garland, texas. breaking news, what has happened, what we believe to have happened in the last four hours is during an exhibit and a cartoon and illustration contest in, garland, texas, of deprixs of the prophet muhammad, that two suspects approached the center where this group was holding the event. shot at a security officer. then, in response, police, garland police, shoot at the two alleged suspects and then they die. that is what we understand right now. kxas has been our affiliate in the air providing us information. let's go to what they're broadcasting now live for a moment. take a moment. >> just released from the hospital. >> police shot and killed the two men who opened fire. we have live team coverage starting with jocelyn lockwood. you were literally next to officers as they secured the scene. tell us about that. >> i was, and to be honest i'm here with officers. this is a very active police scene. it's been all day as extra security was called in just for this event. but right now, i wo

this is garland, texas.and it's a small area about 20 miles northeast of dallas. a small town. people like to have fun and family days they never expected anything like this to happen bill, we're talking to casy reporting on the scene. he's explaining the fbi is on the scene looking for information, looking in terms of what they can learn from this situation. what do you think the fbi is looking for? and what will they try to look for when it becomes revealed who these two are? >> well, first, kelly right now they're working with police to try to identify where these individuals came from and understand better if the vehicle there poses a risk. and they suggest that may give them more credence to the fact they have to be more concerned about the vehicle. what they're going to be looking for is to see if there are other people that may have known and may have been planning and perhaps behind them. they want to know quickly who else may be involved. so as we know from past investigations, the investigation wil

. >> two gunmen are dead in garland, texas. the heavily armed men drove up to the front of the building in a car where a muhammad art exhibit was taking place and opened fire on a security officer. the security officer's injuries are not life threatening. garland police officers exchanged gun fire with the gunman killing both of them at the scene. through out the night a police bomb squad has been using a robot to check for a possible incendiary device. they are concerned the two gunmen could have rigged their car with positive explosives. they evacuated people from wal-mart and sam's club and other businesses. they are not heuer if it is in response to an anti free speech event dating back to january 17th. the event was designed to say you cannot squash free speech from america. today's event was a cartoon contest frof muhammad. our way of life is under attack. she described a scene that a swat team member told the crowd inside the venue they were in an active shooter situation. a security officer was down. the crowd she said

what garland isd does is for any event they hire off duty garland police officers along with some of security officers who are here tonight. there were additional police officers that were hired for this event simply because going back to the event that was here in january, then what surrounded these type of events in other parts of the world, additional security was added to this event tonight. luckily, it was because ends up we had a threat and they executed that threat. >> how many officers were there? >> don't have a number of all the offices that were there. >> could it be dozens or? >> i don't know. i can give you a number later on, but i don't have those numbers now. >> joe, will this impact the high school that's next door tomorrow? >> i wouldn't think so. simply because we would expect to get this clear -- the car cleared. of course, we've got a crime scene there. it's going to take hours to work. i wouldn't think, though, it's not close enough to the high school that it should delay any school opening there. [ inaudible question ] >> all i know, it's two males. >> can you d

so it will be a long night there in garland, texas.hank you very much. >> and this event was very controversial in garland, texas. >> earlier we spoke with u.s. justice correspondent evan perez who says law enforcement is trying to figure out if they could have stopped this attack. >> at this point, there is a very big concern that this is more like the attack in copenhagen where you had a free speech event, you had people motivated again by the -- by people who felt that this was going to be a threat to islam and wanted to take action to try to strike back against it. and again, this is something that the fbi federal law enforcement was aware of. this event was something that was as ed pointed out, very controversial locally. so there was a lot of already heavy police presence. now what they're doing is first of all trying to make sure that everything's safe, that there's no explosives, that there's no danger to the public. but now they're also trying to figure out who these suspects are, whether or not there was anything that they mi

garland s.w.a.t.cuate those attending the event to a neighboring area, a high school that is close by called naman forest high school. and the information that we're getting right now, again, is, as we look at what's happening here at the curtis callwell center in garland, we do have one attendee who says that she did attend that event. she said the event began around 5:40 p.m. local time, according to what she was telling us. it ended a little after 7:00 p.m. local. again it's right around 8:30 p.m. local there in garland, texas. she and her friend left right as it ended. now right -- this is what she was telling us. she said, quote, right when we were beginning to drive away, we heard gunshots. we thought they were fireworks, but they were not. she said. so that would then say if she left right before 7:00 p.m. that timing may be early evening as opposed to afternoon. we're trying to understand exactly when this did happen. again, what she was saying is that when she was leaving, right around 7:00 p

