this manpower, law enforcement power that comes on scene and you use it. you know how to set up the outer perimeter, the inner perimeter. you know the job that s.w.a.t.'s going to do, you know the air cover you can do. that's something the local police would be normally the coordinating agency for. they would know what would come, they would know how to use it. and it's their job to make sure people don't stand around if there is in fact a shooter to be caught. >> clint, stand by. we're at the top of the hour. for those of you just joining us, we're covering breaking news out of northern california from a town caud gilroy, california. a population of roughly 50,000, 60,000 people. at 5:30 local time, now 10:00 p.m., we're now looking at four and a half hours into a mass shooting at the moment, the local police gilroy police saying that this is an active scene. what nbc news can report at the

moment at least 11 shot. on the right-hand side, you're looking at some of the live pictures coming out of a chopper cam that has been monitoring what is at the scene from a very high level. that is what we know at the moment. at least 11 shot and three dead. more shortly. we have been getting most of our information based on that the officials have been very careful as they normally are in these situations to provide information from eyewitnesss.

we'd like to go to another one that was there today at the garlic festival in gilroy, california. and her name is ariel la duron. she is an eyewitness of what happened. can you hear me? >> yes, i can hear. >> you ariel la, where were y youing and what did you see that happened. >> at the beginning we were standing right next to the right corner of the stage and the band didn't understand that they needed to like close understand that they needed to close down. they begged for one more song. we decided to just leave. as soon as we talked, i don't know, 30 feet away, we heard the first two booms. the first two -- it sounded like two bangs. it sounded like there was going to be some fireworks. so, i firstly looked up in the

sky. there was no fireworks. there was a little bit of smoke. then immediately there was a series of shots luke a semimachine. it wasn't a regular -- i have a military background and i can identify shots that were made by something that could shoot single shots which was the first weapon and the second series of shots were different, a different weapon. and so there had to have been two people. i haven't seen people really. but i just, you know, enormous amount of people started to scream and yell bloody murder. it's shotguns, just run, run, run, and people that were employees started encouraging everybody to run, actually encouraging to become a stampede. and that's exactly what happened unfortunately.

>> ariela. you said you have military background. what is it you can describe? >> yeah, i'm -- i've been in the israeli military. >> so, as you were listening to these gunshots, can you give me a sense were they fast? were they slow? is it bop, bop, bop? you have an understanding of how different firearms work. >> yeah. the first one was pop-pop. and the second was pop pop pop pop pop like that but semi. you can totally tell a difference between the two. >> and how far apart were these and how many was in the first grouping? >> well, they were really -- they were back to back. it was almost like the first person shot two times and then the other person started shooting right after because they couldn't have been one person exchanging the weapon. so, unless there was a

hesitation in the beginning and just two pops and then decided to go full on and spray people, that's where the big panic started. everybody was running in all directions trying to get as far away as possible. pretty much like running on top of each other, pushing. and everybody was looking for their people. i got separated. and you know, i was trying to find a place to hide. what really concerned me was the fact that there was an area where people literally were jumping over the fence to get out of the park. literally over the fence. >> what kind of fence was this? was it a chain link fence? was it a claw fence? >> it's just a regular, you know, those square regular e fences. it wasn't anything crazy. i think it should have been a

lot higher and maybe had some barb wire on top. but it was just a regular fence. there was some sort of a hole or some sort of break in the fence that people were literally -- they had to assist each other to. >> to get over. >> to run over it. they ran over it. once you go over the fence, you were right in the forest, these trees and vegetation. so, i don't know what -- the background doesn't have -- being from a country that has a lot of incidents, unfortunately, i look at everything around me, make sure that i see all the details. and that really struck me weird that it wasn't a place that was watched at all. people could come in and out however they wanted. >> right. and part of the point here, ariela, another eyewitness was describing to me a little bit

earlier was a security on the way in. can you describe to me what the security was like for you on the way into the festival? >> well, the only thing they did was they asked -- i literally opened my bag -- they didn't even ask me to open my bag. i literally had to open my bag because i'm used to it. i wanted him to see inside my bag. i don't think the security was enough to -- >> was there a metal detector? >> no. not at all. there's people that were not even officers were checking. i don't think they had any real background of security. and that really concerns me. it concerns me and it concerns that i have family and friends that were there that day -- i mean today. and it could have been so much worse. i mean, if we had stalled another minute and a half or two minutes, we would have been

right in it. >> how many doors -- how many entrances were there, ariela to this festival? >> you know, there were -- i think there were like three ways to get out. you had to go in the bus. so, there were one that was yellow and one was a different color. i think it was orange. and they were right next to -- not too far from each other. but it will take you to different locations. and there were three parts to the whole park. they were divided by trees. and there was a children area. so, i don't -- >> aryella, stand by. i want to go straight to this camera at the press briefing and let's listen in to see what's being said now. >> the executive director of the garlic festival. understand that the situation is still fluid. it's active. this will be a short briefing

followed by no more than three to five questions. we are planning a press conference first thing tomorrow morning which will be pushed out via our social and digital media platforms. my name is captain pedro espennoza. thank you. >> thank you all for being here. first, let me say that i want to express my extreme shock and sadness for what has happened today. this is an active investigation. i would ask for the thoughts and prayers of the community as our gilroy police officers continue

to investigate this tragic and senseless crime. also, our thoughts and prayers are going out to the victims and their families. we are, again, continuing the investigation. we plan on being out here all night. and, as was said earlier, there will be another press conference tomorrow. as the unvest interrogatiinvest our local law enforcement and their partners will investigate every aspect of this crime. and later, you will receive additional information from the chief regarding reunification and ways for individuals to contact the city and reconnect

with their loved ones. all right. thank you. >> i believe that was the mayor speaking. we have more coming to the microphone. this is the news briefing. we can tell it's going to be very brief. they're going to get straight to the points. let's listen in. >> i'm the chief of police for the city of gilroy, scott smithy. obviously this is one of those press conferences that you never want to have to give in your community. >> can you speak loudly? >> sure. >> thank you. >> this is one of those press conferences you never want to have to give in your community. and it's sort of a nightmare that you hope you never have to live in reality, but unfortunately we find ourselves in the circumstances where we have to live this today. i'm going to give you some brief information with the information that i have right now. we have literally dozens of officers working on this as we

speak. so, a lot more information will be coming to light throughout the evening and into the morning tomorrow. and if we have additional information to share, we'll push out through our social media platforms. it will set up another conference so that we can share that information with you. this incident tonight started at about 5:41 p.m. there were reports of shooting on the north side of the garlic festival area. officers were in that area and engaged the suspect in less than a minute. the suspect was shot and killed. it appears as if they had come into the festival via the creek which borders a parking area, and they used some sort of a

tool to cut through the fence to be able to gain access through the secure fence line. and that's how they got into the festival area itself. we have one suspect, you kn we t is down. we have some witnesses reporting that there may have been a second suspect. but we don't know if that suspect was engaged in any shooting or whether they may have been in some sort of support role for the person that we have accounted for. we have at least 15 people injured. we have four fatalities that we know of including the suspect. the officers that engaged the suspect, obviously we have a protocol that we need to deal with for that. so, santa clara county has a protocol for dealing with

