressional members shot back at the active shooter. they do not know if the shooter was killed and they say there

were about 50 to 100 shots fired according to brooks. at least five people were wounded. that does include congressman scalise of louisiana. he says two law enforcement officers did not know if one of them was local police or secret service. this interview was, you know, just coming in. these details are very fresh, george, we do want to caution, of course, that we always say in the middle of this breaking news this news is very fluid but this is from a congressman, mo brooks on the scene describing some harrowing details that took place on that baseball field. >> 50 to 100 shots. all just developing and probably started unfolding an hour ago. back to pierre thomas. we're getting some reports, as well, two officers from congressman scalise's protective detail were also shot. >> reporter: correct. not only was the congressman shot according to our sources but two members of the security protective detail that was on scene perhaps injured, as well.

again, fluid situation. but the number of shots potentially fired here is causing great concern. the notion that a rifle was also perhaps used in this attack. again, law enforcement officials descending on that scene, fbi there trying to get additional information. there is some information that the suspect apparently is in custody and that the situation is contained but obviously great concern about what happened, george. >> and it is clear from the volume of the shots, i shouldn't say clear but this would give some indication it had forethought. >> reporter: exactly, george. also you have the potential of return fire from the security detail that was there, so that might explain the number of shots involved but clearly law enforcement officials are all over this. they need to know as much as they can about the suspect as brad garrett mentioned are there additional people that were in support of this act. is it a random crime of some sort, but, again, the fact of

the fbi is on the scene investigating so quickly suggests that there is great concern that the congressman was targeted. >> and, brad garrett, i mean, yes, we know that this is a park as we learned from one of the e eyewitnesses, ben childers where the members of congress had been practicing fairly regularly. brad. >> i'm sorry, george. yes, i'm here. it is and think about two things, this is not going to be random. he knew that that group of gop folks were going to be there. he obviously took a long gun of some sort. i'm going to guess at least semiautomatic based on the number of shots fired. keep in mind, whatever law enforcement might be there, local police, maybe capital police in plainclothe, they'll have handgun, some guy shows up with an ak-47 or ar-15, they're not going to be able to compete with him and then they go into survival mode and that's when many times in these situation

the police get shot with everybody else. >> that's what we heard from the congressman brooks from the interview, he said this was pistol versus rifle. >> exactly and it's just one of those thing, kind of like taking a knife to a gunfight to a certain extent and so law enforcement, maybe is trying to protect but they're also trying to save their own lives which was, you know, an obvious thing and a normal thing for any of us to do. >> we're getting more from congressman brooks. >> reporter: george, just to recap what he's saying right now, we just need to go through some of these details. absolutely horrific scene. as many as five people could have been wounded. as you said, essentially bringing a knife to a gunfight, a rifle versus a shot -- a semiautomatic versus a pistol. 5 to 100 shots fired at this baseball diamond. he describes a shooter inside a cylinder block dugout. congressman brooks was at bat and heard the shots fired and heard his colleague,

representative scalise scream. they say he was shot, i mean, imagine this, george. two members of congress then rushing to his side to apply a tourniquet on this congressman to try to stop the bleeding. a semiautomatic weapon was used. they say a security detail tried to return fire and as we know from alexandria police from a tweet they put out earlier this morning that suspect is believed to be in custody. no official word on that suspect's condition yet and, again, george, just to caution no official word from police on the condition of any of the victims or confirmation on whether, in fact, any of those victims are members of congress but this, of course, is coming from one member of congress representati representative mo brooks who says five wounded. 50 to 100 shots fired. >> thank you. jen ashton is here. mo brooks said one member was a physician and did seem like they were doing all they could in the moment. >> yeah, when you look at this tape, george, the thing that jumps out to me from a medical

standpoint is the fact we're seeing footage of a medevac helicopter landing on the field. that gives you clue, either the severitity of the injuries is such they don't have time to go by road, by ambulance or the location is such that, again, they don't have time to put that patient in a helicopter and -- in an ambulance and go by road. so, you know, that is significant because as we know, you don't just mobilize a medevac helicopter for any, you know, run-of-the-mill injury including a gunshot wound. the other thing that i want to take you to is possible scenes going on in these local hospitals. if there are multiple victims, i can tell you this is the time of day where routine scheduled surgeries are going on. i can guarantee you that has been put on hold. these hospitals go on disaster mode. trauma teams are being called in. they have to have the capacity to run several trauma ors at the same time. blood bank is being put on disaster mode. and they are not bringing in your run-of-the-mill appendix or