garland. in fact, this event really doesn't have much to do with garland other than they rented a site here in garland. they were taken away. most of them made plans to go stay somewhere. their vehicles are still at the event center because the crime scene is still being worked. we ended up putting a number of them up in a hotel and taking care of them until they're able to get to their cars. >> i know you're not naming the individuals but surely you know their names. are they on a watch list of any time? >> i'm not sure of that. do we think we know who they are? yes. but you're skg questions i'm not aware of yet. >> are these men u.s. citizens? >> i don't know that. >> can you talk about the relationship between the two men? >> i don't know that. again, there's a lot of things you're asking me and there's an ongoing investigation and there are some people that know more than i do. i don't know that. [ inaudible question ] we are not. >> reporter: can you talk about the weapons used by the off

ed. >> reporter: john officials here in the dallas suburb of garland garland, texas say the shooting erupted ten minutes before the prophet muhammad art contest was supposed to be wrapping up. it is not known if the organizers were targeted but that is the suspicion law enforcement is operating under. this event had been in the works for some time and gotten a great deal of publicity and great deal of law enforcement surrounding the event. in the back of the building a s.w.a.t. team was on stand by in case violence erupted. the shooting took place and lasted in 15 seconds. there were two men who drove up to the civic center in garland, texas, jumped out and started shooting. they wounded a garland independent school district officer. that officer has been treated and released from the hospital. he will be okay. those two suspects were quickly gunned down in the parking lot of the civic center of garland, texas. officials do not know the identities of the suspects but fbi investigators are on the scene beginning the process of figuring out the motive. this was an event that was contro

what garland isd does is for any event they hire off-duty garland police officers and security officers who were here tonight. there were additional police officer s that were hired for this event. simply because going back to the death here in july and what surrounded these type of events in other parts of the world. additional security was added to this event tonight. luckily it was because ends up we had a threat and they executed that threat. >> how many officers were there? >> i don't have a number. >> dozens or -- >> i don't know. i can give you a number later on but i don't have those numbers now. >> will this impact the high school next door tomorrow? >> i wouldn't think so. simply because we would expect to get this clear, the car cleerd. of course we have a crime scene there that will take hours to work. i wouldn't think -- it's not close enough to the high school that it should delay any school opening there. all i know is it is two males. >> can you describe the aftermath of the shooting? >> locking down, securing areas, making sure there was no one else moving toward the ev

>> garland is a top pd. i was the assistant special agent in charge of the dallas division, garland is right immediately next to dallas. and they have a very first class pd and bomb unit. they're more than capable of handling this event. and apparently made a response to maybe take down the two shooters like you and clint were talking earlier, richard. efficient, well trained. certainly on top of this. and but they're going to get a lot of help from fbi and atf and surrounding pds, dallas, plano. richardson. whatever they need. there's top law enforcement in the area. it is good news to hear that the security guard may be is going to make it and seems like from your reporting, richard, there, that the only fatalities are the two asill lants assailants rig >> yeah. they're telling us, jim, that the one security officer that was injured has now been released and apparently they were non-life threatening injuries or injury to that security officer so that's good news. not good news, of course, two suspects were

ed. >> reporter: john officials here in the dallas suburb of garland garland, texas say the shooting erupted ten minutes before the prophet muhammad art contest was supposed to be wrapping up. it is not known if the organizers were targeted but that is the suspicion law enforcement is operating under. this event had been in the works for some time and gotten a great deal of publicity and great deal

back to you. >> ed lavandera in garland. as ed mentioned, those attending the contest to draw cartoons of the prophet muhammad claim it was not anti-muslim, but pro-free speech. local police had officers and s.w.a.t. at the event in case there was violence. >> it is a pro-freedom of speech. why would anybody have to describe it as anti-islam in it is pro-freedom. that's what we're here for. we are freedom protectors. >> this is not anti-koran. >> the keynote speakers was a dutch politician. he tweeted thank god the heroes of s.w.a.t. prevented the worst. the mayor of garland said most of the people at the event are from out of town. >>> also new this morning, the first morning after the first night without a curfew since the violence broke out in baltimore one week ago. mayor stephanie rawlings-blake lifted the curfew. you will remember the unrest stemmed from anger over the death of freddie gray. you are looking at pictures outside city hall. a festive atmosphere as people celebrated the lifting of the curfew and announceme