officer-involved shootings. that's another layer of complexity with the shooting that we're investigating from the suspect. we put out a call for assistance. we had many, many officers in the park at the time that this occurred as we do any day during festival which accounts for the very, very quick response time. when we put out the call the record help, we've gotten help from agencies all across santa clara county and monterey county. and i can't thank those agencies enough. they came from, you know, pretty good distances away to be here to help support and provide assistance with our investigation in deal being the chaos of the scene at the time that it occurred. we have set up some things, you know, a reunification. you know, in the panic, people go out different ways than they came in and families got separated. and so we have this area gavolin

college in gilroy set up as a reunification area to reunite families that got separated. we also have a phone number for families to be able to call and we have people staffing those phone numbers to work on the reunification process. that phone number is 408-846-0584. we also are asking for any witnesses because there is quite a number of people in the park. anybody that witnessed this incident that can tell us anything, that took any photographs, that perhaps videotaped anything that might be relevant to this investigation to please contact us. and we've set up a special phone number for witnesses as well. and that phone number is 408-846-0583. and that's about what i know at

this point in time. >> chief, at this point you're not certain that there is a second suspect, that witnesses may have identified a second one, but you're not entirely confident that's the case? >> we believe based on witness statements that there was a second individual involved in some way. we just don't know in what way. >> do you have a description of this person? >> i do not at this point. >> is there a motive? >> do we know anything about the suspect? >> i don't have any information on the suspect yet. and that will take a little bit of time as with the victims as well. that will take time before we identify them and make family notifications. >> [ inaudible question ] >> what is being done to apprehend the second suspect if there is a second suspect? >> as i said, we've gotten assistance from literally dozens of law enforcement agencies across two counties. so, we have teams working to try

to track down and identify leads regarding the second suspect. we're very hopeful that with the witnesses and staumts that people are able to give us that that will help us to do that. >> do you have security camera at the festival? >> security cameras? >> yes. >> no, not posted security cameras, no. >> the second person was not armed, is that correct? >> we do not know what the involvement is of the second person at this point in time. >> can you clarify the amount of people injured and go into some of the injuries, the range? >> you know, i don't know what the injuries are. i haven't got a report on that. i do know that the list that they're keeping, the master list, it was up to 15 people the last time i looked at it. and that included the four -->> [ inaudible question ] >> i have no idea what the motive is at this point. >> what makes the suggestion there was a second shooter or someone working with the shooter?

what did they report to you? >> i'm sorry. i don't have specifics on that other than people reported a subject leaving the area that they thought was associated with this person. >> was it a gilroy officer that took him out? >> it was gilroy officers that engaged this suspect, yes. >> do you know the age of those who were injured? >> i do not have the age range at this point. i'm sorry. we'll be able to get more of that when we do an update tomorrow. >> are any children among the fatalities? >> i do not know. >> what type of weapon was found? can you tell us? >> he had some sort of a rifle, but i don't know what type of rifle it was. >> we talked to people who went to the festival that had questions about security. do you know did people have to pass through metal detectors, bag searches to get inside? >> yes, they do have to go through metal detectors. they have wands they use on people. they search bags. we have tight security for getting people into the

festival. >> can you talk more about how the person got in? >> [ inaudible question ] >> the indications initially given to me is they used some sort of a tool to cut through a perimeter fence to gain access. >> we heard reports that the shooter was dressed as a police officer. can you verify that at all? >> i have not heard that. >> [ inaudible question ] >> it is an active scene and because of the magnitude, it will continue to be active for some time. >> a witness said the person was dressed in camouflage clothes. can you confirm that? >> i do not know. >> we'll take one more question, folks. >> [ inaudible question ] shooter was shooting at random? do you know about that? >> you know, i don't feel comfortable making an assumption, but it appears that way at least initially that it was somewhat random as he moved out into the festival area.

>> your reaction to this happening here at this institution of an annual event that happens here? what's your overall take of this violence happening in your community? >> well, i'll make that the last question. you know, the city of gilroy is an incredible community. and we have incredible people here. and i'm really proud to have been the chief here and lead this force because we have such a wonderful community and community support. and i think that this festival say perfect example of that because it takes literally thousands of our residents that volunteer their time to come put this on for people and to raise funds for all of our community-based organizations and charities and whatnot. and unit say that about a lot of communities. and i think that the number of people that are willing to give their time for the betterment of other people is a wonderful

thing. and it's just incredibly sad and disheartening that an event that does so much good for our community has to suffer from a tragedy like this. >> is a man hunt under way for the second suspect? is that a fair characterization? >> i would say that's a fair characterization. i'm going to stop now. >> we're going to allow the executive director of the festival to say a couple of comments. >> good evening. i'm brian bow, the executive director of the gilroy garlic festival. to reiterate a little bit of what scott smithy said, gilroy is an amazing community, a tightly knit community. we are family. we have the wonderful opportunity in this community to celebrate our family through our

garlic festival. and for over four decade, that festival has been our annual family reunion. and it is such a sad just horribly upsetting circumstances that this happened on the third and final day of this year's festival. our 4,000 plus local volunteers work so hard every year. and to have seen this event end this way this day is just one of the most tragic and sad things that i've ever had to see. and we all feel so upset for those that are impacted, friend, families, neighbors. it's just a horrible thing to

experience, and we couldn't feel worse. our prayers do go out to the friends and families and loved ones of everyone that was affected by this. we couldn't be more thankful for the really immediate response of the first responders, the police personnel that were on site. they did an amazing job of controlling the situation as quickly as they possibly could and we thank them for that. that's about all that i have to say. i'll refer any more questions to anyone else here. thank you very much. >> [ inaudible question ] >> that is yet to be determined. more than likely it'll be somewhere closer to city hall or police department. we'll push that out via digital media platforms. i want to take a moment to thank you for your patience. understand our community is grieving.

like i mentioned earlier, this is an active investigation. it is fluid. we have multiple agencies currently assisting us. we will keep you appraised. once we solidify the time and location, rest assured that we'll put that out so that we can provide you the most current information. again, thank you, and i appreciate your patience. >> news briefing there, gilroy, california, 1024 t:24 local tim. roughly about 15 minutes providing the most information they could at this moment based on what they can confirm and the information available to them at that time. i think the chief of police scott smithy certainly shared a lot to us as we were watching here, not only the tone and the difficulty for the community itself, he being a local, he giving the information of gavolin college, the college he went to as a young teenager, returning as the chief of police, now giving the sad news.

when he gave the comments it meant something personal to him as is most often the case when we look at shootings luke this. to just recap for you in case you may have missed any of the details that the chief of police scott smithy did relate to us, 15 people injured, four fatalities including a suspect. a rifle, a first suspect that was killed within minutes according to the chief of police by an officer from gilroy police who were at this festival. again, they were saying it's the 40th anniversary. a second suspect is believed -- an unknown is the word that was used, a second suspect. the role, unknown at the moment, support or otherwise. this second suspect's involvement or details behind who this second suspect may be unknown and that potentially is why they have been consistent in saying this is an active investigation. this is an active scene as dozens of officers according to

the chief of police remain working on this this hour. not going to hear from them. they are saying at the microphones for the rest of this evening any details can be found on the gilroy police twitter account which they have been providing updates occasionally based on what they were able to confirm and then press out. the pieces of information, again, 15 injured, four fatalities including the suspect according to the chief of police. steven week, nbc news producer there at that press briefing from moments ago. steven, you know, he was very careful in what he would provide as is common in these breaking news stories. >> reporter: right. that's true. and you know, there had been a lot of talk about possibly two active shooters. they're calling it a fluid situation. they're still trying to figure out if there is a second person. but, you know, first there was the heartbreak of 11 people

shot, three people fatal. and then the shooter himself. we were just hearing from eyewitnesses just before the police started talking who said that they saw the suspect down in handcuffs blood coming out of his head and then he was taken out, you know, quite quickly. however, the panic continued and on my way down here, i continued to hear how they were, you know, looking for this possible other suspect. as you heard the chief saying, that second person may have been in some kind of a support position, not necessarily armed. wouldn't confirm that. however, you know, there are still choppers in the air here up until a very short time ago. >> so, you're saying right now if you were to look up into the sky, you do not see more helicopters surveying the crime scene? >> reporter: at this time, no. but up until just about 45 minutes ago they were.

