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Students Sheltering In Place After Shooting At FSU, 4 Hurt, Suspect in Custody; Trump Comments On Shooting At Florida State University; Trump Answers Questions At White House. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 17, 2025 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: -- in that same building or do you know if you're being brought to a different building?

GARRETT HARVEY, STUDENT, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY (VIA TELEPHONE): We do not know. We could be that we're leaving, but I'm not going to speculate.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Sure, sure.

And, Garrett, talk to us about this area. The students -- let's actually listen right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- pick you up right now. Your phones probably aren't going to work real well because everybody's on their phone. If you get lost and need a ride, you need to find your friends because you're not sure where they're at, we're trying to get everybody to the civic center.

Has everyone got that? All right, so if you're confused -- civil center. If you're confused, ask an officer and we'll do our best.

SANCHEZ: So, Garrett, you just got instructions there from an official as to what to do next?

I wonder if you could give us a description of what the Student Union is like on a regular Thursday. We understand that that's essentially where the incident happened, or at least from law enforcement, that's where they're scanning right now.

Talk to us about what it's like on just a random day.

HARVEY: Yes. Yes. So the city is very packed, especially around the time that this happened. At 11:00 a.m., people start to flock into union more often to get food and work on their activities and schoolwork.

That's someplace that's sometimes where I am going to study. So it is usually a very busy place. I actually worked at the Student Union. But I was not on shift today, obviously.

But it is a very active place across campus, especially in the morning, late morning and into early afternoon. SANCHEZ: And we're grateful that you're OK, obviously.

I wonder, Garrett, when you think about what happened today and what apparently happened at FSU about 10 years ago, if you ever imagined that when you we're going off to college, you we're going to face a situation like this?

HARVEY: Yes. No, it's no situation that anyone should be dealing with. No matter what they mean. It's just -- that's just -- you shouldn't have to think about that when you're going to school trying to get your degree.

Because I'm graduating in two weeks, and it's just -- I mean, in general, it should not happen to anyone, no matter what.

So that's -- that's the main takeaway is that, you know, you go to school to get your degree, make friends, make memories. You're not supposed to go to school to experience stuff like this.

HILL: Yes. You're right. You know, we heard that official just saying how the lines are going to be jammed, right? We're grateful that you're taking a minute to talk to us and to walk us through everything that's happening there on the ground.

Have you been able to get in touch with your family, with your friends on campus, to make sure that everyone you know is OK?

HARVEY: Absolutely, absolutely. I did as much as I can. First thing I reach out to with my parents.

HILL: Yes.

HARVEY: And I have been keeping them updated as much as I can. I probably will update them again in just a second as soon as I get off. But, yes, I have been keeping in touch with friends, family, everyone that I know.

HILL: You know, you're -- you're sheltered in place there with a significant number of people you told us. How is everyone handling -- I mean, you seem -- you seem fairly calm.

I mean, I can also hear a little bit more in your voice, but you're really -- I mean, you're very calm in this moment with us now on the air. How is everybody else doing?

HARVEY: I mean, we're all like, we're -- a lot of us are relatively calm because we are in a safe spot. But obviously, it's more -- more of a calm fear because we're -- we're definitely terrified with what happened.

I can't speak for everyone, but, I mean, for me personally, I'm terrified. But right now, I'm in a safe spot, so I feel slightly better, but not really.

SANCHEZ: Understandably so. I mean, anyone, I think, would be shaken in the situation that you're facing. Garrett, when you reached out to your parents, was it via text

message? Was it a phone call? What did they share with you?

HARVEY: It was text message. I said there was a shooting. I'm hunkering down. And I would -- I would stay off, you know, any sort of line for several minutes to allow first responders to pretty much use open communication, because I knew it was going to be clogged.

And there's a lot of people calling. So I just -- I texted them that. I kind of stayed down for a few minutes. And then I pretty much called them just saying, hey, I'm fine. You know, I don't think he's anywhere near us and that I'll just -- I'll just keep him in touch.

HILL: Yes. I think they -- they would probably love to hear from you again. I say that as -- as a -- as a mom over here.

Garrett, we are grateful that you took the time to speak with us and walk us through what's happening. Really glad to hear that you are OK, although understandably terrified. Thank you, again.

