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Active Shooting Situation Near a Planned Parenthood Center in Colorado Springs. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired November 27, 2015 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00] HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: They were able to shoot three police officers entering that location. They are still trying to find him or get to the location he's at now. There is a good chance they are probably shooting it out with this guy now or he has found another location to go and hide and they're trying to search for him. We haven't seen any video of hostages coming out that I can see. So I'm not so sure if any of the hostages have been rescued as of yet. So that's -- that's a very important part.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: We haven't heard.
HOUCK: And I tell you what, Brooke. This -- we have too many of these going on. The fact is that a lot of these businesses need to start developing protocols for active shooters.
BALDWIN: Some of them do have them.
HOUCK: Some of them do, but a lot of them don't. They just don't think it can't happen there. And they need to develop some kind of protocol. They need something like this happen that people will know how to react, they know how to escape and know how to protect themselves from gunfire.
BALDWIN: What about -- guys, let's put the picture back up on the screen of the Google earth. By the way, it's currently 17 degrees and snowy as we have been watching all of this there in Colorado Springs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which tactically throws a whole another --
BALDWIN: Wrench into the whole thing, I imagine. But if we can show the Google earth image, because I think it will be interesting to talk to these two about just the tactically, as we are talking to an eyewitness who was talking to me before. She was explaining to me this is essentially a medical center, now the far right is the Planned Parenthood center. And I don't know where all of this is in conjunction with police and the shopping mall, but by looking at that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a pretty big building to actually go into as far as a tactical operation goes. I don't know if that's the building or the one they were just showing, but that building that's the medical center, there are so many places in that building on the left that you can hide. As you move through there. And also, if it's a medical center, it's going to be pretty full, the day after thanksgiving. The potential is --
BALDWIN: Or it could have been closed. We just don't know. We don't know. We don't know. Jill Lavelle is on the phone with me. Jill Lavelle is at a - you know, I'm sure she was hoping to go about her black Friday business at a nail salon.
Jill, can you hear me?
JILL LAVELLE, EYEWITNESS (on the phone): Yes, I can. Hi.
BALDWIN: Jill, thank you so much. I appreciate you hopping on the phone with me as we're trying to put some of these pieces together. So you're at a nail salon in this area that's now sheltering in place, meaning you can't go anywhere.
LAVELLE: No, we are on lockdown.
BALDWIN: What have they told you specifically?
LAVELLE: Basically, that a police officer came here about 12 -- I got here about 11:30, and everything started to take place about 15 minutes after that. And a police officer, two of them, came and stood in front of our salon -- the salon here and told us that it was an active shooting and that several police officers had been shot and possibly some civilians. And that we were to stay put and to lock everything. And he stood actually in front of the building here for quite a while until he got called. And he ran off. So we haven't seen him since.
BALDWIN: So he told you a couple of things. This is news to us.
LAVELLE: Yes.
BALDWIN: We knew that three officers had been shot, but he said in addition to officers, he said possibly civilians?
LAVELLE: Yes. And this was about 40 minutes ago.
BALDWIN: OK. Actually, let me hit pause on this conversation. Let's listen to this officer.
Looks like the internet. Slow connection. We will try to get that back.
Jill, so back to you. So at this nail salon, tell me exactly where you are. Are you part of the strip mall where we've seen all the patrol units?
LAVELLE: Yes, yes.
BALDWIN: Are you anywhere near the window where you can describe where you are?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LT. CATHERINE BUCKLEY, COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE: Business or just to the north of that. Again, we don't have the suspect yet, and we do consider this still an active situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What kind of gun does he have, do we know?
BUCKLEY: The information that we received initially is that it was a long gun. We don't know what type or what capacity or anything at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is this connected to Planned Parenthood or do we know?
BUCKLEY: We're not sure what the connection is to Planned Parenthood, but that was the original address that we received for the call for service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is the shooter contained inside the building right now?
BUCKLEY: We can't confirm where the shooter is at, at this point. We had them earlier, but we're still trying to confirm where the shooter is actually at, at this point. That's why this is still very much an active situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: How many businesses were the shootings occurring?