there were and there were active s.w.a.t and heavy vehicles traveling past this command post, searching the area. there's rumbles on social media that somebody might be running around. but officially all we know is that they're not calling it over yet as you heard. >> right. >> reporter: and the way the guy came in, even though there was security and there were police who took him out -- >> steven, are you still there? steven week, our nbc news producer on the ground there clearly is monitoring the press briefing for us right there in front of those microphones. he hopped on the phone very quickly for us to give us the details. looks like we may have lost connection with him right now. we'll get back to him. he was at the reunification point which is ten minutes from the crime scene itself. that's where they were giving the press briefing. clint van sant was with us

listening to the details coming from the chief of police. what stood out to you clint? >> obviously the chief was very circumspect. he wasn't going to give out more information than he could confirm which is of course his job. he does tell us that there are 15 injured, that there are four dead to include what is believed to be the shooter. it was fatherly amazing that local law enforcement, the local community, approximat community pd was able to engage the shooter right away. >> he said within minutes, clint. >> yeah, within minutes. i heard one witness earlier today describe a series of a semiautomatic rifle and a hand gun going off, two different weapons. that would account for the subject shating and the police officer shooting. i think what most people are concerned with now is the potential for a second shooter to be out there or someone who gave aide and assistance.

and in a case like this, law enforcement hopefully already knows the identity of the shooter who's down and dead or they will find that out very quickly. and then they'll cast a very wide net, a social net and an internet type of net that's going to be thrown out to try to identify anyone that the shooter had contact with by telephone, by email, by computer that he worked with, a family member who could have, if there was a second person involved, who could have assisted him either in simply helping him to cut a hole in the fence and come through or perhaps may have been a second shooter. so, that's the challenge for law enforcement right now. be sure you've got the identity of the first shooter, find out the potential of the second shooter, if he or she is out there, get them in custody as quick as they can. >> cedric alexander also still with us.

cedric, what stood out to you from the chief of police? >> well, you know, they were very cautious in term of how much information they needed to share or should share at this time. this is still early in this investigation, as you go into the fifth and sixth hours of this incident. but this is appeared to have been so heart felt for that chief as you mentioned earlier in terms of his relationship to that community. and i think each one of those persons tonight that came up to that podium, you certainly could sense the sadness that they all had and the helplessness that they felt as well too because it is just so, so incredibly hard for any of us to accept this tragedy that we saw there tonight, just such a large number of very innocent, very innocent citizens there in that

community who were just out enjoying themselves and their families. but, you know, there's a lot of information still yet to be gathered. but what grabs me the most to your question, what grabs me the most with each one of the speakers that came to that podium is that they were just overwhelmed with a great deal of sadness and sympathy for the loss of those lives and those that were injured tonight. >> we did not get that information necessarily, but you heard the number of volunteers, both of you, cedric and clint, 4,000 local volunteers. we don't know if those were injured. we don't know if those who lost their lives today, the threeic ha victims from the suspect are some of those volunteers. and it's a town that you probably know everybody, especially given, for instance for the chief of police who's been there for decades, a student at the very spot where he had to give this press

briefing that he may have known these very individuals. one of the things that did come out when i look at this, clint, was because you and i were talking earlier in the evening about how three sides, at least according to the map, that this park where this festival is held every year is open to rolling hills. and one of those locations earlier we were watching it on air from a chopper cam was a creek or a little river. and you heard the chief of police say that at this location they found evidence of cutting through one of the fence, right? and that this suspect entered through that and began shooting. just another element of could you prepare for that and how tough it is to create a security

corr determina cord ent in locations like this. >> this is about 55 acres. that's a lot of territory. that's a big fence to go around this entire facility. that would take, you know, i'm sure would take a whole police department and more just to try to handle that. so, part of what they do is rely on just good citizens not to be trying to cut through or leap over fences to come through the normal opening. but in this case, it sounds like that was the weak link as far as gaining entrance was to be able to come there in advance. and when we say come there in advance, when the chief of police, they, speaking in plural, were able to cut through the fence, that means that one or more people were there with some type of device to cut through the fence. therefore, they came there and they planned on doing that. they had wire cutters, bolt cutters or something that they brought with them. so, this was premeditated as far

as how the shooter was going to get in as well as the shooting itself. >> cedric alexander, thank you for being with us. clint van sant, thank you for being with us. stand by. we're going to take a short break. on the other side of the break, we're going to look into what is this second potential suspect and what is that role. and based on what the chief of police was telling the press and those concerned in the community what does that mean for the community of gilroy, california right now in this question of what was the role of this second suspect, this second person that we did not necessarily have a lot of detail on. we'll go back to gilroy, california in just a little bit covering the breaking news at the moment. 15, at least 15 people injured, 4 fatalities, including the suspect. the suspect. ce. so sports clothes sit around growing odors. that's why we graduated to tide pods sport. finally something more powerful than the funk.

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bop pop bop and all of a sudden the bullets started coming right past. we got on the ground. he started back shooting. me and another lady was running and the lady didn't make it because she got shot in the neck. after she got shot in the neck, me, her, and a sheriff hid behind an enterprise truck. she was shot in the neck. the sheriff instructed us to jump over the fence. we ran and jumped over the fence to leave. >> that unbelievable stuff. who were you with at the time? were you with children, with a group? >> three of my family members. one of them is missing right now. two of us made it back to the car safely. right now we've been told my uncle was at the school. i don't know where that's at. right now i'm in front where all the ambulance are taking people and air lifting people. it's crazy. >> so, have you -- i mean i'm assuming you've been trying to call this family member, track

him down. >> he lost his phone. i ran out of my shoes. i don't even have shoes. everything is just lost. >> the person who was shot in the neck, was it a -- >> it's a lady. she was dressed really nice and her daughter -- she had a small kid with her. she was shot in the neck. >> did she survive? >> that, i don't know. the sheriff was aiding her. and we were hidden under a truck, a utility hit. we were hidden under a utility truck. we used that for shelter. >> terrifying afternoon, a terrifying evening there. our local affiliate kntv who have throughout the evening given us insight from the witnesses in terms of the experience. we've also been able to speak with eyewitnesses here on msnbc, they giving their first account experience. i think the one take away that all of them have shared certainly as you can imagine, the terror and the horrific

reality that they were facing what was only for maybe 15 minutes but felt certainly much longer than that. we're looking of course at live pictures coming out of the area when we can because it's still an active investigation as we learned from the press briefing that just finished up within the last 15 or 20 minutes. we're also watching this camera. . and it's going to be the latest briefing from st. louise regional hospital. let's listen in. >> ready? >> ready. >> hi, i'm joy alexio. i'm the public health official for the santa clara region. as you may know, saint louise hospital received six gunshot wound patients earlier this

evening. two of those patients were transferred here to santa clara valley medical center. one of those patients sadly is deceased. of the three remaining patients, a little bit of good news. two of them have been discharged. they were treated and discharged. santa clara valley medical center in addition to the two transferred patients had received another five gunshot wound patients directly from the scene. of those five, one has been discharged. so, we're still treating the other victims. our staff has been doing a great job. we had so many calls from staff coming in, just showing up or calling to come in and help tonight to be able to care for these patients. that's the news we've been able to discharge a few people tonight. so, they're going home.