knee surgery while this is still evolving. >> of course, top level medical facilities in and around washington, d.c., alexandria, just outside washington. back to pierre thomas for more on this. we are starting to get the crackle from the alexander dry ya city fire department talking about one suspect in custody. calling for medics. five people down. any more details coming in? >> reporter: again, we are now getting some additional guidance, again that the suspect is in custody. at least two members of his security detail perhaps injured along with the congressman. again, clearly other people have been shot as well. this level of activity, fbi involved, dhs officials are scrambling to get additional detail because they need to alert the entire federal law enforcement community to make sure everyone knows what is transpiring here, george. >> and, pierre, as they bring in all the law enforcement communities and bring in the fbi and as they bring in atf, are they getting any word at all

from homeland security of any kind of information or chatter coming in? >> reporter: not so far and clearly this caught everyone off guard. and there will be questions about the level of security needed when you have members of congress congregating outside of the walls of capitol hill, george. that will be an issue followed up on to be sure. >> and, mary bruce, do we knee u. usually this is a bipartisan baseball game. do we know if this was simply the republicans practicing or this was a mixed group of republican and democratic members? >> reporter: george, we're still waiting to learn the exact makeup of the team but, again, these are games that happen, you know, regularly this time of year and these practices are known. members of congress gather, they usually practice once a week building up to a big game and i have to tell you we were at a practice for our own baseball against some lawmakers next week when news of this broke and people know where these games are held. they though where people practice and usually it's a fun opportunity for lawmakers to get together. we are waiting to learn exactly

who was at that game or who was at that practice. which members of congress, but it certainly would not have been a secret that this was an area where they would be gathering for what is supposed to be a really fun annual event. >> and you're looking at live pictures from the scene. that is the delray park in alexandria, virginia. where members of congress were gathered earlier around 7:15 for a baseball game and a shooter opened fire. apparently five people are down right now including a senior member of congress, steve scalise. there he is right there, the majority whip number three ranking member has been medevac'd from the scene. according to the first reports we have right now, members of his security detail, senior members of congress have security, were engaged the shooter with gunfire and want to bring in brad garrett, excuse me, chief brown, former cheever of the dallas police department. now an abc news contributor as well. we see those police on the

scene, active scene. you see all the police gathered there right now. we know that at least one member of congress has been medevac'd. what next will the police do on that scene, chief brown? >> good morning, george. we're trying as police officers to see how wide this perimeter needs to be to capture just where this suspect might escape to and looking to cut off escape routes if we can widen the perimeter enough and then we can close it in and fill in the gaps with responding officers. so that's the first thing is to -- after you tend to the wounded and get them medical treatment make sure your perimeter is wide enough to capture any escape routes of this suspect. >> and, you know, this was a different situation for most of these in that you did have security detail on the scene at that point, the medevac was able to get there quite quickly, as well. cecilia vega, are we getting anything more from the white house. >> reporter: no, george. we're not. we know that the president and

the vice president are monitoring this closely. vice president pence is supposed to be speaking to home builders in a little over half an hour. he will be leaving the grounds of the white house to do that. the president himself also is leaving the grounds of the white house today to head over to the department of labor. that is not until later in the afternoon. we've checked with secret service to inquire about additional security or whether any extra precautions are being taken in the wake of what's happened out there at that baseball park. no word back from secret service, george, but i want to circle back to something congressman adam schiff said right as this news was breaking, that this brought back memories of gabby giffords being shot back in 2011, certainly that is on the mind of every member of congress right now as they watch that scene unfold there and wait for details on their colleagues to come back in. these harrowing details coming in from that baseball diamond this morning. >> mary bruce, we're getting encouraging information from a congressional source, one source

