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Continuing Coverage of the Shootings of Congresswoman Giffords and Others
Aired January 08, 2011 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to go right to Ted Rowlands. He's outside the university medical center in Tucson right now. You're getting some new information. Ted, what are you learning?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Wolf, we're getting more information from the hospital as to Congresswoman Gifford's condition. They say she is still in critical condition. She's in the ICU. She got out of surgery at about 1:15 local time here, and as we heard earlier, she was following commands during the period after the surgery.
So they look at that as extremely positive. They say that she is here with her parents and her husband, Mark Kelly, the NASA astronaut. He is also at the hospital at her side. He flew a charter jet from Houston to be with his wife and she is at her side at this hour.
So really the new information is that she's still doing well. There are five critical and five serious patients here at the hospital at this time. She continues to be responsive and following commands and she has her family by her side.
BLITZER: But she's listed still in critical condition obviously in intensive care, but she's coming out of the anesthesiology, is that what's going on?
ROWLANDS: Yes, she started coming out they estimated about 1:15 local time here and is now presumably completely out of anesthesia and is with her family at this time. We are obviously awaiting the press conference from the sheriff's department starting at the top of the hour for more information, but at this point, more good news, if you will about the congresswoman's condition.
BLITZER: Are they saying anything, Ted, at the hospital when they'll have another update from the doctors, another briefing at the hospital?
ROWLANDS: They are not. They're not scheduling anything at this point. However, we have been in contact with a liaison at the hospital frequently so we're getting good updates as they occur and we'll obviously share anything that we get on a moment's notice.
BLITZER: And it looks like there's a vigil that's forming outside the hospital there where people are coming to pay their respects and show their support and solidarity for those who have been, "A," killed and "B," seriously wounded. Set the scene for us a little bit. Tell us what we're seeing.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, you're seeing a lot of people who have over the years either worked with or been a supporter of the congresswoman and you talk to some of these people, they say that they're here because this is the natural thing to do, to come to the hospital during this time. But as you can see, there are candles and the sun is setting here in Arizona. The amount of people has been growing steadily.
People started showing up shortly after the news broke that the congresswoman is at the hospital and is fighting for her life.
BLITZER: All right. Ted, we'll stay in very close touch with you -- Ted Rowlands on the scene for us at the hospital in Tucson.
It's the top of the hour. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting here in Washington. We're continuing CNN's live coverage -- live coverage of the horrible, horrible breaking news that occurred today, the shooting of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She was shot in the head today but survived and was rushed into surgery. Her doctor now says he's, quote, "very optimistic about Giffords' chance of recovery.
A gunman opened fire while Gifford was meeting with her constituents in a grocery store parking lot in Tucson, Arizona. Six of the victims are dead. Among them, a 9-year-old girl, a federal judge, and the congresswoman's director of community outreach, Gabe Zimmerman. Giffords is among the 12 wounded.
Police have a 22-year-old suspect in custody. He's identified as Jared Lee Loughner.
Here's what we know about today's events, how they unfolded: Giffords' public event was scheduled to run from 10:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. Tucson time. That's noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern. She was at a Safeway store over at a shopping center in northwest Tucson. Authorities haven't said exactly when the shooting happened. CNN first confirmed the story at 1:05 p.m. Eastern Time or 11:05 a.m. in Tucson.
The next few hours were a rush of confusing and contradictory reports. Things started to clear up around 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 2:00 p.m. Tucson time when a doctor at the University Medical Center announced that Giffords was in fact still alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PETER RHEE, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: No, the congresswoman is not deceased.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you tell us her condition currently?
RHEE: She is in critical condition. She is -- the neurosurgeons have finished operating on her. And I can tell you, at the current time period, I'm very optimistic about recovery.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you tell us where she was shot and her injuries? RHEE: She was shot in the head.
(INAUDIBLE)
RHEE: I do not know that specific information at this point. I can't tell you that the person that did die here at the hospital --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. We want to go right to the news conference, law enforcement authorities in Tucson are briefing reporters right now.
SHERIFF CLARENCE W. DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: I've been a police officer in this community for over 50 years, 30 of which has been as sheriff. And in my 50-some years, I have never been so shocked in my life as the events that happened today. This is not only a very sad day for Tucson and for the family, for the friends of all of the victims of these horrendous, horrendous senseless, unbelievable crime. It's a sad day for America.
First, if we may, I am going to provide you with some of the details as to what happened, kind of a thumbnail sketch and then we have the person in charge of the FBI for the state of Arizona. Welcome. OK. Last time, it was me. Nate Gray.
This is a day of personal sadness for very, many of us in this room. People like Dr. Carmona, who is the 17th surgeon general of the United States and has been a Pima County sheriff's deputy for some 25 years. He's going to follow Nate Gray and answer any questions that you may have.