BUCKLEY: We're still -- we're not even into our investigative phase at this point. The phase that we're into right now is that we are trying to provide emergency medical services to anyone that was injured, and we're trying to make sure that we have contained or that we can find the shooter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Any fatalities?
BUCKLEY: At this point, I can't confirm any of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Only ones here?
BUCKLEY: Again, at this point, we had information that there could be a second one. We always plan and train for additional one.
[15:35:07] UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Can you tell us how many victims have been transported?
BUCKLEY: I do not know how many have been transported at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do we know, has the gunman been wounded?
BUCKLEY: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Numbers of personnel that you guys have out here now between PD and fire?
BUCKLEY: We have brought, between us, the El Paso county sheriff's office and the surrounding departments including the state patrol. We have brought all of our resources to bear in order to address this situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Have you had officers inside the building?
BUCKLEY: I don't know. The question was, is there a possibility of a second shooter? We always plan and train for that. And we don't know whether there is just one or two, but we are addressing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: There's some neighborhoods a little further to, I guess, to the north. Anything being done?
BUCKLEY: We are not evacuating any of the neighborhoods to the north. We ask that people stay off of Centennial Boulevard because it is closed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything else?
BUCKLEY: OK. Sorry about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Did you say he was contained at one point?
BUCKLEY: We do not know whether he is contained or not at this point. We cannot verify.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you know if there's still what would have been customers inside?
BUCKLEY: There are people inside some of the different businesses. We have put -- we have put officers and detectives into the different businesses at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is there a possibility of hostages?
BUCKLEY: There is that possibility. There are a lot of possibilities with this scenario. As I said, it is very active and we are working our way through it. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody good?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: All right. So new information there. New nuggets definitely from Colorado Springs police specifically Harry, and I'm looking at you, the fact that she said we can't confirm where the shooter is.
HOUCK: Exactly. And they said that the call came in at the address where the Planned Parenthood was. It doesn't say that's where the shooting occurred. And another question is did this shooting occur outside or inside the building? This is a shopping area, alright. So now I'm starting to change my mind about things that are going on here. You know, that this might be the typical active shooter, a guy going out there trying to shoot shoppers, you know.
BALDWIN: On black Friday. At lunchtime.
HOUCK: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huge soft target.
HOUCK: Because if he's not in the building right now, they are probably searching that whole area, and all those stores are probably on lockdown. Now, where is this guy? Because he is such a potential danger right now because there is so many people in that shopping area.
BALDWIN: All -- this whole area on lockdown. We are just talking -- Jill, are you still with me in the nail salon nearby?
LAVELLE: Yes, I am.
BALDWIN: Jill, alright. So we just heard, I don't know if you could hear that, but from police, you know, the issue is they still don't know where the shooter or possibly shooters could be. So how many people are in your nail salon right now just sitting there and unable to move?
LAVELLE: About ten. Ten of us.
BALDWIN: Ten people. And did police tell you to stay away from the windows?
LAVELLE: Yes. Stay away from the windows, yes. And yes, stay away from the windows. And we can see, you though, we kind of peer out every so often, but we can see police officers behind the chase building with their gear and their guns out. Hiding behind -- kind of hiding behind a corner there. So yes, it's definitely an active situation from where we sit.
BALDWIN: Can you get a view of the whole shopping center from where you are?
LAVELLE: Not the shopping center, but I can get a whole view of where Planned Parenthood is and the bank where some of the police are behind a wall there. And they have a view towards Planned Parenthood, yes.
BALDWIN: OK.
LAVELLE: I can see them right now.
BALDWIN: OK. Jill Lavelle, one of ten people just crouched inside of this nail salon, can't move because this whole area is on lockdown because of this active shooting situation. As we just heard from the officer, they cannot confirm where the shooter is. Can't even begin to start talking about it. The investigative phase. They are still on the phase of trying to neutralize this individual or individuals.