Call your parents and we will -- we will check in with you again. Thanks, Garrett.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

HARVEY: OK, great. Thank you. Bye.

HILL: And Ryan Young is standing by.

Ryan, I understand you have some new reporting as well in terms of what has happened and what is underway right now at Florida State.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but listening to that last interview, you got to really feel for him as he's sitting somewhere waiting to be cleared.

And you see these live pictures and you can see the sort of the angst in peoples faces as we sit here and wait for another knowledge about what happened, an active shooter.

[13:35:07]

Just from a personal perspective, I attended this university. I love Tallahassee. I love Florida State.

And the truth be told, that campus is so wide open. I mean, the interaction between the community and that campus in particular is almost second to none. I mean, I follow a page just to talk about the trees when it comes to this campus.

The real -- the fear here, though, especially when you're online, you can see how terrified the students were as they were running. They heard those gunshots. OK?

My source, who was also a Florida State grad, who's down there, who's actively going through the buildings as we speak, as I talked to him, you could hear the pain in his voice as he found that blood trail.

And as he's trying to track down to make sure no one else is injured and to get to some of the students who are locked down in place.

And you understand how personal this is for so many people, because they absolutely love this university.

And so at the same time, the -- the double pane here of trying to figure out exactly what's going on with an active shooter, to try to figure out if everyone is OK, to assure the parents and the public in the Tallahassee area that everything is going to be all right.

And then you put on the -- the face of this that they've been preparing for this since the last time they had an active shooter. The only thing you can say is the response must have been pretty quickly, because once that tweet went out, they had the suspect in custody.

Now online, there are plenty of social media videos. There are things that we're going to have to dissect as the days go on, in terms of what they we're actually able to do and who they we're actually able to get.

But the real pain here is those people who were taken to the hospital that we don't know their conditions right now. We got four headed to Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare.

And you know, that whole center now has been put into a position where they have to take care of these people who've been brought in, who never expected that as they went to this wonderful university, that they would end up here at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare needing some assistance.

So as you think about all of this and we talk about the details of this, you just think about the shock. And I remember that interview that they did with the young lady who was nearby. You can hear the pain in some of these students voices as they're having to deal with this on this campus.

SANCHEZ: Yes. As Garrett said, it's something that you never imagined that you would have to contend with.

Ryan, I wonder, in speaking to your sources, if you got any sense from them as to how the suspect was brought into custody, whether there was a surrender or whether they turned themselves in.

How exactly do you understand that that went down? Is it still too soon to say?

YOUNG: Yes, and I appreciate the question. And trust me, I would love to get into more details about this, but we're -- we're trying to nail down just the back half of just how this all played out.

And so there are several videos on social media that are spreading right now who are identifying people as the suspect. And we're just trying to be cautious, right? Because unfortunately, if someone took a picture of the wrong person and all that stuff, then it just goes down a whole other rabbit hole.

But as of right now, what was clear to me and what was made clear to me is they felt good about how they got the suspect in custody. And I think that was the first part of it.

And of course, the next part of it was trying to make sure those other buildings nearby were cleared and they didn't have any other situations to be concerned about.

I will tell you, Boris, because you -- you'll definitely understand this -- as I was on the phone and -- and someone finds a blood trail, that was shocking, even to the people who were working that scene because they thought, you know, they want to make sure the areas that they're clearing are clear.

And so you can imagine all the extra officers who are coming into here and how they're going to coordinate this and make sure these buildings are clear with FSU police. It'd be very interesting.

And in talking to the witnesses, and then hopefully, at some point, going through the vast network of surveillance cameras that are on that campus, maybe that will show how this person entered the campus, whether or not they came from a dorm room, or we're they somebody from off campus.

These are all things that have to be figured out, and whether or not this person even attended the university. Because like we said, it's a big open campus, Student Union is the center. So these are all things they're going to have to work out over the next few hours.

HILL: So, Ryan, also, and just especially for folks who are just joining us, just to reset the scene here, a suspect has been taken into custody after there were reports of an active shooter at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

Initially, the school said this was near the Student Union. Four people have been taken to a medical facility. Its -- we are not clear on the extent of their injuries or the condition that they're in.

In terms of this person who is in custody, is it your understanding, Ryan, from your sources, that law enforcement believe that this is the only person who may have been potentially involved in this shooting, or are they concerned that there could be someone else on campus?