>> can you talk about the injuries. >> so, at saint louise hospital, one patient remains in serious condition. at santa clara valley medical center, the patients are still -- the rest of them are still either in critical, serious, or fair condition. >> so, regionally, when you talk about this, two have been transferred here. so, you had a total of seven gunshot wound victims here in san jose? >> right. >> can you just go over again one of those seven has been discharged? >> one of the seven has been i discharged. >> and the other six are still in -- >> the other six are still in the hospital in fair to critical condition. >> can you tell us about their gunshot wounds? >> i cannot give you any particulars about their gunshot wounds. some have required surgery. and i think some are in the operating room as we speak. >> are all gunshot wound victims? >> all the ones here at santa clara valley medical center are

gunshot victims. saint louise in addition to the initial six gunshot victims they received, they have received another eight people with other types of injuries. >> less severe than gun injuries? >> i know one was a broken ankle from running from the scene, falling. those kinds of scrapes, bruises, falls, other kind of injuries from the scene. >> [ inaudible question ] >> no. the person that died was at saint louise. >> so, that's a total of 15 nongunshot victims being treated. >> no. 8. 8 nongunshot victims total all at saint louise regional hospital. >> so, they've talked about more people dying. do we just assume they were not brought here? >> correct. they were not brought here. >> or saint louise? >> or saint louise. >> [ inaudible question ] >> i don't have those particulars. >> and you're telling us that most of the people that are

here, they are in critical condition? >> they range in conditions from critical to serious to fair. so, there's different levels of condition. >> all six of them? >> yes. >> and the person that was discharged, what did they have? >> well, i can't give you any particulars about a patient without their consent. and so i can just say when somebody's discharged, the condition before they get discharged is called good. so, they were in good condition before they were discharged. anything else? >> [ inaudible question ] the people in saint louise, any particulars you can give us? >> i cannot provide any information about condition of patients. that's it. >> [ inaudible question ] >> i think that -- i don't have all the ages, so it's hard for me to tell you the range of age. we had a bunch of different ages from people, young people to 20s to somebody 50 and older. >> young, do you mean children?

>> i don't -- i don't have their specific ages at this time. i probably have more of this tomorrow. i don't know that i'm going to get a lot more tonight. and i don't think the patients' situation will change tonight. anybody who's here now is going to stay overnight. so, we probably won't have another update for you until tomorrow. >> when was the last time your health care system has had to work with so many patients from a mass shooting? >> never from a mass shooting. we've had multiple patients from other sort of emergencies, most often a hazmat incident. we get a number of patients. but this is, you know, this is just a tough situation for our community, for our staff, for the families and the victims. it's just awful. and hopefully we'll never see another one of these again. but it's hard to tell. >> were you ready for this or.

[ inaudible question ] ? >> no, we're an emergency center and trauma center. we're really well staffed to treat the most serious types of injuries. like i said, our staff did a great job of coming in or calling in to come in and help. we had no delays. we had no staffing issues. that was all handled very well and professionally by our team. >> [ inaudible question ] >> so, often, you know, a patient who has a serious injury will be take ton the closest hospital and probably triaged there. and since we're a trauma center, it requires a higher level of care, then that patient will be transferred here because they need that level of care. >> were they air lifted into your hospital? >> i don't know exactly who was brought which way, but we had both ambulances and helicopters deliver patients. >> were they at the other

hospital and then came here? >> yes, two of the -- they would have the trauma center treat those serious injuries. >> how many patients have had surgery? >> i don't have the exact count of how many went into surgery. >> do you perceive getting transferred any more? >> we do not. if someone had needed -- had a serious injury, they would have been transferred earlier. i think we got what we're going to get from saint louise. >> does that suggest they cannot -- that all gunshot victims had to come here? >> no. no, they treated three patients of gunshots at saint louise. treated and two of them have been discharged. so, it probably wasn't has serious an injury that they could do that. great team down there. i mean, they're part of that community. it's been particularly hard for them tonight.

anything else? like i said, this is probably it for tonight. nothing really is going to change. we'll either do a stand up or a statement. but we'll let you know tomorrow what we're going to do. >> just a brief summary. so, six people are currently here right now. and one was discharged. and over at saint louise, how many -- >> sure. so, santa clara valley medical center currently has six patients. we had seven earlier tonight. one has been discharged. >> okay. >> saint louise got a total of six gunshot wound patients. two of them were transferred here as part of our count. three were treated at the hospital. two of those three have been discharged. and then they also had a deceased patient at their hospital. in addition, they got another eight patients that were not gunshot wounds, that had other kind of injuries. >> this is the first big situation since you guys have

been controlling saint louise down there. >> yeah. >> how did that work? how has it worked better since you were separate? >> you know, we bring a lot of -- the county brings a lot of resources and help, and some of our staff went down there to help out and also just easier -- i mean, it's always easier for any hospital to transfer to our trauma ent krer. that would be the case for any hospital in our community. that's not really any different. i think just the support and any help that they may need. but they really handled this quite well. like i said, they're part of that community. it was really hard for them tonight. >> is it harder when it's your own people. >> we have good systems for communications. we also train and drill for regionally and for the area hospitals together. maybe not all of the hospitals in the county. but overtime we've probably trained with a number of them. and so i think it's more of the

support than anything that maybe they needed that we could get to them a little faster. but i don't think they needed much. i think they did really well. >> and again, they initially got six and you got three? >> we got two of those six. they had three still there. one deceased. and then two of their three got discharged tonight. i can go through the numbers again. i know it gets confusing with the transfers. >> go ahead. >> one more time? so, originally saint louise regional medical center received six gunshot wound patients. two of those patients were transferred here to santa clara valley medical center. three patients were at the hospital. one patient died at the hospital. of the three at saint louise, two of them have been discharged tonight. santa clara valley medical center got five gunshot patients directly from the scene plus the two transfers. of those patients, one has been

discharged tonight. okay? >> your name again? >> joy alexio. i'm the public officer for the santa clara county health system. thank you, guys. >> there you heard the breakdown. and you can get a sense of how the numbers are moving according to the chief of police. he even said this during his briefing that the last check he had seen was 15 people injured, four fatalities including one suspect. there is a second suspect out there. we have very little information that was provided to us by the chief of police about that. to get a sense of the number of injuries that we're talking about, it looks like just based on the numbers that we just heard here that it is greater than 15. there were four medical centers