Quickly, let me just read you this Planned Parenthood statement and then we will take a quick break. Planned Parenthood rocky mountains from the CEO. At this time our concern is for the safety of our patients, staff and law enforcement. This is a developing situation, and we'll continue to share updates as we have them. Quick break. Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
[15:44:01] BALDWIN: And we are back with our breaking news on this black Friday here. I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Brooke Baldwin. And we have been honing in on Colorado Springs, Colorado. Seventeen degrees there right now. Snowy Colorado Springs. Despite all of those elements here, you see police presence is tremendous in this 3400 block of Centennial Boulevard. This is the main drag, Colorado Springs.
Police responding for the better part of the last really two hours to this active shooting situation that's unfolded near Planned Parenthood. We know that according to police, three officers have been injured. So in total, four people have been injured, three at one hospital, one with a gunshot wound to the arm has gone to a separate hospital.
We just got an update from Colorado Springs police saying that they do not have a suspect. They cannot confirm where the shooter is. The shooter is on the loose. Could there be more than one? She says of course that's always a possibility. And she described the shooter's weapon as a long gun. What would the connection be to Planned Parenthood, she did not know. Said that they are providing EMS to treat those who are injured. Don't know if anyone has been killed, has no idea if there's a hostage situation unfolding. Still a lot of unknowns. I don't want to get ahead of myself. I just want to report what we know which are the facts.
Pamela Brown is our justice correspondent has been helping in our coverage.
So Pamela, let me just bring you in and you tell me what more you know.
[15:45:00] PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you just from talking to sources, from hearing from the Colorado Springs police spokesperson, an active manhunt is on the way for at least one shooter as we heard the spokesperson say. There could be more, although I will tell you, Brooke, most of the time these active shooter situations, it turns out to be one person, a person acting alone. Still too early to know, though, if that is the case here.
I'm told by officials that they are looking for this gunman possibly in the hedge row around the area. The ridge there in the area around the buildings. So they are searching that area. I was told the shooter may have been shooting from that area, targeting police officers. We know that at least three officers have been wounded. They are currently at the hospital.
This is what we know right now. Again, manhunt under way and could be an additional shooter. As you see, Brooke, just hearing from the spokesperson, they are still trying to gather the facts. I have been listening to the scanner traffic, and it's very clear from listening to that how intense the situation remains at this hour.
BALDWIN: All right. Pamela Brown, thank you so much.
We have to take a quick break. We're back in 90 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[15:48:43] BUCKLEY: -- that they shelter in place either at the businesses to the south of the Planned Parenthood or in the actual business or just to the north of that. Again, we don't have the suspect yet, and we do consider this still an active situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What kind of gun does he have, do we know?
BUCKLEY: The information that we received initially is that it was a long gun. We don't know what type or what capacity or anything at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is this connected to Planned Parenthood, or do we know yet?
BUCKLEY: We're not sure what the connection is to Planned Parenthood, but that was the original address that we received for the call for service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is the shooter contained shooter contained inside the building?
BUCKLEY: We can't confirm where the shooter is at, at this point. Where we had him earlier but we're still trying to confirm where the shooter is at, at this point. That's why this is still very much an active situation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: How many businesses were the shootings occurring?
BUCKLEY: We're still -- we're not even into our investigative phase at this point. The phase that we're into right now is that we are trying to provide emergency medical services to anyone that was injured, and we're trying to make sure that we have contained or that we can find the shooter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Any fatalities?
BUCKLEY: At this point, I can't confirm any of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Only ones here?
[15:50:01] BUCKLEY: Again, at this point, we had information that there could be a second one. We always plan and train for additional one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Can you tell us how many victims have been transported?
BUCKLEY: I do not know how many have been transported at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do we know, has the gunman been wounded?
BUCKLEY: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Numbers of personnel that you guys have out here now between PD and fire?
BUCKLEY: We have brought, between us, the El Paso county sheriff's office and the surrounding departments including the state patrol. We have brought all of our resources to bear in order to address this situation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Have you had officers inside the building?
BUCKLEY: I don't know. The question was, is there a possibility of a second shooter? We always plan and train for that. And we don't know whether there is just one or two, but we are addressing it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: There's some neighborhoods a little further to, I guess, to the north. Anything being done?