YOUNG: Right. All great questions. And I think one of the things that we've been discussing back here as well is, I think they've -- they obviously focused on the one initial person they had.

[13:40:03]

But obviously, after this happened, you probably had some loud sounds other places. They are doing the most thorough search possible and trying to clear rooms as slowly as possible to get these students out.

But everyone wants to make sure there are nothing that sort of slips through the cracks here, especially when you talk about safety. So the good news here, though, is after about 12:30, there have been

no additional reports of any loud sounds, any loud bangs. We have seen students running.

But the situation has taken definitely a different posture. But it's still intense because I can tell you for the officers who are clearing room by room, they don't know what's around the next corner, and so they want to make sure they're getting from place to place.

And look, this is a large university, right? So they've already closed campus for the rest of the -- for the rest of the week, I believe. But as they do this, it's going to take some time to clear this area bit by bit.

I mean, when you think about just how expansive this place is, it could take some time. So you got to do the best you can. And I know helicopters above. And so you have air resources in the area. And they're trying to check the grounds and make sure everything's OK.

But I think the good thing is, if we're going to point this out, is it's been at least 20 or 30 minutes since anyone's reported any sort of active running or sort of loud noises or anything like that.

So that's something that I sort of keep my fingers crossed about at this point.

SANCHEZ: Ryan Young, thank you so much for the update. Keep us posted when you hear more.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back with the latest as we're tracking this shooting at the campus of Florida State University. At least four people there, hurt. We'll get you the latest details in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:46:11]

SANCHEZ: We're continuing to follow the breaking news out of Tallahassee, Florida. A shooting on the campus of Florida State University.

Just moments ago, President Donald Trump reacted to the news from the Oval Office.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- everybody. And I've been briefed on the Florida State University, Tallahassee, active shooter.

I guess it's an active shooter?

Fully briefed as to where we are right now. It's a shame. It's a horrible thing. Horrible that things like this take place. And we'll have more to say about it later.

In the meantime, it's an honor to have the prime minister of Italy with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That was President Trump responding to this shooting at Florida State University. The president there saying that he's been briefed on what happened, saying that It's a shame, a horrible thing. Things like this happen," is President Trump's statement.

Again, the breaking news is that at least four people have been hurt. We understand from law enforcement sources that a suspect is in custody.

Right now, we're joined by Raul Pedraza.

Actually, let's go to Ryan Young, who I believe has some new information.

Ryan, what have you learned?

YOUNG: Yes, just a bit of new information here. It's now up to six patients at the hospital, one in critical, and the five others are in serious condition.

So we see that patient list growing. Like I talked about before, these numbers will probably change. We do know now, six patients, one in critical, five in serious. So that has just changed recently. That from Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare.

My producer and I were talking about this as we got the update. So we're not sure if more patients have to be transported or what's going on with the final tally here.

But as we said before, these numbers could change as this remains an active situation as we try to figure out exactly what's going on here and if there are any more serious injuries at this point.

HILL: All right, Ryan, thank you.

And of course, as we know too, as they are working to secure the campus, so it will be likely some time, but we will continue to get those updates.

A number of people on the campus sheltering in place at this hour, including Raul Pedraza, who joins us now, he is a student at FSU.

Raul, thanks for -- thanks for joining us.

So I understand you're in lockdown now in your dorm room. You actually -- you woke up to the sirens this morning.

RAUL PEDRAZA, STUDENT, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY (via telephone): Yes. So I woke up -- I was awoken by police sirens. I'm right next to the police station in my dorm room. And I was awoken by the police sirens. And so, you know, I wake up, and then all of a sudden, the -- these

loud, blaring, like, deafening sounds from the speakers in the dorms. They start going off and they start telling us, you know, life- threatening emergency.

And so, you know, we start freaking out, you know, in the rooms here. And then we get a text that there's an active shooter. And I mean, it was -- it was a shaking -- you know, a really scary event.

SANCHEZ: Raul, talk to us about the campus itself and the Student Union, how far you are from it, and whether you've heard from any friends that might have been in that area.

PEDRAZA: Yes. So I'm -- I'm a decent distance away. I thought I might have heard a gunshot or two but it was faint. And I heard a bunch of helicopters.