garland police officers working off duty hired by garland independent school district, because of this and the possibility, there was media here, that's why i was at the event. >> did the suspect say or do anything prior to the shooting? >> do not know that until we talk to the security guard. >> can you describe the event. >> it was a -- chris help me. it was a muhammed art event. glks when you say being security because of these types of events what do you mean? >> because around the world when they put an event like this on. >> can you give us age and description? >> do not have one. >> twitter account claiming responsibility do you know of that? >> i have been hearing about it but do not know. we will be looking at that. >> do you know if the fbi is here? >> they will be assisting us along with atf. >> can you tell us how wide the perimeter is and the reasoning are for that? >> because if a bomb goes off no one will get hurt. >> has anyone been evacuated? >> yes they have been gone for about two hours now.there was a sports store that was evacuated there was a walmart store evacuat

it happened in the dallas suburb of garland. security guard was shot in the leg. but is back home tonight after being released from the hospital. the bomb squad is still on the scene. they are using a robotic device to inspect the two men who were shot as well as their vehicle. it was a teps scene, chaotic at best with police swarming the building after the shooting. event organizers telling the crowd what was going on. >> we have a little situation here. the security people are running like crazy outside. somebody said we have no idea shots fired outside. we have no idea. we're looking right now what's going on. we have a little situation developing live right now. we're in garland, texas, at the curtis caldwell center 6:52 in the afternoon. >> no one inside the curtis caldwell center was injured. we still do not know the identity of the suspects. police are not aware of any ongoing threat and say they have not received any credible threats before the event. it happened during a contest hosted by the new york-based american fre

earlier, i did speak with the mayor of garland, texas. he had more details on how the shooting unfolded. >> they were people leaving, two gunmen in a car tried to drive into the parking lot. jumped out with automatic rifles. started firing at an unarmed school security officer. he was hit in the leg. he was transported to the hospital and has been released. but this first suspect was shot immediately. the second suspect was shot and wounded and reached for his backpack and of course officers not knowing any idea who was in the backpack, shot him again. and he was killed. both suspects are actually still lying at the scene. the bomb squads are trying to check the vehicle to see if there's any bombs or whatever. we don't have any confirmation that there's any bombs. just to be safe, we've evacuated the area to make sure that no one gets hurt. police have done an excellent job. we've had a lot of help from our neighboring police department. >> at this point, you believe the two dead gunmen are in fact the only people involved in this attack?

the garland police department. >> all right. christopher voss i want to thank you so much for joining us tonight. i hope we can ask you to stay by your phone or stay close. i want to bring in rod wheeler now. i may come back. stay close to your cell phone. rod wheeler is a former dc homicide detective. they call on us when events get detailed on the ground like this. i don't know if you can see us rod. i think you are with us now. that's the second robot they brought in. >> that's right. what they are trying to determine, tlooers a few things they are trying to figure out. first of all so the viewers know this is a very fluid situation even though it happened overan hour ago -- over an hour ago. they are trying to figure out if there are any more suspects connected to this and whether or not there is any one injured in there. they he the entire perimeter surrounded from what i read on-line. reports are coming through as i speak. apparently there was 75 people inside the complex, but i also found out there was additional 40 polic

not from garland, had little garland or texas participation. it just -- it's not a part of our community. it was something that was brought to our community and happened here. >> douglas athas is the mayor. thank you very much for joining us. that police officer who shot and killed these two gunmen obviously you consider -- a lot of people in your community consider him a hero right? >> he was doing his job and we -- all of our police officers are heros and he stepped forward and proved why they are. >> certainly did. all right. thanks very much mayor douglas ath as of garland, texas. >> the discussion of the blurred line in the united states between hate speech and free speech. even the white house is weighing in. our senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin is standing by. own? try new aveeno® sheer hydration. its active naturals® oat formula... ...goes on feather light absorbs in seconds... ...keeps skin healthy looking... and soft. aveeno®. naturally beautiful results. [phone rings] [man] hello,totten designs. sales department? yes...i can put y

breaking news this hour, police in garland, texas, have? shot and killed two men who opened fire outside an art exhibit featuring cartoons muha. checking the suspect's car for possible explosives. the american freedom defense initiative organized the event, the mohamed art exhibit and cartoon contest. i want to show you what happened inside the building just moments after officers shot and killed the gunman outside. >> outside, a police officer has been shot, two suspects have been shot. possibly have explosives on them. that's what we are worried about right now. we are going to move y'all into the auditorium. i need everybody to remain calm. we'll take you into the auditorium. a little further away from the front of this building. >> were the suspects muslim? >> i have no idea right now. >> i don't know anything other than that. i know, to be aware. we are going to move y'all soon to get you away from the front of the building. >> the keynote speaker was right-wing dutch politician, a photo, picture taken just before #garland shooting, th