BUCKLEY: We are not evacuating any of the neighborhoods to the north. We ask that people stay off of Centennial Boulevard because it is closed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything else?
BUCKLEY: OK. Sorry about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Did you say he was contained at one point?
BUCKLEY: We do not know whether he is contained or not at this point. We cannot verify.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Do you know if there's still what would have been customers inside?
BUCKLEY: There are people inside some of the different businesses. We have put -- we have put officers and detectives into the different businesses at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is there a possibility of hostages?
BUCKLEY: There is that possibility. There are a lot of possibilities with this scenario. As I said, it is very active and we are working our way through it. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody good? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: All right. That was Lieutenant Buckley there Colorado Springs PD bringing all of us really up to speed here on this situation that's been going on for quite a while.
I want to bring in Danny Coulson, former FBI hostage negotiator.
And Danny, I mean, before you can even begin to talk about negotiating, I mean, police you just heard her say they have no idea where this shooter is.
DANNY COULSON, FORMER FBI HOSTAGE NEGOTIATOR (on the phone): That's exactly right. And in most crisis situations you know where the bad guy is, you know where the good guys are, you know where the medical people are and hostages. So they're pretty easy to do. When you have recall this an unstructured crisis where you don't know where the shooter is, you don't know where the victims are, and they got a lot to do here. It's the most difficult tactical situation that any commander can face. And most important thing they can do is getting clear that place.
I'm sure they have a perimeter. I'm sure they've started it. But the essential thing to do is clear that place. Go through it room by room, building by building to be sure that you have this guy. He could be dead. He could have committed suicide. He actually could have escaped. That's also a possibility. So this commander is doing a good job. She's got her hands full.
BALDWIN: Yes, I mean, I think it's important to point out, you know, police keep saying it was near the Planned Parenthood, which says to me it may not have happened in the Planned Parenthood. When you look at the Google map as we have been looking at there, you know, strip malls down the road talking to a local newspaper reporter who is sitting in the staging area saying to me, Brooke, they have established a two to three-mile perimeter, which is huge.
COULSON: No, it is huge. And it creates all kinds of problems. And that's why they need so much manpower. That's why the public needs to cooperate.
BALDWIN: I think we just lost Danny. Harry, go ahead. You want to jump in.
HOUCK: Yes. Let's look at this from the perspective what we are seeing right now. Now, we know from active shooter incidents that somebody will go into a location, shoot it up, kill people, either get caught in that location when the police respond, alright, or then leave and somehow wind up shooting themselves. What we have here is we've got three police officers we believe are shot.
BALDWIN: Right. HOUCK: One other person we don't know who that person is. Now, it
doesn't seem to me that an active shooter, this shooter, went into a building and shot the place up because we only have -- we have three police officers shot and only one civilian.
BALDWIN: Could be a fourth officers, we don't know.
HOUCK: Right. Or it could be a fourth officer. We're not seeing a lot of people being shot here. And we would know about that. So it seems to me based on everything we are looking at right now that this guy did not go into a building that was full of people. That maybe his target was the police. I don't know because it looks like this might have been a possible police ambush situation also. Or maybe he decided he was going to maybe shoot some people. Remember, he was there first before anybody with that weapon.
BALDWIN: Yes, we have no idea. And this is a huge area. Look at that, one, two, three, four, five ambulances on standby. There you go. Fire, police, ATF, multiple jurisdictions all there. Active shooter situation Colorado Springs, Colorado, on this black Friday. Seventeen degrees, snowy here. A lot of complications for police.
We have got to take a quick break. We're back with more breaking news after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:59:41] JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are following breaking news right now out of Colorado Springs. Police tell CNN there is an active shooting situation near a Planned Parenthood center. The situation is fluid, not contained. They do not know where the shooter is. They do not know if there are hostages. Police say at least three officers have been injured. At this time investigators cannot say even if anyone was killed.
A short time ago we heard a police spokesperson on the scene. Let's listen to that.