But, yes, I know a few people -- one of my friends who was near the -- the union, and he was telling me how, you know, there were -- he heard gunshots and how he just bolted across the road. And that you know, how -- how terrifying it was.

I mean, I was -- I was terrified, and I wasn't in the heat of it like he was. So, you know, it's a very scary thing.

HILL: Understandably scary.

I mean, as you -- what's going through your mind as you -- I mean, as you say, you know, you woke up, you're near the police station. But to wake up to sirens, then to get these alerts on your phone. I mean, just walk us through what that moment was like for you.

[13:50:01]

PEDRAZA: I mean, honestly, it was -- you know, it was -- it was pretty traumatizing. Like, you know, you always hear about these things. You never really expect to be in one.

And like, even now, you know, my arms are shaking. I try -- you know, I try to, you know, act like, you know, I don't feel that. But like, it's -- it's, you know, really moving and scary thing as I -- you know, I wake up to the sirens.

You know, at first, you think it's a drill and then it's not. And it's like, oh, my goodness, you know, what's going on? And you start to panic. You know, you get like a sinking feeling in your stomach. I mean, it's -- it's pretty moving.

SANCHEZ: And, Raul, talk to us about what security is like, not just around campus but also specifically near that Student Union. Is there typically a law enforcement presence there that you are aware of that you've seen before?

PEDRAZA: Well, so I occasionally see there's sometimes a police car parked outside near the area of the union, but I honestly -- I don't really usually see many, like, police officers like guarding the union or anything.

And, you know, it's, like I said, I'm a decent ways away and I'm right next to the station. So, I mean, the station's also a pretty decent ways away from the union.

And so, I mean, it's not a, I'd say, fortified area or anything like that. Yes.

HILL: Well, it's also -- I mean, it's a -- it's a fairly large campus, right? And, you know, like any college campus, I mean, its -- I mean, it's tough. Anybody who's ever been on a college campus knows how large these -- these can be, especially in a place like Florida State.

We were speaking with, you know, a fellow student at Florida State just a short time ago who was talking about, as part of the orientation process, right, leading into freshman year, that part of what you go through is training, like you, unfortunately, likely had in high school and in middle school.

And possibly even elementary school about what happens in an active shooter situation. But to your point, it's -- it's -- you know, it's somewhat unimaginable that you're in this situation now.

Do you have -- do you have a roommate with you in your dorm? I mean, how is everybody else handling this? I'm guessing the rest of your dorm, your floor, is there with you, too. How are they handling it?

PEDRAZA: Yes, well, my roommate actually wasn't in the room, which had me pretty nervous. But, you know, I checked in with him. He was OK.

But, yes, I mean, honestly, the floors have been pretty empty around here in the area, so, like, I don't know much -- you know, the dorm group chat -- we have a group chat in our dorm. They were all freaking out, telling each other, you know, we're all safe, stuff like that. But, yes.

HILL: Was that -- was anybody in your group chat or in your friend group that you know of, were any of them in or near the union?

PEDRAZA: Like I said, only one person I knew was walking in the area. As far as I know. I mean, there could still be some of my friends out there that I haven't heard from. So, yes.

SANCHEZ: Raul Pedraza, thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. We're glad that you're OK. And we hope that getting through this process, you'll do so as smoothly as possible. Thanks so much for the update.

PEDRAZA: Thank you, I appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

We still have Ryan Young with us, as well as Jonathan Wackrow and Rob D'Amico.

Jonathan, I want to go to you. Because, as we were just hearing from Raul there, it dawned on me that part of the process of clearing the scene is also going to involve an investigation into these dorms or rather, a clearing of these dorms and having to go door to door as folks are sheltering in place, presents its own kind of challenges. Can you walk us through those?

JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes. For law enforcement, this is a very stressful situation because law enforcement does not know where a secondary threat may be hiding.

So they have to go in, you know, very methodically to, you know, clear these buildings and then, you know, take the students that are sheltering in place and move them to another location.

Again, this is a very tense situation, and it will remain so until we get that all clear.

And, you know, just hearing the different witnesses that you have been speaking to CNN, you know, through the course of the past hour, you know, it's really important to raise that, you know, in these situations, everyone is going to have a very different physiological and psychological effect to the stress of, of an active shooter.