reported by our local affiliate kntv. if you do all the numbers, we are looking at potentially 25 that were injured related to this incident. not all. at least according to the reports are gunshot wounds or related to a firearm. but the numbers you're looking at right now on the screen, 15 people injured according to the chief of police. we may see that jump. she did not indicate any numbers, though, that would conflict with the chief of police in terms of the number of fatalities. four locations, four areas that they were all triaged to. saint louise regional hospital, santa clara county valley medical center where she is standing, the regional medical center, in addition to that stanford hospital. all four of those according to our local affiliate kntv did

receive those injured in this incident in this mass shooting in gilroy, california. that may mean based on the numbers in front of us, it could mean that the people injured, we could see that go up. this is early. and as clint van sant who is still with us, we know these numbers will change. with e know what a full day -- when we see daylight for the first time how things can all of a sudden solidify and level off. but it's still early yet. and we're still using the word here, clint, of "active scene." they are still looking for and looking into this second suspect. and as i was mentioning earlier, the chief of police didn't have a lot of information. you can see -- you can hear and see his unsurety about what this second potential suspect was, clint. >> he really did, richard. it was hard to tell. he was suggesting there was a

second person that was at least witnessed, that there was a second person who may have helped the shooter cut through a fence and get into the festival area itself. what we don't know or what we've not heard confirmed is that a second individual actually took part in the shooting, much less do we have confirmation that there was a second person. so, that's vague just like the number of injured right now is vague. hopefully by tomorrow that number as far as was there a second individual involved or not, as you and i talked earlier, they ought to be able to come up with some type of accomplice for the shooter, somebody who was close enough to him who might have participated in this. that would be their presidentsu. that would be who they're trying to find tonight. >> as you and i were talking about not too long ago here, clint, when we were looking at that video of the body of water,

and you indicated that typically in the cases you've been involved in you would sometimes consider that they would not prefer to have to deal with natural barriers, this lake or river potentially being one of those. yet what we're hearing from the chief of police, that's exactly where this suspect went. >> yeah. richard, sometimes when there is a fugitive on the run, he or she won't necessarily penetrate a natural barrier. they'll stay within an area they know. but in this particular case, it sounds like they walked in on this creek. in essence, they parked -- he or they parked a vehicle somewhere it sounds like and then they used the creek to get down to the fence area and then cut a hole in the fencing and came through. all of this, though richard, suggests pre-planning. someone had to know where that creek was. someone had to know enough to bring cutting tools to cut through the fence. so, that would suggest they did

some type of surveillance prior to the actual shooting itself and that this just wasn't a spur of the moment incident. this is something that had been planned. and as you know, this festival lasted three days. so, it could have been that the individual or individuals involved had a look at it the last two days, made a decision to do it, and then carried it out this afternoon/this evening. >> you're saying day one, day two, they could have been casing the joint. they could have been looking at the perimeter to find the weakest point. >> absolutely. absolutely. and it sounds like they did that. again, with the chief of police suggesting they walked down through the creek to get to the fence, you know, there's a couple of reasons. number one, that may have been the furthest spot away. they may have identified that as an area where there wasn't any active security, where people wouldn't necessarily see them cut through the the fence. but all of that, again, the pre-planning where someone had made up their mind they were

going to take an act like this and put the time into it to gather intelligence, to gather the tools, to gather the weapons to carry this out. this was a planned event. >> you know, clint, you're an fbi profiler. you've been on air with me now for better part of three hours. we have never asked the question why or motive yet. we've had so little information. there's not even a bit for you to even consider as to what that theory might be. >> what we have, richard, is what the police chief suggested, that it appears that the shooter was shooting at random. now, we know that the police response was so fast. i think you were told it was within a minute that an officer engaged that shooter and shot him and killed him, put him down, that perhaps this mass shooter had a target and he wasn't even able to get to where that target is. we don't know yet.

all we know right now is the police description of someone firing random like in a circle at which time the officer engaged him and stopped him. >> well, look, in the minute you got here, clint, if you had to profile based on the information we have, what would your recommendation be if you were to try to assist this group of law enforcement agencies? >> it's somebody in the local area. it's someone they're going to find who has knowledge of this. should there be a second person, it's going to be two people who are very close to each other who would engage in something like this. it's likely somebody probably between their early 20s and early 30s, likely going to be a white male. and they will be able to come up with information on the internet, on letters, on emails, on telephone calls the shooter made that if there is a second person, they will be able to

identify that person based upon that type of contact. >> based on that profiling then, how difficult will it be for these agencies? >> if there is a second shooter, i don't think it'll be that

a

. >> she was here earlier, they told us that they took her. they made her leave. so. >> i am so sorry. are you in shock right now? it is almost unbelievable? >> i don't know what to say. he was only six. it is hard. it is hard to say. >> you were home with your daughter, who was --

>> she is 9. >> and your wife was shot in the leg? >> she was shot in her hand. a. >> and your mother-in-law in the leg? >> did your wife tell you what happened? were they listening to music? >> i was asleep, when she called me. i thought she said they ran him over. she started screaming, obviously, she was shot herself. they shot him. they took him from her. and she didn't know where they took him. so, i rushed over here. made a couple of calls, figured they said they would probably bring him here. i came here. >> we are listening to an absolutely heart wrenching conversation, who lost his 6-year-old son in this mass shooting at the gillroy garlic festival that happened this

evening. it is just been tragic. alberto was talking about how he was not at the festival. his wife was at the festival with his mother-in-law, the wife and mother-in-law, shot. most tragically, his 6-year-old son, one of the four fatalities now, at this gillroy garlic festival. that happened 6:30 this evening, california time. police are still at the scene. active investigation. we do know that one of the shooters have been killed. three others have been injured -- three other people killed. and 15 injuries. we have been covering this since the incident happened. it is called an active investigation, because they do believe there is possibly another suspect out in the vicinity in this festival in gillroy, california. we will go to the fbi profiler,

clint van sant, a horoing being of this poor father losing his son. many witness accounts, about people, you know, hearing the gunshots, running off into other areas to escape this. what are police looking for? obviously, another suspect. they cut through the fence to come to this festival. over a hundred vendors, the end of three days of the festival. cut through a fence to come to this. slightly premeditated. they are trying to figure out y what the random shooting would have been. what are you putting together from all the accounts you heard tonight? >> as you suggested, as the police chief told us in the

press conference, he spoke in plural, suggesting two individuals had come down through a creek or body of water that indicates they parked their vehicle at the other end of this body of water. they walked in, it may have been an area they wouldn't have been scene. the chief suggested they cut a hole through the fence, and at least the shooter, we know, came through. there is a potential, a second individual. we don't know, was there two people, number two, what the role was of the second person. was this individual a shooter? simply a helper? was there a second person? that is the elusive ghost the police are working hard to identify. however it happened, the the individual comes through the hole in the fence, and the

police chief describes he started to spray bullet, it doesn't sound like he was targeting a particular person at the time he began shooting, he started shooting at random. that is the time the police officer, within a minute, engaged him. shot him, and put him down, and the subject, the shooter was down and it was overw very, very quickly. the police response for this festival, was outstanding, the officer did what he or she had to do. engaged the subject, stopped the shooting, now, what law enforcement is trying to understand, first of all, who is the shooter? why did he do it? what is the motive? what is important, was there a second person, did he or she shoot? did they help the subject get in? they will be looking at the normal means of social contact. telephones, e-mail, text

messages, some sometime of close relative. they will be looking to identify the vehicle. see whose vehicle that might have been. theergency right now is to determine if there was a second person involved. what role did that person play, and are they another potential shooter that could endanger the community that is why law enforcement will move quickly on this tonight. >> clint, we know, it is dark in california at the moment. we see the scene of the active investigation of lights in the woods, there is a lot of ground to cover, 51 acres of a festival. we did hear the witness accounts of people running through tree, upon hoing over fence, trying to get out. the perimeters, they are not secure.