But this morning around 10:00 a.m., Congresswoman Giffords was having a town hall type of meeting outside in a kind of a strip mall situation outside Safeway grocery store. She does this frequently. There was no indication of any problems.
But at about 10 minutes after 10:00, a gunman approached and started shooting. Congresswoman Giffords was shot once in the head, she's still alive and the surgeon in charge is cautiously optimistic that she may survive. Five people were killed. One of whom -- two of whom are personal friends of mine, including Congresswoman Giffords.
One being a federal judge, John Roll, who this morning got up like he does every Saturday morning went to mass because he knows Gabrielle very well, decided to come around the corner and say hi. Unfortunately, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have never met a more sincere, fair-minded, brilliant federal judge or any judge for that matter in my whole life. John Roll has been on the federal bench for a number of years, before that he was a prosecutor for the Pima County attorneys office and he was also a county attorney (INAUDIBLE).
One of the finest human beings I have ever met in my life. He was a frequent attendant at daily mass downtown at the cathedral. And this morning, he went to mass, and was going to come home and do the floors, which he always does on Saturday. Congresswoman Giffords was an incredibly gifted legislator. She still is. She's one of the nicest human beings that has ever been planted on this earth. She's not only brilliant. She works from dawn until dawn basically and she cares what really happens in this country. She's not about Democrats or Republicans. She's not about politics. All she cares about is the United States of America.
And today I want to tell you, I hope that all Americans are saddened and as shocked as we are. And I hope that some of them or most of them are as angry as I am and as a lot of us are. And I think it's time as a country that we need to do a little soul-searching, because I think the vitriolic rhetoric that we hear day in and day out from people in the radio business and some people in the TV business and what see on TV and how our youngsters are being raised, that this has not become the nice United States of America that most of us grew up in. And I think it's time that we do the soul-searching.
Two brave individuals at this crime scene tackled the suspect, who is a white male, 22 years old, and at this point, we're not able to divulge his name. He has kind of a troubled past, I can tell you that. And we're not convinced that he acted alone.
There's some reason to believe that he came to this location with another individual. And there's reason to believe that the other individual in some way may be involved. I know all that does is pique your curiosity and you'll have a million questions, but based on the advice of legal counsel, we're not going to be able to give you any more information on that.
As much as we would like to find this person, and we have pictures of him, at some point in the near future, hopefully, we'll be allowed to provide the public with that.
At this point I'm going to turn the microphone over to Nathan Gray, the FBI SAC for Arizona.
And I'd like to thank all of the federal agencies, all of the public safety agencies, the fire, the police, the medical people that have responded to this in just incredible, professional fashion. We're overwhelmed by the professionalism exhibited by all of the agencies involved to come together to work this very, very sad case.
Thank you.
NATHAN GRAY, FBI, STATE OF ARIZONA: Thank you, Sheriff.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those affected by today's tragedy. I'd like to express my condolences to the families of John M. Roll, chief judge, U.S. district court of Arizona and Representative Gabrielle Giffords.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who were impacted by today's events. The FBI and the Pima County sheriff's office are working together on every aspect of this joint investigation. And we're utilizing all resources necessary to ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.
I'd like to thank our federal, state, and local partners who have played such an important role in today's events and those efforts continue.
As this is an ongoing investigation, it would not be prudent to comment above any of the details that we discussed -- that were discussed by the sheriff. And as new information becomes available, we will provide that to you. Again, the events of today not only affect the citizens of Arizona, the families involved, but touches the hearts of Americans throughout the United States.
Thank you.
DUPNIK: I can tell you that there are 19 victims in this case. Five of whom are dead, one including a 9-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six.
DUPNIK: Six? We now have six deceased?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, there were six deceased.
DUPNIK: OK. I think you all heard that we have six victims who are deceased. So, if you have any questions at this point, we'll try to answer them as best we can. But keep in mind, SAC Gray stated, it's very difficult for us to talk about evidentiary issues at this point. We have federal crimes involved and we have state crimes involved and we have legal experts providing us with the guidance that we need at this point. But to talk about specifics is going to be very difficult.
But if you have any questions -- yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you believe that Congresswoman Gifford was the target and was the first person shot?
DUPNIK: I don't have information about whether she was the first person shot. But, I think, yes, she was the target.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Had she been receiving threats recently?
DUPNIK: Well, I'm not aware of any public officials that have not been receiving threat. She had two unfortunate incidents occurred during a very vitriolic campaign that just occurred. She had one incident where someone in a very angry audience dropped a weapon out of their pants. She had an incident around the same time where windows were broken out of her headquarters.
We understand that at her headquarters right now, at Swan and Pima, that there's a suspicious package that's being investigated.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you say anything about a possible motive for this? (INAUDIBLE).
DUPNIK: Well, I can tell you this, that the 22-year-old individual does have a criminal background and there are reports that he was a Pima College Student and that there had been some difficulties with him.