saying that congressman scalise's injury is not life-threatening and one protective detail men was shot in the abdomen. another in the leg. any other details? >> reporter: the word coming in that not life-threatening is certainly a huge sigh of relief up here on capitol hill as we continue to try and get to the bottom of the extent of these injuries, exactly which lawmakers may have been involved and what members of their details and as you've been mentioning steve scalise, the republican whip, the third top ranking member on the house side, members of congress are waking up to this news, as well and wondering what more they may need be to doing to protect themselves going forward. it certainly will be a key conversation here today. >> mary, as i said earlier congress had just come back from its memorial day recess and fairly busy time. what was planned today and what was the regular schedule in congress today? >> reporter: an extremely busy time for congress as they try to get as much done as they

possibly can before they head out for the fourth of july recess and then after that their august recess. a lot of focus has been going on on the senate side on health care trying to see what they can do to try to finally get their health care bill done, what that would look like. you know, of course, the russia investigation taking up a lot of oxygen on capitol hill, a lot of discussion, this is an incredibly busy time as republicans try and push through their agenda, get things done over these next few weeks before they head off for summer vacation. >> back to cecilia vega with more from congressman brooks. the congressman was saying that the shooter from what he could tell appeared to be a white male. >> reporter: he says that he appeared to be a white male and, george, i have an update on that suspect. alexandria police are tweeting the suspect is in custody and not a threat. that they say they have an officer who will be on scene shortly to share updates with the media and as congressman brooks said earlier this morning, five people were wounded.

he heard between 50 own 100 shots fired on that scene there. he saw a semiautomatic weapon. he says a security detail fired back. we're getting from that brooks interview a few more names of congressional members out on that ballpark. no word on their status at this point so i do want to caution these could be members would were out there just playing, very well may be completely fine, ron dos santos, chuck fleischman, senator rand paul, jeff flake, a senator and a number of others, he said that brooks is adding more detail to what happened and said he held a cloth over the wound of what we believe to be representative scalise. saying that because he was bleeding so much, another congressman was getting scissors, we know they applied a tourniquet to help his wound. no update on his condition at this point. these details are very fluid but, again, just to recap quickly, alexandria police say a suspect is in custody right now. and, according to congressman

brooks, at least five people have been wounded on the scene out there, george. >> right, and one source saying that the congressman's woupzs are not life-threatening. back to mary bruce, from that list this does appear to have been a republican practice. >> reporter: it does appear that way, george. republican members of congress gathering to practice, you know, just outside of washington as we've been saying. early morning baseball practice. team building opportunity for members of congress. they get together and sometimes face off against members of the press in baseball games and happens every year about this time really afun opportunity to spend time together outside of the halls of congress. that will raise questions about security they need to have even when they are outside of their formal roles, they're not in those marble we protected halls of the capitol and do have security wherever they did especially like leadership and

steve scalise. we believe that some of his security detail or some security detail may have been injured in this process but questions about just how well protected they are outside of the capitol, how close that security detail is will certainly be raised here today. >> they certainly will. senator rand paul is joining us on the phone, senator, we just heard one report that you were there at the park this morning. >> i was. i was out in the batting cage in right field when the first shots came. the first shot was kind of an isolated shot and everybody kind of looks up and says, hey, what's that and i grew up in the south and it's not that uncommon to hear somebody hunting a shotgun and i thought i'm not in the south but in the city. before we could think too much. people didn't drop down with the first shot. they weren't sure what it was and it was pretty loud and close but then after that, we heard a succession of shot, 5, 10, 15 shots in a row, steve scalise,

representative scalise was at second base, so i'm way out in right feel and i'm outside of the fence, about a 10-foot fence where i am and outside it and so he goes down but is moving and is crawling towards the outfield. there was two staff members on the other side of the ten-foot fence and i'm behind a tree now right next to the batting cage and i'm seeing shots skipping off of the warning track right around these two. >> were the shots all coming from one place, senator? >> well, that's the strange thing. at first you're not sure. my instinct was they were coming from the third base line and couldn't see the shooter but i wasn't positive and standing on the right side of the tree or the wrong side of the tree and looking to try to determine if there's one or two shooters and but the shots appear to be coming from third base line and then the more shots that were fired, there ended up being at