obviously, the darkness is impeding the investigation here. >> sure, what they will start is the point of entry. how did the shooter and his or her assistant, how did they get in in the first place, dogs, night vision goggles, they will try to back track, try to find out, okay, what was the origin. where did this shooter or the shooter and his assistant, where did they start from? a vehicle parked in the woods they should be able to find? these are the things you can't wait until daylight. the it is dangerous, if there is a second person out there, it is dangerous to law enforcement and the community. that is why you see professional s.w.a.t. teams with night vision gear, helicopters, with flair, that can pick up a heat signal.

drones that can be used to look will be utilized. as well as put a large perimeter around that area if the shooter assistant is still in that area, they hope they will keep that person boxed in. until daylight, they can see better what they are doing. >> nice to have you here to fill us in on the detalils how the police are going to hopefully, catch the other suspect that is out there. thank you for your time. a long evening for you. always good to have you and your input, thank you very much. we will go to ariel dur an, a witness, she was at the festival this evening. can you tell us, where were you when this shooting went off? tell us of the scenario that you

lived through. >> we were sitting next where the music was going on. the infamous stage last song, the band to the right is the area where the kids were playing. we were sitting, watching the music. and all of a sudden, time to leave. wanted to get out of there. walking, maybe maybe not even one minute i hear the two pops. it sounds like the beginning of some sort of light show, or -- i

am still -- like fireworks. so, as soon as the two pops stopped. there was pop, pop, pop, one after the other, that sounded to me like somebody who has a military background. i know the difference between one weapon to another. there was a hesitation in the beginning, he turned into semi, it was definitely a large weapon. it was not just a pistol or something simple. it was definitely, either military grade and definitely, illegal. everybody is screaming, they are

shooting, they are shooting! we start screaming and yelling and stampeding trying to get out. there weren't a lot of areas to get out of. it was only like one, two ways to get out. and when you go out, you have to get on the bus. i lost my party. i was looking around to see if there was a place for me to hide. there was an rv. then, i saw this broken fence, and i broken fence etched in my memory, like a picture, of people running, and running over the fence. it was weird to me that fence was the fence was high. they were able to jump over it.

that looked suspicious to me. i am looking for my party. and everybody is jumping on top of each other. pushing, and losing it. >> i can't see my party, one of them was my son. i was trying not to freak out. kept on moving forward toward the gate. to the way out. it seemed like forever, when i saw that break in the fence, i -- something about it. i looked at my party, they came through this place. that hole. there is no way it was only one person. it had to be two. you cannot move over this pass over it, by yourself.

on the other side. there was vegetation, high vegetation or trees of some sort. that was the last thought i had. now, being home and safe, my god. if i would have waited one more song, a matter of another minute and a half, i would have been in the range of fire. i was right there. i was sitting right there. that would have been terrible. insanity. >> and your ordeal ariel, thank you very much for sharing it with us. glad you are safe. your family is safe. and we very much appreciate your time and eyewitness account. ariel durian. >> we are going to go to our nbc producer, on site, in gillroy, california. stephen, you have listened to

the police give their briefing. they were cautious in what they were saying, not giving out too much information, any other information that has come out since that you can share with us? >> no, there hasn't. they have been upon they it is an active investigation, it is still fluid. we talked about the second suspect. wouldn't confifrm what suspect was like, whether they were armed or not. they are still looking. there are rumblings on social media, there is active searching. everybody county-wide, throughout the bay area came to assist. as well as national forces. the a.t.f. was down here at well. this is, there were choppers up in the air, until a short while ago. we heard clint talk about all

the ways to look for somebody. the damage that was done to the happiest festivals, this is the 40th year of the gillroy garlic festival, it has been known to people as a happy place to come to. this town always smells like garlic. never thought of a place that is dangerous or need security. people have their guard down. the chief confirmed, it was one of gillroy's own police officers that shot down the suspect within a minute, he was able to do so much damage in that short amount of time. >> you say they are actatively searching are they going beyond the perimeter of the park where they had the gillroy festival? have they gone beyond those perimeters? >> they are not telling us. we have seen a lot of activity.

we have seen a lot of s.w.a.t. and heavy equipment. there is a lot of motion, there is talk on soshl media, searching is going on. if this person is within the perimeter, there is a good chance they will be caught by morning. >> we did see the s.w.a.t. trucks going in earlier. we know there are hundreds of police on the scene. have they been taking the eyewitness accounts, into their investigation? to get a description of what the other possible shooter could have looked like? >> they have blanketed the scene for hours now. the initial response, because there is a small town, this is the biggest event of the small town that has been doing this for 40 years. there wasn't, as we were driving down here, a lot of media information. that is because they were so busy working, trying to cover all the people.

there was a huge traffic jam nobody on 101, as people were fleeing the scene. some injured were taken to the hospital by other cars, people just helping them. even that, valley medical center, one of the biggest trauma centers for northern california, there were police there, surrounding the er. they were talking to ace many people as they could. >> any other updates, we heard from hospital personnel, talking about injured. nonshooting related. anymore information on that? >> the latest numbers are 11 hit by gunfireworks three others hit by gunfire fatally, including that child. and the suspect, himself. then they describe five others hurt by the panic, through the

stam speed, if you will. that number could rise. >> thank you for standing by, msnbc producer, covering this active investigation, which is going on after the gillroy garlic festival. a mass shooting, three people have been shot. another including the suspect is dead and 11 have been injured. stay with us, we will continue our breaking news coverage after the break. stay with us. back with more on the mass shooting at the garlic festival. we were scrapers. yeah... our dishes never got clean the first time, so we did what we had to do. until we tried finish quantum. finish quantum's three chambers scrub, degrease and shine to get our dishes truly finished.

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we heard a bunch of gun shots, we thought it was fire crackers, 10, 15 shots. then we saw everybody running. we started running as well. people shooting, crying, running, scared. we went to the children's area, way on the other side of the park where my other family was. only out one way, the blocked the other way, where the shooting started. we were walking, there was a guy with a green shirt on, who said what happened, a guy who changed clothes into green fatigues and started shooting. everybody started running, i was

told. the cops started running to naarea. they got one, but one got away. >> you heard from police officers that there were two shooters? >> no, this was, one of them, one guy said they were shooting at each other. but then, we heard that there was a guy and his daughter, at conof the concession stands. he said his daughter saw the guy with fatigues on, changed into fatigues and started shooting. they had to duck down. everybody started running. they all ran, by the children's area, it is a long path. everybody was there. and the neighbors, apprehensive. a lot of people running out of the park. i would say, 10, 15 minute, all

the neighbors, trying to get us out of the neighborhood to the school. gillroy high school. >> the frightening moments in gillroy, california. where there was an active shooting, 5:30 local time. that was our affiliate covering that for us. a shooter opened fire at this garlic festival. a three-day event. this was the end of the third day. 40 years, this festival has been going on in gillroy, california. right now, we will be joined by stephen week. you have been following this. there was a reunification center. as the shooting was going on, people were scattering. you could tell, they were running in different directions, over fences, through the trees,

trying to get out of the park, out of the way of this shooter. it is about a 50 acre park area. do we know if there are people who have been missing, not found their loved ones yet. what is the latest on that? >> the reunification center, it is the parking lot of a small college, not far from where the festival was held. this is where the large coaches, buses, bringing in vendors set up in there, had to rush out. now, they are trying to bring them back together with their families. there is a high school, not far away, the command post is, chm, s.w.a.t. are grthed. we saw a federal presence come n flying down the highway.