But again, I'd just like to say that when you look at unbalanced people, how they are -- how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths, about tearing down the government, the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital. We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So was this related to prejudice and bigotry or --
DUPNIK: Pardon?
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: All I can tell you is that there's reason to believe that this individual may have a mental issue. And I think that people who are unbalanced are especially susceptible to vitriol.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, can you comment on conditions of the other victims?
DUPNIK: I cannot. As I understand it, no one at this point is in a life-threatening situation.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Two have not been identified.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, were they all shot or were some people injured in panic?
DUPNIK: Well, they were all shot.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: We have -- some of the names that we can release here, some of the families have not been appropriately dealt with at this particular point. But staff has the names, ages and so forth of the victims that we can release.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are all 19 were shot?
DUPNIK: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: All 19?
DUPNIK: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What was the weapon, Sheriff?
DUPNIK: Well, it was a -- it was a semiautomatic weapon. (INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: We're not going to get into the real specifics of what we have, but it was a semiautomatic pistol.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: No, at this point we're not able to go into the specifics of his background.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are there other persons that you mentioned --
DUPNIK: Pardon?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The other suspect, is he a shooter?
DUPNIK: No.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) of a silver sedan leaving the parking lot. Was that at all related to the incident?
DUPNIK: I don't think so.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where is he in custody?
DUPNIK: He's in the custody of the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: We're not able to go into the specifics of those issues at the moment.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, is there any sort of protection plans to other federal employees in the area?
DUPNIK: No. But it's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And that's the sad thing about what's going on in America. Pretty soon, we're not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: There was no security.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you release the names of the men who tackled the shooter?
DUPNIK: I don't have them. Do we have them? We don't have them here, but we know who they are.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) earlier said that, if I heard you right, that you said that the attack was caught on videotape from the store. Can you confirm that?
DUPNIK: Right now, we're not going to be able to go into that specific information.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is that correct, though? Can you talk about any return fire or (INAUDIBLE).
DUPNIK: There was no exchange of gun fire.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was there security at the press conference?
DUPNIK: There was not. It wasn't a press conference. This was a town hall, informal meeting outdoors.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did the mall or the store itself have any kind of security officer?
DUPNIK: Not to my knowledge, but that's not unusual.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, do know what the shooter was saying --
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Based on our investigation, we don't have any specifics about what he might or might not have said.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: No, I can't.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, how long do you expect that scene to be locked down the way it is?
DUPNIK: I don't know. We still have a whole lot of work to do there.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The other person that might be involved in this case is headed, is he --
DUPNIK: Don't know where's headed. We don't know who he is.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Pardon?
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Whoever's mike that was, I'm sorry. Now, it's three mikes.
We do know that he's a male person.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Pardon?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The other individual -- the other individual that you mentioned that possibly arrived after the shooting?
DUPNIK: I'm going to be 75 next week and my hearing is not very good.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you sure that the other individual is a male?
DUPNIK: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What make you think he is aligned with this first suspect?
DUPNIK: Well, I'm not at liberty to go into that at this moment. But, obviously, we're pursuing this aspect of the investigation very aggressively, and if there comes a point in time when we can release this information, we're going to do that as soon as possible.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has he made any statements?
DUPNIK: No.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: It's happening as we speak. That's all I know. The Tucson Police Department is handling it.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Pardon?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has he taken counsel?
DUPNIK: I don't know the answer but I know that he has invoked his rights.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are there other suspects (INAUDIBLE).
DUPNIK: I'm not in liberty to say.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have the identity of this other person? I know you're currently looking for him, actively looking for him?
DUPNIK: We have an individual that we are actively in pursuit of, but I can't tell you who he is at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The two heroes that stepped in and tackled the suspect, can you say with certainty that had they not done that, that the suspect could have shot others? DUPNIK: Well, at this point, I don't know if he still had ammunition in the gun or not. He did? He could have -- probably would have shot other people had he not been tackled by two people.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did any of the victims seem to know the shooter?
DUPNIK: No.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sir, do you know how many rounds were shot and can you take us through a little bit about what happened, the sequence of events, how the town hall was occurring? Was there people the line to speak with Gabrielle Giffords? Did this person come up and attempt to speak to her?
DUPNIK: No, actually, as I said, it was a very informal thing that was just starting. And he ran into the crowd and when he got to her, he started shooting. He wound up shooting 19 people.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: I'm not at liberty to talk about evidence at the moment.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff you have gone into great detail about the possible mental state of the suspect.
DUPNIK: Well, we understand that there have been law enforcement contacts with the individual where he made threats.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Against her?
DUPNIK: No.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Who did he threaten?
DUPNIK: I'm not at liberty to discuss that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Can you at all describe the nature of the threats?
DUPNIK: To kill.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are you aware of the YouTube page that apparently belongs to the suspect?