breaking overnight in garland, texas. serious questions and concerns.led up outside a venue holding a contest drawing cartoons of the prophet muhammad. the men jumped out of the car

the garland police department prevented a catastrophe. they either worked on actionable intelligence or they had an inkling. >> finally, this tweet that went out. it went out 18 minutes before the shooting. how does that figure into the evidence? >> they're going to retrace that tweet find out where it came from. right now it's all about getting that information to kwauberate everything they have. >> thank you for joining us former senior military steven rogers. we appreciate your insight. >>> five minutes till the top of the hour. more on the top story. two gunmen carrying explosives shot dead after opening fire at a muhammad cartoon event in texas. is free speech under attack? the latest straight ahead. >>> a fox news alert. two gunmen are dead after opening fire outside a muhammad cartoon exhibit outside dallas, texas. chaos erupting last night outside of that curtis caldwell center. security officer bruce joyner was hit in the ankle and has since been released from the hospital. garland police officers already on the scene returned fi

you're looking at a live shot from garland, texas.moment now, the police public information officer will step behind those microphones to give us an update on their investigation. of course i'm talking about that shooting of a security guard in texas at a draw muhammad cartoon contest. the security guard is doing okay. he was shot in the ankle. the two men allegedly responsible for this, elton simpson and his roommate are dead shot dead by police. when they appear in front of those microphones, we'll take you back to garland, texas. >>> in other news after a week of protests baltimore is inching toward normalcy this morning. things staying quiet overnight after the city lifted its curfew. the national guard began to pull out. sometime tomorrow the withdraw of troops will be complete and the state of emergency can be lifted. police say they arrested 486 people over the course of the protests. 113 police officers were injured but of course the officers drawing the most attention are those six officers charged in the death of freddie gra

this is goor land texas -- garland, texas.dfw said there's been a shooting outside of the curtis caldwell center. after one person was shot at a mohammed art exhibit and contest. there have been protests and complaints about arts putting in place at the mohammed art exhibit. no you i can report to you a shooting at the caldwell certainty. there's a lock down in place as you might image. a perimeter is being set up. this this is what we are having in to our newsroonewsroom. we have to confirm the reports of the news on the ground. we have our own correspondents headed to the scene right now. they said they have evacuated a nearby wal-mart as a precaution in case there are explosives while they search a suspect's car. school buses are being driven to attendees of the art exhibit away safely. two suspects shot and killed. this is according to the garland tv. we need to confirm this one on -- let me read this. two suspects shot and killed. we understand there was an exchange of gun fire with potentially one officer taken to the ho

the men based in phoenix, arizona, they drove to garland, texas.o police prior to this. arrested for trying to get to somalia, earlier and making false statements to police. the claim of responsibility shall we say or you put correctly the claim of affiliation ends with the future is just around the corner. that has to be of concern to authorities. not because any evidence of specific planned attacks, but now we have evidence of people being inspired in the united states by isis at a minimum to attack interests here. >> reporter: yes, you could say the boston marathon bombers could have felt a sense of inspiration from al qaeda. it is not entirely clear they ended up in that situation in boston. this is a long brewing fear that has been on the minds of officials for years. it is extraordinarily difficult when people can be quote trained through an online magazine or inspired by tweets. read videos on social media from a completely different part of the world to cause them to carry out violence or ruthless acts. it is hard to prevent that. it is not

why don't garland residents? >> it was not something -- we have 114 languages spoken in our school district and we are recognized by brown university study as one of the most integrated neighborhoods in the cities and in the united states and we live together happily and we have very view different situations and they all go to school together and this is just not something you think about. hour neighborhoods are integrated in such a way if they knock on the door you have no idea who is going to answer the door. doesn't make any difference here. >> would you say the people of garland shunned this event? >> i guess you could say that. i know a number of muslims, and they were not interested in attending or protesting and i don't know if you would use the word shunned. >> the keynote speaker said don't mess with texas in his speech when there were few from texas attending. do you feel used? >> it's a slogan. people use it for other things. >> douglas athas from garland, texas. >>> still to come in the "newsroom," b