least 50 or 60 shots fired and at that point people are dropping and at least one of the staffers may have been hit in right field and another one, i said do you want to try to get out and all of a sudden he was up and he was over the 20-foot fence in about two seconds and i never seen anybody climb a fence that fast in my life. and he came tumbling over the other side. we were behind the tree and the shots were continuing and i think he was reloading and at that point, you know, a burst of more gunfire came and so he and i were discussing, you know, what to do and i felt like he was moving and could move around the entire field and shoot everybody so at that point we decided to make a run for it and he was hitting the dirt around us out in right field, so it was a risk to stay and a risk to go but we chose to go ahead and make a run for it and woo he had to climb a couple more fences at that point to get out. >> could you actually see the shooter or just seeing the sh

shots? did you get a good look at who this person was? >> at first i'm seeing only the shots and i'm pretty far away. i'm in right field outside of the ballpark. this is guy is outside the ballpark near the dugout and using the dugout, edge of the cinder block as cover but everybody is saying he got a blue shirt. he's got a blue shirt. i can't say i ever saw him but it felt like he was shooting a rifle and people were saying it sounded like an ar-15 but so he had a rifle. he was hitting people from a long way away and -- >> and -- >> excuse me? >> senator, where did you go next? you made a run for it? >> well, we were there for probably -- oh, i don't know, it seemed like forever, what we finally heard was the capitol hill police returning gunfire and these guys were real heroes and without them i think

everybody would have been killed. >> my goodness. i mean, yeah, you did have the security detail there, normally you don't go with a security detail but it seems like had they not been there the shooter would have had free rein. >> well, steve scalise is in leadership and that's the only reason there was security detail there at all so it's -- you know, i'm sad that he was shot but he actually saved everybody's life by being there because he had the two security details and i am telling you i don't know what happens if no one is returning fire, because even with two professionals returning fire they were both shot, both the capitol hill policemen were shot and yet one of them, i'm told even being shot in the end was still protecting scalise in the end. >> who was this practicing this morning? the entire republican team? >> yeah, we have a charity game we play, the republicans versus the democrats and there was

probably 15 or 20 of us out there, mostly congressmen, a couple of senators and then the democrats do the same thing at their field and then we meet every year. we were supposed to play in national stadium. it's fast-pitched baseball. everybody wears the uniform of somebody like a team from their state, my city has a college western kentucky university, i wear their uniform and, you know, it's a great thing. my dad used to say it was always one of the best bipartisan things we do in congress is kind of getting together outside the legislature and, you know, playing america's pastime. >> well, sir, we're glad you're okay. we see there the video right there of congressman scalise being taken away on a stretcher. appears to be conscious right there. we were told he was shot in the hip. were you -- senator, before i let you go, were you able to see if anybody as we do see congressman scalise being taken

into the helicopter, anybody treating congressman scalise or had you left the scene by then? >> when the gunshots -- when the capitol hill police started returning gunfire and appeared the guy -- the shooter may have been advancing around behind home plate and coming in our direction, that's when we decided that without a gun we weren't much good. we were too far to help the wounded. the wounded were both in the dugout and inside a 20-foot fence and scalise was shot around second base and he crawled a little bit into the outfield but unfortunately we were too far away and there were still automatic fire coming towards us, so w that point we jumped a couple of other fences and ran towards the street. >> senator, thank you for your time this morning. we're glad you're okay and of course we're all praying for congressman scalise and back to the white house. cecilia vega there, we have a statement from president trump. >> it just came in, george. i'll read it to you. it says the vice president and i

are aware of the shooting incident in virginia and are monitoring developments closely. we are deeply saddened by this tragedy. our thoughts and prayers are with the members of congress, their staffs, capitol police, first responders and all others affected. that is a statement from the white house that just came in. we are also hearing reports of increased security being tightened around the capitol and the white house, no direct confirmation of that from our end, george and just from my own vantage point on the north lawn i don't see increased security here happening at all but that's not to say it's not happening. it's just not in my line of sight here but clearly this is a tragedy that is rocking this city and this white house and the president is monitoring it very closely. >> we now have tape of the first emergency communications that came in from the alexander dry ya city fire department. >> we got one in custody. we need medics. we got a suspect. >> we have another one down.