a series of black suburdans, a.t.f. is helping as well. there is definitely an active search. very high pressure, if there is a second suspect to be found, i think we can be confident it will happen. >> we know there are a lot of people in this scenario, who witnessed this. are they talking to police, giving descriptions, helping to find this possible other shooter? because there were so many people there, absolutely scores and scores of people to talk to. like we have had those on our air. we have had witnesses here. eyewitnesss who saw the man come in. who were there when he was firing, who saw him down in handcuffs, blood from his head, confirmed for us, actually, the suspect was dead before the

police even told us. they have a lot of people to listen to, to find out who this person is. >> thank you for your time. stephen week, on site in gillroy, california for us. we are covering this breaking news out of california, where a shooter has gunned down people at a garlic festival in california. three people have been killed. the shooter, also has been killed. 15 have been injured. they were taken to area hospitals. four different hospitals, santa clara regional. some suffered gun shot wounds, and we do know that some people were injured because of running. tripping over thing, running over fences, et cetera. this is a three-day garlic festival they have in california. 40 years of this festival.

today was the final day. the festival was closing at 4:00 in the afternoon. this was just the remnants of the festival, when the active students start ed shooting at local california time. we will bring you details throughout the evening. we have been covering this breaking news out of california, out of gilroy, california, there was a shooting, a mass shooting at a garlic festival. three people have been killed, including a 6-year-old boy, and the shooter. 15 other people have been injured. stay with us, we will have more details throughout the evening. we will join "dateline" in progress.

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not getting in today. not on my watch. pests never stop trying to get in. we never stop working to keep them out. terminix. defenders of home. >> it takes a special sort've skill to defend a man accused of first degree murder. what he could see right away, knew it long before the trial, the scene in that courtroom was as bad as it could be. there they were, feet apart, his client and a blind father, the survivor of chris's allege d

plot. >> there was he, behind the bar the whole time. >> the jury would hear something bad, look at john sutton, they have to think, this poor man, look what he has to go through life w. >> for the victim, he must display only sympathy. instead, he attacked the murder investigation itself, the way the police came up with two star witnesses. driscol and garrett stock, without them, the state case was weak. why do you suppose they came forward anyway? because they were forsed to. why did juliet say christopher talked about killing his parents. >> if you don't tell us what we want to know, you will be

arrested. she tells them what they want to know. >> the defense attorney got herrera to admit they wouldn't have had that. >> if they didn't hear what they wanted to hear. which begged the question. >> if he was going to take the lives of his parents. why would you stay with him and why would you marry him? >> i can't think of how many times i have heard somebody say,

i hate this person right now, you hear it for six straight years, you don't believe it. >> finally, she testified, detectives lived when she told them, i knew it would happen, i didn't know when. >> i never believed he was going to do it. the statement, i knew he was going to do t i said, i didn't know he was going to do it. i am confused. i don't know if he did it or not. nobody knows what happened except for him and garrett. that is what i have been saying. >> why not play a tape of the interrogation? well, they couldn't. the police didn't record a word of their long talk with juliet driscol. >> certainly, he said those things, whether he did it or not is up in the air as far as i am concerned. that gives rise to a major

reason reasoned -- reasonable doubt. >> how do you get a jury to doubt a statement like that? >> we had to go after him with hammer and tongs. fleischer went after garrett and the cops. >> every time you denied being involved in this, they got aggressive with you, didn't they? >> somewhat. got pushy a bit. >> walked over, pushed you a bit in my shoulder. >> get in my face. >> leaned up against you. >> like this. and when they got close to you, what were they saying? garrett? garrett? >> something like that. >> you need to tell us, something, garrett. they are going to fry your ass in the electric chair. >> thank you, mr. -- >> that is an objection? >> the question s is that what

they said to you? >> something like that i am going down for murder. >> going down for murder. you will get the death penalty. >> what made you give them information? >> saying that juliet, told me i was going to go to jail for murder, already. i ended up confessing. >> there was no maybe the case wasn't so water tight after all. maybe christopher himself could set the record straight? >> accused of killing his mother, and blinding his father, a son sheds tears for himself. >> i was what they called in

denial. >> when dateline continues.

>> judge, we are calling chris sutton. >> jurors had to be deeply cure curious about the man accused of putting a hit on his parents. he looked more law student than murder suspect. for two weeks they watched his note taking, his whisper add sides to attorney fleisher.

>> he felt he was wrongfully prosecuted. the only way we could tie up a lot of things and actually prove things or disprove things is by him testifying. >> give me the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. >> i do. >> reporter: how would he convey his innocence first by describing his hospital vigil, a concerned son on the night of the shooting. >> did he acknowledge that you were there? >> yeah, he could squeeze your hand but couldn't speak. >> how did you feel when you saw your father at the ryder trauma center? >> shocked, hurt, worried, scared. >> reporter: not that christopher was claiming to be a perfect son. in fact, he told the jury he was a drug dealer. garrett kopp was one of his best customers but had good reason to turn on him. why? because years earlier, christopher said, he turned police informant to get drug charges dropped. and who did he finger? garrett kopp.

>> what happened if anything with your relationship with garrett kopp after he was arrested? >> i didn't speak to him for a while. or he didn't speak to me i should say for a while. >> was he mad at you? >> yes. >> reporter: so was it pay back time, now, yes, says christopher it must have been. thus his theory of the murder. christopher said he had nothing to do with it. told the jury he never asked kopp to kill his parents. kopp made it all up. the police had it all wrong. what really happened he said, was that kopp stormed into the house that night to steal christopher's hidden stash. boxes full of drugs. >> how much marijuana did you store in these boxes? >> in the top box, two pounds. >> what was the value of that? >> $7,000. >> reporter: in fact the very day of the murder, said christopher, a hopped up kopp called him again and again, desperate to buy drugs. christopher told him between his mother's birthday party and a

movie he couldn't do it. >> why did you tell him that you couldn't get the drugs? >> overruled. >> i told him i left it in my room at my parents' house. >> that's what gave kopp the idea where to go to get the drugs. >> that still doesn't explain why he would in cold blood murder and attempt to murder these two people. >> he went to get the drugs. he found the suttons home. and they could recognize him. he panicked. he was in a drug stupor and he shot them both. >> reporter: so if you were garrett kopp, wouldn't you try to implicate the man who turned you in to police? here is the thing, said christopher here, can understand kopp turning on him. but juliet, his own fiancee, when he heard what she told police, he said he broke down in tears. not because of what she said, but why she must have said it. >> as soon as he started reading parts of juliet's statement,

yeah, i started crying. >> why were you crying. >> objection. >> overruled. >> i was crying bah the woman i was going to be marrying in five weeks lied to save herself. >> tears of frustration too, said christopher, how could he defend himself against lies when his police interrogator kept accusing him of murder. i told him he will not believe what i say. and twist my words to use them against me, you know. like he did with juliet. because there is no proof that i did anything. because i know i didn't do anything. >> reporter: so there it was. another theory for the jury to consider. but there was one more thing the defense had to do if possible -- knock down the allegation that his banishment to samoa had given him a motive to kill his parents. what you are about to see as christopher described the program probably wasn't in the defense strategy. >> level two is a loud to go on the bathroom on his own.