And that also presents a challenge to law enforcement. Because you know, verbal commands may not be followed. We heard earlier today, during the hour, there was one caller that, all of a sudden, said that there was gunfire.

And they actually mistake, you know, someone, you know, opening up a door for gunfire. And just, you know, just speaks to the -- you know, the dynamic situation that is faced by the students, the faculty, the public at large.

[13:55:01]

And law enforcement as they try to ascertain whether or not there are additional threats, present in this, you know, more to your point, the process of clearing these locations.

And bringing people to a unification center where they can get with their friends and family again. So it will remain tense.

And, you know, the size and scale of FSU is -- is significant. So it's not going to be a rapid process. It can't be by design. Because you cannot miss that threat.

But I do believe that the law enforcement, from what I'm seeing, is doing an excellent job at, you know -- you know, maintaining communication and public safety through this critical event.

HILL: Jonathan, stay with us.

We do -- we do want to take you right now to the White House. The president is answering questions right now. So let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: -- during the Biden administration. They say 21 million and a big percentage of those are criminals, serious criminals.

I'm not saying just criminals because they came into the border illegally. I'm saying they're criminals at the highest level, murderers. Many of those people murdered more than one person. And they're on the loose.

And I was elected to get rid of those criminals, to get them out of our country or to put them away, but to get them out of our country. And I don't see how judges can take that authority away from a president.

We've done an amazing job, Tom Homan, Kristi Noem. We have done an amazing job. Nobody can believe the job we've done, far greater than what I said. I mean, I got elected on that. But we've done much better.

We have right now 99 percent border -- it's a 99 percent. Nobody thought that would even be possible. Nobody's coming through our border, practically.

Two weeks ago, we had nine people come through, all for medical reasons. We allowed them. We brought them through because one had a heart attack. One had something else. All for medical reasons.

We have a great border. We had a great border four years ago. But we have a border now that's even tighter. And we did that in a matter of weeks.

And, no, we have to -- we need -- we need to get murderers and drug dealers and people that were in jail for horrible -- you know, they released jails, Georgia, from all over the world and released them.

Not just South America, all over the world, the Congo in Africa. Many, many people come from the Congo. I don't know what that is, but they came from the Congo and all over the world they came in.

Opened their jails. Venezuela, practically all of their prisoners released into our country. And we took them because we had an incompetent administration called the Biden administration. And to think what they've done to our country.

And I was elected to straighten that out. And I'm doing that. But we have activist judges that don't want murderers to be sent out of our country. They don't want killers and drug dealers and drug lords and people from mental institutions.

They want them to stay in our country, I guess. I don't know. Maybe that's the liberal way, or as they call it nowadays, the progressive way. But I don't think it's the way that our country believes. And that's why I won in a landslide.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President, back on trade. Mr. President, you did say that you were confident these deals would be done, but you also said that you're a no rush. Americans are seeing prices rise. They're seeing it on their bills.

How long can they expect that pain to last?

TRUMP: So they've already seen it get much better. Because -- if you were truthful, which you're not. I know you very well. You have gasoline that hit $1.98 yesterday in a couple of states. You have gasoline way down.

The price of oil has dropped substantially. The price of groceries are substantially down. The -- the price of eggs -- you know, when I came in, they hit me with eggs. I just got there. I was here for one week, and they started screaming at me, eggs have gone through the roof. I said, I just got here.

I was there for seven days, and I hear that eggs have gone through the roof before I got there. And they we're screaming at me, the press, the fake news like you. You're fake.

And the fake news is screaming at me like about eggs. I said, I've only been here -- I -- just this is my seventh day.

And they were right. They went up 87 percent and you couldn't get them. They said, you won't have eggs for Easter, which is coming up. Happy Easter everybody. You won't have eggs for Easter.

And we did an unbelievable job. And now eggs are all over the place and the price went down 92 percent. And our commissioner of agriculture, Brooke, has done a fantastic job, really done a fascinating job. So prices haven't gone up.

The only thing that's gone up actually is interest rates, because we have a Federal Reserve chairman that is playing politics. Somebody that I've never been very fond of, actually, but he's playing politics.

[13:59:59]

Interest rates should be down now. They should be coming down. In Europe, as you know, they reduced them, I guess, seven times. It looks like they're going to reduce them again and again and again.

But our guy wants --