DUPNIK: Seven minutes long, yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You mentioned there were other rounds. Was he, do you know, planning to kill himself?
DUPNIK: We think that may be a possibility.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was he a veteran?
DUPNIK: I do not know the answer to that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How many shots were fired?
DUPNIK: I do not know the answer to that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is the person that you're looking for, you say he's white, young --
DUPNIK: He's white.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know possible what his age is?
DUPNIK: Probably in his 50s.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is it a matter of protocol not to have security around her, even if they're --
DUPNIK: This was strictly normal procedure. This -- when Gabrielle Giffords, and I have been to many of her events with her, goes, there's never security unless there's advance intelligence that there may be a problem of some kind, which there were plenty of during the election. But she goes to four to six to sometimes eight events in one day when she's here over the weekend.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Security is her choice, isn't it, Sheriff?
DUPNIK: Well, she can ask for security, but she's never asked and been refused that I'm aware of.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, Judge Roll was there (INAUDIBLE) Giffords was there, he just came by to say hello?
DUPNIK: He wanted to say hi. He knows her very well.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Let me just repeat, we have two people who are not identified and I think for the sake of the families who think that possibly they may have friends or relatives that may fit into the category of deceased, it's not appropriate for me to say.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But you said you could identify the others?
DUPNIK: We have the names of some that the families have been notified and those are going to be available after the conference here.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Beyond the names, do we know whether these were aides? Do we know if these were people in the audience? Do we have (INAUDIBLE).
DUPNIK: We have it but we're not releasing it for the moment, for the reason I stated.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: About the 9-year-old girl, was she just with her parents in the audience? Was she a relative to Ms. Giffords? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not have that information.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You don't know why she was there? She may have just been walking by?
DUPNIK: This has been a very chaotic scene as you can well imagine. That number of people who were injured or killed and they have gone to different hospitals. So, it's been very difficult for us to try to sort all these things out, we're doing the best we can and when we get the information that can be released, it will be released. A lot of it is available right now.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: I'm not at liberty to talk about that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Has he threatened public officials?
DUPNIK: I'm not at liberty to talk about that.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Well, those are issues that are going to have to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Perhaps Mr. Gray can answer that -- is there an Arizona pattern to this that you can see?
GRAY: Not that we're aware of that we're seeing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know how many rounds that gun had a capability of holding?
DUPNIK: A substantial number.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Pardon?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They already know that it did.
DUPNIK: Did what?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have an extended magazine.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, do you have any estimate, knowing that, how many rounds it could hold?
GRAY: Not going to discuss it.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you know the shooter's experience in college, what kind of disciplinary problems he might had?
DUPNIK: Well, he was, as I said, a he subject of some police interest in the recent past.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you also believe that Judge Roll is also a target, Sheriff?
DUPNIK: I don't have any reason to believe that.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Well, we have a number of federal agencies. Their chiefs are here in the audiences as a matter of fact. We have AT&F. We've got DEA. We've had ICE. We've had U.S. Marshals and their representatives are here with us today.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, can you talk about his general problem (INAUDIBLE) he's schizophrenic?
DUPNIK: Well, I'm not a psychiatrist, but I have no reason to believe that the person was insane. Was he unstable? I would agree with that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, was there a suicide note?
DUPNIK: Pardon?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was there a suicide note found?
DUPNIK: I can't talk about that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sheriff, how quickly was law enforcement on the scene?
DUPNIK: Within a few minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is the second person, you're looking for a suspect or just a person of interest?
DUPNIK: He's a person of interest at the moment.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is that person related to the suspect?
DUPNIK: We don't know who he is.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Was there a possibility of another attack that (INAUDIBLE).
DUPNIK: I don't know. We don't know. He's not talking and we have a lot of work to do.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there were roughly two or three dozen people there.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Two or three dozen people in all?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have any idea how many people were killed either at the scene or at the hospital.
DUPNIK: Five.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: All killed at the scene?
DUPNIK: Yes.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Five were killed at the scene. One died at the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did he have a car in the parking lot?
DUPNIK: We don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How long before the ambulances showed up?
DUPNIK: Pardon?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How long before the paramedics showed up?
DUPNIK: I would imagine that they were right around the corner, so it would have been almost immediately.
(INAUDIBLE)
DUPNIK: Don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Were all the people who were shot in attendance at the event?
DUPNIK: I don't know the answer to that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There are a lot of businesses around there, (INAUDIBLE) tell us a little bit about that.
DUPNIK: I don't know the answer to that. But Captain Nanos,, N-A-N- O-S, who's in charge of the detective division for the Pima County Sheriff's Department can probably give you more specifics.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is your first name, Captain?
CAPT. CHRIS NANOS, PIMA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Chris.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: C-H-R-I-S.
NANOS: Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Last name?
NANOS: Nanos. N-A-N-O-S.
DUPNIK: N as in Nancy, A, N as in Nancy, O, S.