a total of five down. tape off the whole field. >> we got some witnesses that are trying to leave. i'm trying to keep them on the scene. >> medics in the dugout. >> that was the alexandria city fire department right after the shooting about an hour ago, a little more than an hour ago. back on the phone right now the scene at delray park. what's happening there? >> hey, george, right now there were people in the dog park that were kept in lockdown by the cops while they were putting yellow tape all around the field. the people in the dog park have now been evacuated and they're now walking away. as far as the scene, it's very eerie, the field is actually -- it's a softball/baseball field and a lot of times high school teams will play there. we see a few sports bag, equipment, all over the infield. they're abandoned.

there's a lot of activity around the basketball court. lots of cops there, lots of folks on their phones. really just a lot of heavy police presence. there was a chopper flying over the field for several minutes and now the cops are telling us to move. >> where are they moving you, george? >> moving us to a staging area over on mt. vernon and monroe. real kind of very quiet residential neighborhood. lots of families, young children. there were a couple of schools already in lockdown by the time i got here. again, cops are really putting more and more yellow tape all around the field. right now police aren't talking to us right now. we're trying to get more information. >> a little more on the neighborhood. i just got an e-mail from someone who lives near the neighborhood as well. saying hardly anything bad ever happens in delray. this did just a quiet community, not expecting anything like this. >> no, not at all, george, in

fact, there's a very popular coffee place right across the street. we've been trying to get to some of those customers in there when the shooting happened but, again, this is something where i was dropping off my son at school and teachers came running out of the school saying we're in lockdown and had to give my kid away and then run over here to see what was going on. so, we're just trying to get some more detail. >> gather more details as much as you can. back to pierre thomas our senior justice correspondent and getting more information coming in. >> reporter: just talked to a law enforcement official who confirmed much of what the senator was telling you, that two members of the security detail responded to the suspect, multiple gunshots fired. the suspect is in custody according to the source. has been taken to g.w. hospital because the suspect was injured according to this source, again, the suspect taken to g.w. hospital and, again, we're being

told multiple, multiple shots fired but they are feeling some level of relief because they believe that they have one suspect in custody. he was injured and has been taken to gw hospital. >> any more on the condition of the others shot, pierre? >> reporter: again, the information is that the two law enforcement officers were wounded. the source did -- said one person was flown by medstar. we saw that helicopter was generally indicates some sort of severe injury. >> okay. and pierre thomas, thanks very much. want to go now we have one eyewitness on the scene. let's hear what that person had to say. >> it was a guy hiding in the bushes and he shot -- it was at least they said about 50 shots. a semiautomatic rifle. and like five people were shot. that's all -- >> you work at the "y" that's next to this baseball field is. >> that's right. >> and can you tell me what this community is like? i mean, this is an unusual

circumstance here. >> very unusual. it's just -- eighth a great community. no problems. very quiet around here. great people, so it's just crazy to hear something like that happen. >> want to go back to cecilia vega at the white house. cecilia, we're getting information coming in from jon karl as well our jon karl saying a member of the leadership is telling him that one staffer and one lobbyist also shot confirming the five people down. >> reporter: and, jon is reporting, george, that a senior member of gop leadership is telling him that scalise and members of his security detail as we know were hit. they say that scalise was hit in the hip and should be okay. of course, we saw those immanages of him right there on that stretcher after this incident. so some of the details that we do know at this point we heard from others that were on that scene. five people were shot, we're hearing between 50 to 60 possibly as many as 100 shots

fired out there this morning. security being upped around the white house and the capitol right now. as we know that suspect is in custody as per just reported being treated at the hospital. the details from what happened at that baseball diamond just absolutely stunning. the security detail that opened fire on a shooter who was inside the dugout with what we're being told was a semiautomatic weapon, senator rand paul crediting that security detail for saving their lives, that story of congressmen running for their lives from that baseball diamond to help steve scalise, representative steve scalise tying a tourniquet for him and they just say they would not be alive right now had it not been for that security detail. >> he said it would have been a massacre. cecilia, thanks very much. we want to bring in ray kelly, former chief of police in new york city and, ray, you know, we've talked about this so many types before. we don't know anything about motive right now. all we know so far is that this

was a single shooter. likely a white male in a blue shirt. but this is the kind of thing that we've been so concerned about. a single person can't be stopped. >> you're right. absolutely, particularly someone who obviously is willing to give his life. security detail is right there. they acted. the individual is still alive and we'll get the motive. we'll be able to execute warrants and go to his house, look at his computer work, that sort of thing but you're right, george, somebody willing to sacrifice their life, it's very, very hard to stop, apparently this game was or the practice was fairly well known in the area. >> ray, let me interrupt you for a second. we have senator jeff flake who is on the scene is speaking now. >> i just batted and -- >> was standing watching some