happening now in garland, texas. police are still working to identify the two men who police shot and killed after those men opened fire outside an event showcasing cartoons of the prophet muhammad. nbc's jay gray is live. what's the scene in garland. >> investigators are still investigating this situation. still a very tense scene although both suspects were shot by police. it all unfolded yesterday around 7:00 in the evening just as the event was about to end. two men pulled up jumped out and opened fire. one garland security guard was hit in the ankle. he was okay. there was stepped up security at this event already. garland police officers including s.w.a.t. members were on scene and returned fire and killed both suspects. at least three loud blasts have the area around the center overnight. we know that bomb teams using robots were investigating them in the car and the area around that car. we haven't been told yet what those blasts are. we can only assume it was part of that work. we do know that along with the

i think the ball was always in the court of garland pd from the beginning of event planning. even from that time, several months in advance, they knew

simpson and said go to garland and kill those people. well, he went to garland.oes look like they're being activated via twitter. >> this clown, elton was trying to get to africa. he was denied going to africa because of his background. he has a lawyer defending him saying he was wrongly stopped from going. so he's lawyering up, sitting in a lean to, some small apartment in arizona. he still is able to fight back against the fbi. by the way, how amazing is it that the fbi is staying ahead of the game like this? i admit they got there. at least they were tracking him and they knew what was going on. >> if they were ahead of him, they would have stopped it. you know, we talk a lot about the collection of data by the nsa, they did not stop hassan. they did not stop the boston bomber. they did not stop this guy. a lot of people are saying why exactly is the nsa gathering all that stuff up? >> counterterrorism officials just studying the electronic trails left by the two men that were shot dead in the terror attack on sunday. twitter will play a major role in determin

the "charlie hebdo" massacre in january in france where police in garland spoke to reporters last hour. >> we're certainly looking into that. we have not knocked that out. but again, we're working with the fbi. we will eventually figure out what that is. >> i want to begin our coverage now this hour with my cnn colleagues ed lavandera who joins me live on the phone from garland and rosa flores here in new york. rosa, if i can begin with you, the latest that we know about these two now dead gunmen. >> you know, we know the name of one of those gunmen, ashleigh, the authorities releasing his name, elton simpson, is his name. now authorities telling us that he is an isis sympathizer, linked to an isis member on social media. we've got tweets we can share with you on that. the fbi had been keeping close tabs on mr. simpson and he was also found guilty in 2011 of making false statements involving international and domestic terrorism. now i want to start with these tweets, ashleigh, because simpson sending out a tweet two hours before this attack and this known isis member actually retweetin

lou: i want to turn to garland texas. radicalized somali americans apparently were killed because they were attacking a free speech event. i want to get your thoughts, and your view about how it was handled. the outcome. and what we can expect going forward. >> to me, obviously facts remain to be uncovered. it's a terrorist event from everything we can tell. it wasn't a demonstration that got out of control. it wasn't muslims offended by cartoon images of the prophet muhammad. it was a terrorist attack against a free speech event. i think we better get ready for more attacks like that. suicide bombers and all the rest. from isis in syria and iraq, across north africa thousands of people, our own fbi has said have come from the united states and europe with valid passports to get trained in terrorism. and they'll be coming back to this country. the notion that the war on terror is over is just flatly wrong. lou: and one only has to look across north africa, the middle east and garland texas, to realize the truth of that st

casey stegall live in garland, texas. one of the questions this morning is whether or not this is related to terror. apparently an isis fighter tweeted that the shooting was carried out by two proisis individuals in a series of tweets and linked a jihadist name which in intel organization has said was a british isis fighter. two of our brothers just opened fire at the prophet muhammad exhibition in texas. so is there now an isis connection to texas? >> you wonder that twitterfeed that case across at 7:35 at the time of the attacks. that read we have given the commander of the faithful. may allah accept us. ten days earlier that same account tweeted this will they ever learn. they are planning on selecting the best picture drawn in texas. i'm sure they are looking into that. we'll speak now with the tea party leadership fund. she was there at the event when the shooting happened. we thank you for being with us today. horrifically scary attack here. tell us what you heard. initially someone was saying shots fired? paint us

again, everyone felt like something could happen in garland. but they were not certain. >> was the command post where the cartoon contest was? >> the command post was not there, but there were fbi agents on the ground at the caldwell center in garland where the draw muhammad contest was being held. >> then i tip my hat also as well to the fbi. because this could have been so much worse than it ultimately turned out to be. sean thank you. >> thank you. >>> and the ohio man accused of plotting to attack the united states capitol now facing new charges. a federal grand jury charging christopher cornell with attempting to provide material student itto isis. the 21-year-old is pleading not guilty and is held without bond. >>> and tonight, can in a today they let him out. former former guantanamo bay inmate now out of jail. >> omar khadr was just 15 when he threw a grenade and killed a special forces head dick sergeant speer in afghanistan. after that he was transferred to guantanamo bay and there you pled guilty and the deal at that time was that he