NANOS: Captain -- I'm in charge of criminal investigations division for the sheriff's department. If I might add just briefly, we are working jointly with the FBI on this case and they have been of great assistance. All the local agencies, to include TPD, (INAUDIBLE) I could name them all, I'm going to miss some. But all of them have assisted. We appreciate their efforts and they're continuing to assist us. And that's to include the fire department and their medical teams, too.
(INAUDIBLE)
NANOS: It's joint.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The 9-year-old, she died at the hospital?
NANOS: Yes, sir. I don't know how she was transported, but she did pass away at the hospital.
(INAUDIBLE)
NANOS: We don't know that yet. We're still working on those issues. We have identified all five, all the deceased have been identified. We are working on next of kin notification. And therefore, we can't release the identity at this time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Captain, to follow up on the very first question, who was the first person shot today?
NANOS: That I don't know that yet. We'll look at it, we interviewed a number of witnesses, we still have to interview a number of victims that are at the hospital. We haven't had an opportunity to talk to those people yet. So, it would just be pure speculation.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where was Judge Roll hit?
NANOS: I'm sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Where was Judge Roll hit?
NANOS: You mean --
(CROSSTALK)
NANOS: I don't know. I don't know personally.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How about the suspect -- the suspect's friends or family, have any of them been contacted?
NANOS: I believe we have been in touch with some family members, but I don't know any specifics.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: At what range were these shots fired from?
NANOS: Very close. That's all I can tell you, very close.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) know that he was hit with stray bullets or that he was --
NANOS: I can't get into those specifics. I wish I could.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you what she was doing just before the shooting -- like an hour (INAUDIBLE)?
NANOS: No, sir, I don't -- do not.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: His previous contacts with police, was he arrested?
NANOS: I -- the previous contacts with police that we know of, we're still looking at, we really don't have a lot of information on those things.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Is there any kind of connection to the vandalism that occurred on (INAUDIBLE) going on campus today?
NANOS: You know I'm unaware of that incident as well. So no -- I'd to say no at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) involved or it (INAUDIBLE) shooting that happened to be where a town hall's going on?
NANOS: If I were to speculate a guess, I'd probably be wrong, so it's best if we just let the investigation work through it and wait for the those things out.
SHERIFF CLARENCE W. DUPNIK, PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA: OK, we've answered all the questions that we're going to answer for now. But we will be available tomorrow morning, probably at the Pima County Sheriff's Department to provide you with any additional -- just a second -- with any additional information that we have.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) conference here?
DUPNIK: No.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Will Dr. Carmona (INAUDIBLE) today?
DUPNIK: Dr. Carmona is here to answer any questions you may have about medical issues in this case. And he can come to the microphone now. But let me just say one thing, because people tend to pooh-pooh this business about all the vitriol that we hear inflaming the American public by people who make a living off of doing that. That may be free speech, but it's not without consequences.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Talking about a motive, how do we know that --
DUPNIK: You don't.
RICHARD CARMONA, FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: Like the sheriff, I am deeply hurt and disturbed. Many -- some of these people were my friend. Congresswoman, I know very well, worked with her for many years. The judge I knew very well, worked with him, and so this is a very painful time for all of us. And that is -- the FBI said and the sheriff said our hearts are bleeding right now for them and the families and for the others that were injured.
This is a terrible tragedy and in all my years as a trauma surgeon or a deputy sheriff, I've never seen anything like this in a community like ours. But I will tell you that because of the bravery of the men that were there that interdicted and stopped this from happening, and the extraordinary response by our Emergency Medical System and our law enforcement, more catastrophe was averted.
A incident command system came together very quickly, something we train for on a regular basis, all our officers both in fire and police side practice that on a regular basis. They look for those worst-case scenarios and challenge themselves so they're ready for events like this.
But today they came together in seamless, integrated system that surged to meet the needs of the community. The people got evacuated very quickly after a quick evaluation and our hospitals did extraordinary work in triaging. The University Medical Center Trauma Center and Dr. Reed who's the director did a fantastic job.
I mean because they were operating like a combat casualty hospital in combat. And fortunately Dr. Reed is a retired Navy officer and he served in combat. Unfortunately Dr. Reid is a retired Navy officer and he served in combat. And he's seen this before.
I spent time there with him and it was a smoothly operating system. So if anything that -- the community can rest assured that the response was extraordinary. It served the public well. More catastrophe was averted. I think lives have been saved because of the great work that our EMS, fire and medical community has done. But yet we're still in a great deal of pain and suffering for what has happened here today.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
CARMONA: The congresswoman is in critical condition. I have spoken to the trauma chief. She has a very severe wound, but he's cautiously optimistic that there is a possibility she could survive. But make no mistake. This is going to take a little while to see how she does after her surgery.