batting practice. and all of a sudden you heard a shot. a very loud shot. everybody thought sounded like a gun and then rapid succession after that. he had a rifle of some type and it was obviously a large gauge rifle and there were people in the field, one staffer was shot out in the field and he ran with his wounds to the dugout. a lot of us dove into the dugout and tried to get as many as we could but then at that point there was firing behind us from the security detail, the capitol police and i started yelling back, are you friendly, are you friendly. making sure that was our guys because we didn't know if there were other shooters that had us surrounded and coming in the dugout so we didn't know whether to run or not but as soon as we found out we had a friendly behind us then we stayed and tried to keep down. i poked my head up and saw the

shooter behind the backstop or behind the fence but he could see the line of shot -- a line of fire into the dugout. >> by firing through the fence. >> well, he was firing around but he still could have fired into the dugout. that's why we keep everybody down. joe barton's boy was here, 10-year-old shagging balls and stuffed him under the bench. joe barton is a congressman from texas. >> did this appear to be a coordinated attack? >> well, it looks like only one shooter, so you got to assume he knew what he was doing here. whether he was targeting certain members, we don't know. >> how long until he was down? >> it was at least ten -- it seemed like a lot longer but it was at least ten minutes in did you realize if there were capital police officers armed with you here. >> yes. >> you knew ahead of time. >> we did. steve scalise is a member of the leadership team, the whip so he has a security detail.

there are two of his detail were shot. one african-american gentleman shot in the leg and i believe he's the one that brought the shooter down. he ran around for quite a while with a leg wound returning fire and then after i got out -- i was the first out to steve and then brad, another member from ohio, who is a physician came out and we applied pressure on the wound. >> he seems okay to you. >> yeah, he was coherent the whole time. but, boy, he laid out -- he laid out there for at least ten minutes alone in the feel and we just -- we couldn't get to him while there were shots. >> right here. >> did the shooter say anything? >> not that -- there was a lot of yelling going on but to tell you the truth some of the other members had different angles so they may have heard him yell something but i didn't. but the two security detail -- i think the woman was crystal is her name was shot, i think, pretty early and she went down

and so the other gentleman was returning fire. >> what sort of -- >> female, yeah, capitol police officer wounded and airlifted. >> maybe shot in the head? >> no, there was i think a gentleman by the name of matt was shot in the chest and so he was taken i think by ambulance. >> what do you make of this? >> what do you make of it? just i have no idea. no idea. but i got steve scalise's phone and called his wife and i just didn't want her to wake up and hear the news and not foe what was going on so i talked to her. >> senator, what specific members do you remember being in the dugout with you? >> chuck fleischman, marty, the photographer was there, i think mo brooks came in during that time you'd see more and more pile in. i think there were about 12, some staff, some members, maybe six, eight members in the dugout

and but like i said there were people hiding behind trees. there's a dog park over there and i think there are always people over there so i think they were running the other direction. >> you said ten minutes to get the gunman down but you had security details. what took so long. >> he had a lot of ammo and must have been secured behind the third base dugout for awhile so it was tough to get to him. >> took a tactical standpoint? ? it seemed so. initially he was right out in the open. marty, our photographer saw him raise the gun, rifle, he thought why in the world is someone bird hunting at this time? just i -- looked like 40s, maybe 50. dark hair, white with a blue shirt on, i think jeans. my view of him was just quick

behind the dugout and then when i realized he had a line of sight into the dugout with all the members there, then we obviously went back down quickly. >> there were reports of 50 to 100 gunshots. obviously that was because capitol police were returning fire. >> yeah, that -- 50 would be an understatement i'm quite sure. >> senator, we're being joined by a national audience. can you recap exactly what you saw? >> well, we were -- >> from the beginning? we were doing batting practice and there are a number of members and staff fielding, steve scalise was on second base, playing second base fielding balls and all of a sudden we heard a very loud shot, everybody thought it sounds like a gun and the gunman was over by the third base dugout with a clear view of the field. >> okay, so you have been hearing -- >> we'll keep an eye on senator jeff flake but getting more details coming in right now and want to go to brad garrett.