its allowed to have some more privileges. and then -- >> reporter: something in the memories on that island struck a nerve. >> how were you feeling physically during that time? >> i was what they called in denial. >> do you need a break? >> yeah. >> reporter: strange. stoic for the rest of his testimony. yet in the process of trying to dismiss samoa as a murder motive he cried about his experience there. so, revealing? attorney fleisher put the best spin on it he could. >> i think that showed his honesty as a witness. >> i cried when i got off the plane. >> reporter: when court resumed. christopher told the jury that while he was initially upset about being sent to samoa, he got over it, made the best of it. when his parents and melissa and

his parents came to visit they all had a wonderful time together. hardly a dysfunctional family in the story the photos told. >> were you happy to be with your parents? >> i was very, very happy to see my parents. i loved them very much. >> reporter: he had given the jury an alternative. he tried at least to diffuse the samoa motive, enough? not nearly, said prosecutor keagan. >> what motive did garrett kopp to go in and attempt to assassinate both of those people? none. what motive did christopher sutton have to want both his parents dead? plenty. >> and what's the story here? they have the statement of garrett kopp. the drug-crazed, little thug, who gives this story to save himself from the death penalty. and the coerced statement of juliet driscoll. where is the evidence in this case? what do they have? nothing. >> reporter: seven men, five

women on the jury. and real doubt in the air. >> the when he first started saying his testimony. he put it out of my mind. >> reporter: coming up, the jury speaks. >> we, the jury -- >> soap does christopher sutton. >> sure, i could have been a better guy. >> reporter: as his father hopes for a miracle.

>> not an easy task these people were given. did christopher sutton mastermind a plan to kill his own parents? >> we battled for a while. >> reporter: who knew that those 12 were butting heads all day in the jury room. and split down the middle after seven hours. they went home. it was mostly garrett kopp they had trouble with. how could they believe a cold-blooded hit man who rats on a friend to save his own skin. >> he is making the deal because the other one is going death penalty. >> reporter: which means what you can't believe what he is going to say because he is an opportunist. >> anything to save himself. >> yeah. >> reporter: next day they tried again. ten hours went by. sweat in the air conditioned hallway. at 7:00 p.m., two words set the hall abuzz. a verdict. john and melissa sutton took their seats in the front row. >> bring in the jury, please.

>> reporter: christopher sutton stood stoned faced as jurors streamed in. were those tears from some members of the jury. >> ladies and gentlemen, i understand you have reached a verdict. >> reporter: judge stanford blake read the verdict. state of florida versus christopher sutton, we the jury in miami-dade, florida, find the defendant christopher patrick sutton, as to count one, guilty of first degree murder as charged in the indictment. >> reporter: guilty. with that christopher's head snapped back as if he had been struck. >> as to count three, guilty of attempted first degree felony murder. >> reporter: melissa wept. her father, their father, locked his jaw, stared ahead, sightless. sentencing would be immediate. john sutton was offered time to speak. and years of stoic resolve crumbled. >> regardless of the result, this is a bad case.

we are now -- we're now at five years, 11 months, i lost susan, i lost christopher long before that. >> reporter: christopher did not look at his father. had he done so he would not have seen tears. the bullets that tore into his head left john sutton unable to cry. i lost my eyesight. >> reporter: how was it in that courtroom. >> it needs to be over. >> raw. personal. here's the judge. >> it's ironic for me. i have a son who was born the exact same day as christopher sutton. when i heard his date during the

trial, i remembered the joy of bringing my son home just like mr. sutton had. so at this time, as to count one, mr. sutton, the court poses a sentence of life in prison, without the possibility of parole. >> reporter: that was that. barring a successful appeal. christopher sutton will die in prison. a result he found so shocking he decided he needed to explain that they got it so very wrong. >> reporter: the verdict did seem to be a big surprise. >> yeah, i definitely wasn't expecting to be found guilty. i was shocked, you know, to know you didn't do something, yet to have people feel you did, you know. >> reporter: the words fairly gushed from his mouth as if it wasn't time to say everything that needed to be said. >> a lot of this comes down to there is me and there is garrett and then everybody else is talking about what i did years before or -- or maybe after --

or even juliet. the only people that could know anything are christopher and garrett. >> reporter: this idea that he would break in looking for drugs. you wouldn't have stuff there. >> i had stuff in my bedroom moving in and out. garrett kopp helped me move that stuff. >> do you need water? >> the tears on the witness stand, while he talked about samoa made some believe his incarceration there on the island was motive for murder. >> reporter: you seemed kind of broken up talking about the camp, but not so broken up when you talked about your parents' death. >> when i talked about it would be hard. the program i have done my best to seal that away and forget about it. the first time i sat there in a long time and, thought, wow, what did happen there. >> how do you feel about your dad now? >> i am devastate he said things about me, against me. but my dad turning on me in hard times isn't anything new. >> reporter: then he talked

about his circumstances, his fate and his self control abandoned him. >> the way it is said right now, this is home, you will never get out. >> at some point in time, if you have integrity inside yourself you have to stand up for what you believe in even if your life is on the line. >> reporter: how does that feel? >> it's hard. it's hard to know i will go to jail for something i didn't do. you know, i am not going to sit here and deny that i had problems with my parents or, any of that stuff happened. that's why i wanted to get up there and explain. explain to the people, that you know i may not be the best person. i'm sure i could have been a better guy, you know, i was trying, hand i didn't have anything to do with this. i didn't create the system. i'm just stuck in it. >> reporter: trapped. >> that's why i will fight all the way to the end. like, i will always maintain my innocence.

>> reporter: john sutton still remembers the suit he wore when he brought christopher home from the hospital. and now it's come to this. he shared his that its about the boy he did his best to raise. # what about christopher? do you still think of him as your son? >> i guess technically he is. but some day i may go see him and confront him and say what were you thinking of, you know? what a stupid criminal ridiculous crazy thing all this was. >> reporter: reconciling if it ever comes is a long, long way. >> that ain't happening. no way. no way. >> get up. >> reporter: it's complicated says melissa. ridiculously difficult. but what choice does she have? >> i have a brother, you know. i'm not going to ignore that fact, you know. i have a billion family pictures with him. >> reporter: a brother who blew

up your whole family? >> but in the same picture i have a mom who passed away, a brother who is in jail, a dad who is blind. that's my family. that's kind of -- kind of what it is. but at the same time, you know, i believed he did what he did. i have no intention of ever speaking with him again. >> reporter: so, life goes on. melissa found a job in media services. detectives retired from the force. bellue adopted a little boy just look john sutton did all those years ago. and john sutton pursue his dream to see again. are you prepared or has it sunk in that you're going to be blind for the rest of your life? >> well, that's not my plan. i may not be that smart, but, boy, i am motivated. >> i mean the enthusiasm coming out of you is kind of inspirational.

>> i'm ready to roll. i got plans for this eyesight.