She could need more surgery, there are lots of complications that occur with problems like this, and so you know she's in our thoughts and our prayers and we're all hoping for the best for her. But having taken care of a lot of people like this before, I know how difficult a path is to recover.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In your opinion with her injuries, will she survive?
CARMONA: As I said, the surgeons I spoke to --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In your opinion? CARMONA: -- are cautiously -- I wasn't a surgeon. I'm aware of the studies. I saw the CT scan, MRI. I saw what was done. I know the surgery that was done. With guarded optimism, I hope that she will survive. But this is a very devastating wound.
(CROSSTALK)
CARMONA: No, no.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did emergency (INAUDIBLE) at the time?
CARMONA: I'm not going to go in that. As you said, this is still being investigated in general. She's severely injured and you'll get to talk to the physicians who care for her tomorrow.
So my point here is just to tell you that our Emergency Medical System, fire, EMS, law enforcement, all came together, did a great job, took care of business that was unprecedented in this community.
And we're fortunate to have a great trauma team at UMC and community hospitals that received some of the patients and then transferred them later as they were needed. So that's the extent I can -- I can comment on that. More specifics we'll not get into now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What are some of the simple commands that she responded to?
CARMONA: Again, I'm not going to get into the specifics of what she did or she didn't do, suffice it to say it was a severe injury and her physicians took care of her to the best of their ability and they're monitoring her very closely now.
(CROSSTALK)
CARMONA: I'm sorry?
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) she more serious (INAUDIBLE)?
CARMONA: I didn't say she could. In these cases, sometimes more surgery is needed and that will be determined as they observe her care over the next few days and weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why would she need more surgeries?
CARMONA: There's a lot of reasons. There are a lot of complications, there are a lot of things that can happen. And you know rather than discuss conjecture, I certainly hope that nothing else happens and she recovers to the best of her ability with the injuries she has.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What is (INAUDIBLE) for long-term brain damage?
CARMONA: Hard to say right now. That's going to determine now that she wakes and her physicians are evaluating her every day and doing neurologic testing and so on.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) where in the head did it go in and where did it --
CARMONA: Again, because this is still a case under investigation by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the FBI, I'm not going to comment on the specifics of the wound suffice it to say she has a head wound.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE)
CARMONA: Again I'm not going to comment on the specifics, the wound that we're concerned with now, that the doctors have cared for today is a head wound. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, thank you very much.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so there you have it. The -- about a 37-minute news conference there. We got a lot of important information from the Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik.
Specifically perhaps the most intriguing piece of information beyond the bare facts -- 19 individuals shot, six are now confirmed dead, the congresswoman in critically -- in condition right now as you heard from Richard Carmona, the former surgeon general of the United States, a family friend of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
But very intriguing information. The sheriff -- the sheriff of Pima County now saying they are not convinced that the suspect in this case acted alone. They do believe that there is reason to believe that another individual came with the suspect, with the shooter.
This person is on the loose right now. He's described by the sheriff as a person of interest. Here you see a picture of Jared Lee Loughner, he's the suspect -- the suspected shooter in this case. This is a picture of when he was a junior in high school back in 2005, 2006, just before he dropped out of high school.
That's Jared Lee Loughner, the suspected shooter in this case.
Tom Fuentes, a former assistant FBI director and a CNN constrictor, is joining us now.
When the sheriff says that they are looking for another individual, that they're not convinced that this suspected shooter acted alone. Wow, that indicates that maybe two people were involved. What -- how did you read that, Tom?
THOMAS V. FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Wolf. I was very surprised that that statement was made. And I think that at this point they're just going to have to find that individual and find out what his involvement was. You know you do have the possibility of a friend giving Jared a ride to the scene and dropping him off and maybe wasn't involved. Or maybe he knew all along and did assist him in his preparation to commit this crime.
So at this point, they're not exactly sure that he's an actual suspect, as I mentioned, identified him as a person of interest. But certainly they're going to be trying to locate him as soon as possible. Especially given the close proximity of Tucson to the Mexican border.
BLITZER: And they do -- he did suggest, the sheriff, that they have a picture of this second individual. I assume there probably were security cameras throughout that shopping center outside the safe way there. They're going to probably going through all the videotape right now to see exactly what happened. At some point presumably, they'll release -- they'll release that videotape.
FUENTES: Right. Exactly right, Wolf. They would be getting hold of media cameras as well as all the citizens who were taking pictures with their phones and BlackBerrys and other devices, and using that as part of the investigation, and as well as examining Jared Loughner himself.
We have the YouTube article that he put out or movie that he put out. So there's going to be a lot of leads to determine exactly what was the motive even if he doesn't talk at this point what was the motive for committing this crime.
BLITZER: Well, you heard the sheriff say that they believe that the motive was to kill this congresswoman. That if in fact that she was the target of this individual as he opened fire with this Glock .9 handgun, the semiautomatic.