pretty chilling scene. described there. 50 to 100 shots. male in his late 40s, 50s securing himself behind the dugout and shooting for up to ten minutes while members of congress running for cover including their kids. this was a person who came prepared to kill. >> well, he may have come prepared, george, but he's not very good. i mean the idea that you could take a version of an ar-15, shoot 50 to 100 rounds and doesn't sound like based on what you and i know at this moment you fatalities. you have people shot. you have two police officers probably with semiautomatic handguns return fire. it sounds like to me they must have hit him at somepoint. either altered his ability to shoot accurately or shoot -- to continue shooting so, you know, the suggestion here is, yes, he went and did what he wanted to

do, however, wasn't particularly precise or accurate or maybe even driven. >> from this description from senator flake unlike some other situations we've dealt with in the past this was not a shooter who appears to have tried to protect himself anyway. he went behind the dugout but wasn't wearing any kind of protective vest, helmet, anything like that. >> no, this clearly, george, sounds like a guy who got fired up yesterday, last night about something and maybe he's angry at the gop for whatever. so he picked an easy location where there would be minimal security and that anybody could drive up, pick a gun out of the trunk of their car and start shooting so i want to also point out one other thing, george, this is another example of soft targets. where the reality is congressmen like the rest of us travel around. they have security details. however, these things are almost completely impossible to defend against unless obviously you know in advance. >> that's right. back to pierre thomas as well as

our senior justice correspondent. pierre, senior law enforcement officials say so far no indication of a connection to terrorism. >> reporter: that's correct, george. we're getting early indications no connection to terrorism but on the phone with a senior law enforcement official who said, again, it's way too early to make any final conclusions but that is the early look that they have. they are beginning to do a background check on the suspect. they will look at his computers and try to find out who he's been in communication with. that will take some time but the early indication, no connection to terrorism but a law enforcement official said they're just beginning to dig into this man's background. >> back to cecilia vega at the white house. >> reporter: george, the president has just sent out a tweet and says representative steve scalise of louisiana, a true friend and patriot was badly injured but will fully recover. our thoughts and prayers are with him. we know that the white house is actively closely monitoring this situation. the vice president is scheduled,

we don't know if this is supposed to still happen to speak at an event away from the white house in about eight minutes. there was a moment of silence held there by another republican congressman who was at that event at the start of that event. let's do a quick recap, george, to see senator jeff flake in that baseball jersey talking about these harrowing details, was a really -- he said 50 shots being fired on that baseball field is an understatement. we know from our jon karl's reporting four people were shot, one staffer, one member of steve scalise's detail, a lobbyist and representative steve scalise whose injuries are not life-threatening and believe he was shot in the hip. george, i do want to say we just got word -- we received word that the vice president's speech that was supposed to happen was just canceled. we also know that one person who was on that baseball field, ohio congressman brad wenstrop, a

doctor, among those who tended to steve scalise on that baseball diamond. >> we are awaiting -- we expect the police chief brown to be speaking shortly in alexandria. an eyewitness is on the phone with us right now. noah nathan. noah, tell us where you were, what you saw. >> i was in a dog park right next to the field and i was just going into the dog park, sort of like an entryway you go in. and when i heard the first shot and, of course, at first you didn't think it was a shot but some kid with fireworks and hear another one and then people running so i just like laid down on the ground and holding on to my dog to make sure they wouldn't run off because i couldn't close the gate behind "me before you" a-- and trying o figure out where they were. you could see them flash off like the road like the little trail and hitting some of the tents and really when you try to get behind the trash can in

there, and really there was nothing i could do and so get my phone out and started recording it, the police have that video so i haven't got my phone back so hopefully they can use it. >> what were you recording exactly? >> i was just trying to find out where the shooter was, i was just age around. i could see the shooter -- i don't know if it was by the snack bar or in the dugout but in that area and a lot of people running. there was from what i understand a congressman in the outfield was laying down. he wasn't moving. a lot of people were just trying to get out of the way and then police were returning fire, returning fire and took -- it took a long time, felt like -- i'm sure it felt longer than it was. and eventually, you know, just all the shooting ended and they got him and everybody just got up, walk around and try to realize what happened. >> did you get any kind of a good look at the shooter. i know he was moving around and