on sunday night down in garland, texas. you know in the crazy upside down world that we live in there are some who are actually blaming the victims for this. clearly, it was a provocative event, but it was a freedom of speech event. keep in mind that the way it works in a democracy, is if there's somebody you don't agree with and you don't like what they're saying you don't try to kill them. >> never. >> you draw another cartoon. >> you know -- >> use your own free speech rights. >> the penalty for being offensive shouldn't be death in this country. that's not what we're about. we have rights and we're protected by them. the winner of the contest spoke out. it was interesting, when -- former muslim himself. >> this is what he had to say. >> i've been drawing for muhammad for years. i took it upon myself to take part in it. it's an important thing. it's about the freedom of speech which is important right now. it's under siege by the enemy, by the islamic enemy, by the left, by some on the right. it is on constant attack. we

it happened in the dallas suburb of garland. that security guard was shot in the leg but is back home tonight. the bomb squad is still on the scene. they're using a robotic device to inspect the two men who were shot as well as their vehicle. at one point overnight, our fox news reporter at the scene heard two muffled detonations. however, police have not said yet if they found any explosives. it was a tense scene around 6:00 p.m. local time sunday in garland, with police swarming the building after the shooting. however, no one inside the building attending that event was injured. we still do not know the identity of the suspects. police are not aware of any ongoing threat and say they have not received any credible threats before the event. the texas governor reacted saying -- >> it happened during a contest hosted by the new york based american freedom defense initiative that would award $10,000 for the best cartoon depicting muhammad. such drawings are deemed insulting to many followers of islam, and have sparked violence ar

in fact, this event well doesn't have much to do with garland other than they rented a site here in garland they were taken away. most of them made plans to stay somewhere. we ended up putting a number of them up in a hotel and taking care of them until they were able to get to their cars. >> surely you know their names. are they on a watch list of any type? >> we're not sure of that. do we think we know who they are? yes, but you're asking questions that we're not aware of yet. >> are they members of the city u.s. or are they foreign? >> i don't know that. there are a lot of things that you're asking. there is an i don't know going investigation. there are some people who know more than i do, but i don't know that. >> can you talk about the weapons used by the officer and the two suspect? >> the officer was using his duty pistol. they were using assault rifles. >> i know you can't give us the officers' name but can you tell us how long he has been on the department? >> he's a tenured officer. i don't know how many years. but with what he was faced with, and his reaction and shooting with t

from garland texas.it's a big part of that metropl metroplex. those people are going nowhere fast. hard to tell if the water is receding or still flooding in. it's going up slowly, i'm being told that actual levels are going up still. they're probably going to try to get those people out of there in some way but the helicopter shots we were seeing before, i apologize folks, this is ktvt, we're not in control of this helicopter camera, but when they pan back, and they took a nice wide sweep of how bad that traffic problem is, it goes for miles. everybody parked on those freehs for miles. i want to go to dan simon standing by in highlands, texas, all the way south. i still can't believe i'mp hopscotching between dallas and where you are in highlands, texas, in the houston area. you're northeast of houston and the pictures look virtually the same. there is literally water everywhere in texas. >> and ashleigh, we saw almost the identical situation play out in houston in terms of what we saw in dallas this mo

a tense situation in the dallas suburb of garland sunday evening.ing two suspected gunmen after they opened fire on a security officer at the so-called free speech event at a contest was being held. that security guard were shot in the leg but is back home after being treated and release from the hospital. the two men were shot as well as the vehicle. at one point overnight, our fox news reporter on the ground at is the scene, heard two muffled detonations. they haven't said if that was an explosive that was found. earlier the spokesperson for the garland police department the effectiveness of the security on hand during the event. >> for any event, they hire off-duty garland officers. there were additional police officers hired for this event, simply because of the event that was here in january, additional security was added to this event tonight. luckily it was because, we had a threat and they executed that threat. >> it was indeed a tense scene around 6:00 p.m. local scene sunday. even chaotic with police swampling the building. no one inside a

of more attacks like the one in garland, texas. it's the first time the group has claimed responsibility for an attack on american soil. the radio addressed the 34-year- old and 30-year-old as heroes. but it's not clear if they had any direct connection to isis or just inspired by the organization. police say the two men arrived at this dallas area conference cent where an art contest depicting the prophet mohammed was being held. they were armed with assault rifles and opened fire, wounding a security guard. both men were shot dead by police. >> i can't imagine what went through his mind. or -- >> reporter: she says her son was a devote muslim but she never thought he would hurt anyone. >> i mean, to be convinced to do something like this is beyond, just beyond me. >> reporter: the men drove a thousand miles from arizona to this event space in garland, texas. the building re-opened today. the fbi started investigating him nine years ago. as investigators searched the suspect's apartment in phoenix for more evidence on monday, law