If in fact this individual came there and the purpose was to kill this congresswoman and presumably others as well, that now is an assassination attempt assuming she survives, and that has federal ramifications in addition to assassinating a federal judge who may or may not have been the target but just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
FUENTES: Right. That's true, the attack on the congresswoman and the murder of the federal judge are both federal violations. The FBI has primary jurisdiction in both of those crimes. SO they will be proceeding along those lines.
Everybody has mentioned, from special agent in charge Nate Gray of the Phoenix division of the FBI to the sheriff and other spokespersons, that it's a joint investigation, everyone is working very closely together. But make no mistake, this is a federal crime or a series of federal crimes and the FBI will be pursuing this closely.
BLITZER: And you heard the president announce earlier that he had specifically directed the director of the FBI Robert Muller to go to Arizona, to go to Tucson and take charge. So at some point, we're going to be hearing the FBI as the lead investigation in this murder right now as opposed to local law enforcement.
It's a sensitive issue, I know, but as a former FBI agent yourself, the FBI will take the lead, is that right?
FUENTES: Yes, that's true. In 1979, a federal judge, John Wood, was assassinated outside his home in San Antonio, Texas. In that investigation, the FBI dispatched hundreds of agents to Texas, eventually solved the crime and the individual convicted of it went to prison. The case was code named Wood Mur at the time for the murder of judge wood. So it is a federal crime. The FBI will be I'm sure in this case as well dispatching hundreds of agents to Arizona as well as anywhere else the leads take them worldwide to pursue this case.
BLITZER: All right, Tom, stand by, we're going to get back to you.
We're getting additional information on the fallout from this assassination attempt, on this murder, this killing spree in Tucson, of this sheriff. You just heard the sheriff say that Arizona has become, in his words, the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry. And he's saying that unbalanced people are especially vulnerable to vitriol and to political rhetoric.
We're going to flush out what's going on, stand by. Much more of our special coverage right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Just to update those viewers who may just be tuning in. We just heard from the Pima County sheriff in Tucson, Arizona, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who says that 19 people were shot in that killing spree in Tucson earlier today, six are confirmed dead.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is in critical condition right now having undergone surgery. Her doctors are cautiously optimistic she will survive, but she's obviously going to go through a very, very dangerous period right now.
The fallout from this is amazing, what's going on from the president and the vice president on down, and now we're getting new information how this will impact the United States House of Representatives.
Our senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash is here.
Dana, what's going on because they're taking action quickly in the House?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They're action to stop action basically. The brand-new Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor just released a statement saying that they're no longer going to have a vote as was scheduled to repeal health care reform.
That was supposed to be on Wednesday. That is now postponed, as is the rest of the legislative agenda. And we just got another statement from the Democratic whip now in the House, Steny Hoyer, saying that any legislation and all legislations that were -- or action that will come before the House will only have to do with this tragedy, in his words, in Arizona.
So that is in terms of the schedule --
BLITZER: But they're not going into formal recess.
BASH: Correct. BLITZER: They will remain in session, but they're not going to deal with any substantive legislation at least for the time being.
BASH: Substantive and controversial legislation. That's correct. It looks like they do anything --
BLITZER: That vote was scheduled for Wednesday to repeal the health care law.
BASH: Correct. The vote was scheduled for Wednesday. That is no longer happening. If they do anything at all, it will be to commemorate and perhaps pass resolutions and talk about the tragedy in Arizona. That's one thing.
And the other is, we just got the first official word from the House sergeant at arms. Of course the sergeant at arms is the one who's in charge of security for the House.
BLITZER: That's Capitol Hill police.
BASH: It's the Capitol Hill police. And on the House side, we haven't heard from Bill Livingood yet, but now we -- a statement where he's talking about the fact that, as we heard earlier, that there's no indication that the incident is part of a larger threat against members of Congress.
But very interesting. This is also gave me instructions to other members. We were reporting earlier, we were hearing from other members of Congress that they are concerned. That aides saying that they're not sure what their bosses should be doing. Should they going out and doing events or not.
Well, this just says that if they go out, a local law enforcement should be informed of the address -- the district office, of the address for that member's residence, and that if they have any, even iota of an indication that there could be anything wrong that they should contact them immediately.
BLITZER: So even if they face -- start getting some threatening letters or whatever, notify the Capitol Hill police, at least they can start to deal with these kinds of issues.
BASH: And when they're home, notify their local law enforcement agencies.
BLITZER: Yes. And then we heard those very strong statements from the sheriff in Pima County in Tucson.
BASH: Very strong.
BLITZER: Saying that this political environment could cause someone who has mentally issue -- in the words of the sheriff -- to commit this kind of act.
All right, stand by. We have a lot more to go through. We're only beginning our coverage. Unfortunately a horrible story -- a killing spree in Tucson today. Much more of the breaking news right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We just heard the sheriff from Pima County in Tucson say they're looking for a second individual who was seen with a suspected shooter at this mass killing earlier in the day.