he was behind that dugout. any detail on what he looked like? not that i could see. i was trying to record it and that way they can do something with the video. maybe they can blow it up and use something. but with my own eye i couldn't see. but i was about 100 yards away. >> but and you saw only -- you didn't see the shooter but you were aware of only one shooter on the scene. >> correct. as far as i know. i could see where they were copping from and where the police were shooting towards. >> and -- >> i could see the police shooting back but i couldn't see the shooter itself. i could hear the bullets and -- ricocheted. >> from where you were could you hear anything. was the shooter saying anything? >> i couldn't hear the shooter say anything. i could hear the police -- i don't know if they were trying to get him to lay his gun down and then some of the people that were people shot yelling just put him down.

it wasn't the type of thing you expect before you have your coffee in the morning. >> not exactly what you expect at that park at any time. we've been told and you're there, i guess, every day. this is just a peaceful family park. >> yeah, well, it's a dog, pa. it's a nice dog park, dogs run around. get some exercise. so, but, yeah, every morning or at least most mornings the baseball team has been practicing so not a secret. sometimes there's secret service or protection with them. i guess maybe -- >> so it was pretty well known the members of congress have been practicing in that park. >> right, i think it's just the republicans, i don't know where the democrats practice but most mornings they're here practicing for the game and it's nice. you know, some of them will bring kids like this morning there were some kids there, i guess they were out of school but there was a father and son, i don't know who they were but they were practicing batting in the batting cams and some kids

in the outfield, i guess, but, i don't know who this guy is, i don't know anything about him but i don't know. >> it's just so hard to even contemplate that someone would want to open fire on a scene like that. noah, thanks very much for sharing your story with us but also sharing that tape with the police. we want to keep our eye on the scene right there. i'm bringing in jen ashton as we show what was happening to congressman scalise earlier. we're learning more detail about how he was treated on the scene. >> this is another opportunity to give a shoutout to the first responders, the paramedic, emts. what i want you to pay attention to is that the congressman has had his shirt removed. that is standard procedure when you have bleeding uncontrolled bleeding or something like a gunshot wound at the scene, the first premise of those responders is to expose the area to get control of that bleeding above the point of entry. so if you have a hip injury, obviously you would need to expose the lower abdomen, the chest. they have to inspect the patient

to find out if there were other entry wounds or exit wounds, and you know, first responders do not passion their very dwen credentialling exam without passing, is the scene safe, do they have their gloves on? we have to remember put yourself in these first responders' shoes. they don't know the scene is safe and being called in to give emergency medical attention to someone who is assumed to be hemodynamically unstable and suffered a gunshot wound and the footage, he has nasal oxygen, i.v. lines taped to his arm and ekg monitors. this is extensive, you know, basic trauma medical procedure done in the field. we have to recognize the skill and fortitude and composure of these first responders. >> you're right. when they go there, they don't know. >> they have no idea and, in fact, it's so counterintuitive. any first responder, police officer, firefighter, paramedic,

emt, we go in to help but you will fail your credentialing if you go into an area not secured. they have to make an assessment. the police would tell us this scene is not secure, you cannot go and help that patient yet you're seeing them do it and we have to remember to be clear this is not something that many of them may have ever done they deserve a tremendous shoutout. >> and we're getting information from one of the congressmen who was scene. he said, i felt like i was back in iraq but without my weapon, and he describes what they were doing. compression on the wound. doing what they call a sweep? >> that's the premise of our emt or paramedic system. they just get that patient into an ambulance or a chopper and they get them to the hospital, so you have seen pretty

extensive stabilization that was done at the scene, but for bleeding, anyone listening can do this themselves, you put direct, firm, continuous pressure on a wound. >> another point he makes is hydration. the congressman was saying he was thirsty, but this is the alexandria police chief. let's go there. >> once we have more information, we will certainly pass on whatever information we can to make sure that you have the information you need for your work. thank you very much. i'm going to turn -- i'm going to turn it back over to the alexandria chief. >> we're not going to answer any questions at this point because as the chief pointed out, this is an active, ongoing investigation at the crime scen