here's what police say went down in the dallas suburb of garland last night. two men drove up to the curtis caldwell center jumped out of their car and began shooting. they hit an unarmed security guard before being shot and killed by police. inside the building hundreds were attending a mohammed art exhibit and cartoon contest being held by the american freedom defense initiative. now the keynote speaker a ditch politician on an al qaeda hit list and the executive director of an anti-islam group, our correspondent ed lavandera is following the latest for us from texas. tell us more, ed. >> good morning, carol. well you see the scene behind us just beyond these cars. you'll see fbi agents holding a blue tarp. that is where the bodies of the two suspected gunmen are lying on the street. what is interesting as you look at the scene here they didn't even make it inside the parking lot of the civic center. they had gotten out of the car and started shooting before they, themselves, were shot down. >> become orderly. we're taking everybody a little furtherary way f

there are quote other elton simpsons out there, referring to one of the gunmen in garland, texas.and individual live at the white house with more. >> reporter: jon, it is our understanding that the fbi knew about elton simpson's intentions in the hours before the attack in garland. three or so hours before the attack the fbi says they had a picture what was going to happen and forwarded an alert to local law enforcement in garland. the garland police department is not really saying when they knew what when but they do say that the officers there on the scene had not gotten any warning that simpson was headed their way. the fbi thinks though that there are hundreds if not thousands of people in the united states being self-radicalized by isis and it is very sophisticated social media platforms. taking at face value, i fbi is saying isis is getting better and we're having tougher time to keep track of them. in a quote from james comey, the old paradigm between inspired and directed breaks down here. >> we get nervous two people from phoenix, arizona, just wanted to kill a bunch of p

. >>> up next the attack on a muhammad cartoon in garland, texas. we'll talk to michael mccaul, chair of the homeland security committee. >>> a look outside the beltway at paris, france, on this ve day weekend marking the end of world war ii in europe. the threat of homegrown terror is as much a reality there as it is in this country. isis claimed responsibility this week after two men open fire at a draw muhammad cartoon contest in garland texas. now the terror group claims as recruits across this country who are ready to attack. joining us now from paris is the chair of the house homeland security committee, texas congressman michael mccaul. chairman, the pentagon raised the threat level at all u.s. military bases this week, although they said there is no specific credible threat that they have. do you think that action is warranted? >> yeah, chris actually, i do. i think there's been an uptick in the threat out there. the level of chatter, internet calls to arms, if you will, to light up potential isis followers potentially in the united states.

we saw it this week in garland, texas. this has been something that has been growing in kidnapperconcern. james comey said there may be thousands of people in the united states on-line with groups like isis being radicalized joining militant ideologies. this is all a huge concern. i have to tell you we've been told the military had this order in the works for some time as it was monitoring on-line communications as it was monitoring social media, growing increasingly concerned about this trend. so what does this mean? if you have a military base in your town in your community, military bases here in the washington, d.c. area you are likely in the short term to see maybe some traffic jams more people security personnel, at gates, more checks of personnel going in and out of the military bases, checks of vehicles. do they have permission to come op base. what are vehicles and delivery trucks carrying. keep in mind this becomes as one official said a very expensive proposition to maintain this level of security. so what the m

we have details on the attack on the contest in garland, texas. there is new information about the two men killed by police as they apparently tried to shoot their way into the event. police say that even though the gunmen wore body armor and carried assault rifles. a local police officer was able to bring them down with his service business service pistol. they drove from phoenix, arizona. before the attack, one gunmen posted a tweet linking himself to isis. cnn's kyung lah has more. >> reporter: nadir soofi is a pakistani source. he has a pakistani father and a mother as a white american. when they divorced he and his brother moved to pakistan. he went to a school in islamabad. he and his brother decided to leave the country. we know that soofi had a pizza shop here and a son. we know more about elton simpson. the other gunmen. he has a criminal record. in 2011, he was convicted of lying to authorities. at the time, they tried to stick him with an international terrorism charge. that did not come to fruition. his family is not muslim. we hear fr