Let me play that sound bite from Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUPNIK: He has kind of a troubled past, I can tell you that. And we're not convinced that he acted alone. There's some reason to believe that he came to this location with another individual. And there's reason to believe that the other individual in some way be involved.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Reason to believe this other individual is involved, according to Sheriff Dupnik. The individual is being described by the sheriff as a person of interest as opposed to a formal suspect. They say they have a picture of this individual. They're trying to find this person to see what involvement he may or may not have had in this case.
Dr. Steven Rayle was at the event in Tucson earlier today. He treated some of the victims. He was on the scene. He's joining us on the phone right now.
Dr. Rayle, thanks very much. What were you doing there when the Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was hosting this event outside the Safeway at the shopping center?
DR. STEVEN RAYLE, WITNESS/TREATED SHOOTING VICTIMS (via phone): Well, I -- I had come to actually meet her. I had come with a friend who had met her before and wanted to introduce me to her. So I had arrived with a car, took my two dogs and walked over there, my friends needed to get something out of the car, so she sort of was lagging behind. I walked over --
BLITZER: So walk us -- so walk us through what happened when you got there.
RAYLE: OK. I walked over with my two dogs and this was in front of a Safeway -- right on the sidewalk in front of a Safeway, and I don't know if you have seen photographs of the Safeway, but there's some columns there and the sidewalk sort of curves.
There was a table there that was set up under a banner and Gabrielle Giffords was behind that talking to a couple there. She was wearing a red sort of suit jacket and looked very relaxed and pleasant and was smiling.
I walked over sort of past the table. I had never seen her in person before, so I walked over past the table and looked at her, and I kept walking around the side of the table past the concrete post there. And when I arrived at the side of the table, I looked up just as the gunman was firing the shot at Congressman Giffords and there was a sense of sort of unreality.
And to be honest, I froze for probably a second, just not quite understanding what was going on. He continued to fire sort of rapidly, really at pointblank range and the way things were set up, people really had no route to escape, they were sort of hemmed in by the architecture and the things around there and the table as well.
So I --
BLITZER: And all of a sudden, you saw this individual open fire and start killing people?
RAYLE: Yes.
BLITZER: And you heard the gun shots, you heard all this unfold? How far away were you from the gunman?
RAYLE: I was about 10 feet away, not directly in front of him, but sort of at an angle and immediately after I sort of jolted myself alert, I ducked behind this concrete post that was there while he continued to fire.
BLITZER: And then what happened? Because he was shooting individuals as you say at pointblank range, but at some point, it stopped. We're told by the sheriff two individuals tackled this gunman, is that what happened?
RAYLE: I'm told, yes, I sort of ducked behind this post, and then I laid on the ground. I saw him coming around and I laid down as if I had been shot so as not to be a target. And then I did not see exactly what happened, but he was tackled as he tried to escape.
By two individuals, one of which was, I believe an aide to Congresswoman Giffords. I say that because as I was talking to one of the police officers, a woman from a bank said that she had this aide in her bank who was very upset. And she said that he was one of the one who had apprehended him.
So I did go over there and actually helped -- after I got up, I went over and helped hold him down, there was three people holding him down and I assisted. One man looked to be hurt. He had some bleeding from his scalp. And he was an older gentleman so I assisted with that for several minutes.
And then I looked over and began to try to render aid to some of the people that were stricken.
BLITZER: This individual, this suspected shooter's name Jared Lee Loughner, describe him to us. You were holding him down. You were one of three individuals holding him down. What's your sense of this person? What did he look like? Did he say anything? RAYLE: He did not say anything except he might have said stop or something as he was -- I mean he was definitely struggling and wanted to get up. And he, you know, was wearing some sort of sweat pants kind of things. He looked slightly on the shabby side. His hair was cut short. But he -- it's hard to say, I mean when he was firing the gun, he had sort of a determined look on his face. He was not sort of going around and picking out people and firing at them. I mean the people were at such close range, he just was firing his gun sort of indiscriminately.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, BREAKING NEWS: And what happened to that gun when he was tackled? What happened to the gun?
RAYLE: You know, I didn't see him being tackled. But I believe that somebody wrested it away from him. There was a woman who had actually removed the clip. When the police officer came, she gave the gun and the clip to the officer while he was being held.
BLITZER: How long did I take for police to get to the scene, Doctor Rayle?
RAYLE: You know, Wolf, it's hard -- it's -- it was -- it's hard to say because, you know, time I think changes. But it was not very quickly. And God bless EMS, I'm really-a former emergency physician and I don't know where the holdup was, I'm sure in the communication part of it. EMS did a fantastic job when they were there, but it seemed like it took a long time for them to arrive.
BLITZER: Doctor Rayle, I want you to hold on for a moment, because it is the top of the hour.