that went on for some time unfolding in garland texas. we say good morning. welcome to america's newsroom. martha: one security officer was shot. the two suspects are dead. a s.w.a.t. team descended on that building immediately. they asked people inside to remain calm. >> two officers have been shots and two suspects have been shot. that's what we are worried about. we are going to take you into the auditorium further away from the front of this building. bill: they moved to another building and started singing "god bless america." ♪ from the mountains to the prairies ♪ bill: our coverage begins with casey stegall. the story seems to be moving further west to arizona. >> reporter: there are local news reports right now out of phoenix that the two suspected voft in the shooting here in texas are roommates and live in arizona. search warrants are being executed at a condominium complex in central phoenix. we are working to get independent confirmation on that. but eerily a tweet went out that used the hashtag texas attack. and police are reporting this is linke

that is in the area around garland.ng flash floods right now in that area. they got 5 inches of rain overnight. expecting 1 to 3 in the coming hour. be careful there. >>> let's look at what is coming up on "new day." alisyn. >> we will have the latest on the shocking news of dennis hastert making illegal cash withdrawals as hush money and lying to the fbi about it. we will look at what he is accused of and why this matters. >>> the gop field getting more crowded. we will speak with one hopeful, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum. he will join us live on what he thinks will be different this time around. >>> plus the pentagon considering arming sunni tribal fighters in iraq. is that the right strategy or risky? our military experts will weigh in. see you at the top of the hour. >> alisyn thank you. >>> fifa the world governing body that oversees soccer or football faces its biggest corruption scandal ever. yet that man, expected to cruise to re-election today. how can that be? coy wire has the answers in the bleac

ed lavandera live in garland, texas, thank you for that. coming up next, isis inspired or simply randomly home grown terror. or was the texas attack something in between. how worried should we be about more of these and should we expect the next one to be much worse? >>> it's fair to say we can be thankful the terror attack on sunday in a dallas suburb was stopped before it got started. the gunmen will never pose a threat to anyone but today there are still a lot of questions out there. were elton simpson and nadir soofi acting on any orders from isis or were they simply trying to impress isis leaders they kind of read about? joining me with insight former cia official it phil mudd and also michael weis is a fellow at the institute of modern russia and the co-author of "isis inside the army of terror." so first to you, michael, if i could, why would a group of isis want to jump out in front of this and say it was us, it's our stupid bad bungled dumb cannon fodder plan? what does that gain them? >> take it in the other direction. the keyston

>> probably the same way they did for garland. many s.w.a.t. teams and police officers within the building at the entrances and exits of the building, and on the outer perimeter in the parking lot. i think they'll be probably as prepared if not more than what they had in gargarland. as it turned out, the preparation was adequate to take on the two people that showed up. but i think if you look back on it put a little bit of perspective, for all of the thousands of people in the u.s. that were probably offended and out of that out of the hundreds that are actually isis want to bes and talking about doing terrorist acts to actually only have two people show up to try to do a violent act, i think, is pretty significant compared to what we've seen overseas and around the world at similar events. >> well it just takes two, as you well know. >> that's true. >> to terrorize a community. you're well versed in the threat of homegrown terrorism. we know in the case in garland that one of the attackers was once on the fed's radar. so i guess looking ahead

garland police did a tremendous job. we'll have to have that security and more in the future. >> there is at least one police officer there who knows how to use a service revolver. >> we owe him a great debt of gratitude. >> have you met him? >> we're trying to catch him now. >> robert spencer, thank you so much. >>> ahead for us "at this hour," a harmless man is how the former attorney for elton spencer remembers him and now what does she think after he tried to shoot up that event in texas, that cartoon contest? she's joining us next. >>> plus a new contender in the republican field. you're looking at live pictures right now. is that tony orlando? i think that's tony orlando performing at the mike huckabee announcement event. this is why you have to stay with us. ♪ >>> new this morning, isis is claiming responsibility for the attack on the cartoon contest in garland, texas. you remember that according to islamic tradition, any depiction of muhammad is prohibited. who were these men? they drove from arizona to texas to

again, three hours before the attack in garland is when they warned the police there in garland, texasis person. again, not knowing that he was listen en route. >> right. evan perez with the breaking news having just spoken with the head of the fbi. evan thank you. >>> ahead, one of the high-profile witnesses in the death of michael brown in ferguson has just been arrested. all of this happening just hours after a lawsuit against the city also file against darren wilson. we'll speak live with his lawyer next. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. woman: as much as i sweat, i always wore black. other clinical antiperspirants didn't work. then i tried certain dri. it's different. it stops sweat before it starts. add some color to your life with certain dri. with