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Sheriff: "Mass Murder" In College Town; ATF, FBI Investigating College Town Shooting; Nine Crime Scenes Being Investigated

Aired May 24, 2014 - 12:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was standing on a street corner. I had heard I guess what sounded -- I now know to be I was standing on the street corner, and this black BMW turns through the intersection and goes down away from me, and maybe 2 seconds later I heard a pop. At first I remember looking at the car, thinking it backfired, which I thought was strange because it was such a new car, and it happened again.

By this time it reached outside of a restaurant convenience store, and there were maybe a group of six, seven, eight people eating in front of it, and it stopped in front of it and fired.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY SATURDAY": Robert, did it seem to be targeting anybody or did it just seem very random, the shooting?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via telephone): It all happened very quickly, but I think that this happened to be the largest group on the street. I saw the people that were fired upon immediately, they all jumped up. Many tried to run into the building. I don't recall hearing any screaming. Then it was at that point I turned and ran the opposite direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You can hear in his voice very shaken up. Robert Johnson, with "The Daily Nexus," which is the student newspaper at UC Santa Barbara talking to CNN earlier today. We have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM from eyewitnesses and more from investigators on the shooting that took place in California, it all starts right now.

Hello again, I am Fredricka Whitfield. Premeditated mass murder. That's what the sheriff is calling a deadly shooting spree in Southern California. We have the latest on the horrifying scene as a gunman drove through a college town, opening fire.

We are taking you to Isla Vista, California, the college town west of Santa Barbara where police say a gunman opened fire as he drove slowly through several neighborhoods last night. Six people were killed and seven others wounded. Authorities say deputies exchanged fire with the suspect when they heard that the shooting was taking place before the gunman fled and crashed into a parked car.

Investigators then found the gunman dead with a gunshot wound to the head. It is unclear if he killed himself or was shot by deputies in that exchange of fire. One witness described a terrifying scene as the gunman opened fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIENNA SCHWARTZ, WITNESS: Then he like lifted up like a little black pistol and I just saw it, and I was like, I turned around, started walking the other way. He shot and I felt a wind pass right by my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Right now, it is just past 9:00 a.m. in the morning there in California. Some people are still in shock trying to figure out what happened last night and how all the pieces are going to be put together.

Kyung Lah joins us now live from the scene. So Kyung, what more is being said at this stage of the investigation. Earlier you said there are still bullet casings all over the place?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And still very much an active crime scene. This is the first major crime scene that we came across as we are driving into this area. The first calls for help actually came just down the block this way. But what you're seeing here. You can see that there's a police vehicle here. What we have seen are a number of bullet casings, about 12 that we came up and saw. Officers picking them up.

I want you to take a look over there. This is the first floor of an apartment building, a commercial building. You see that window has been shot up. If you scan down the apartment building, this is the path that the BMW took, driving straight down this road, then circling this college campus area. This is an area not officially with the college campus, it is an area where a lot of students live.

We can see them opening their windows, looking out here, just starting to wake up. What they're describing to us, people that have come out and talked to us, are describing many people on the street, not as packed as a normal Friday night because of Memorial Day weekend, but a frightening scene where many of them saw the bullets and saw this driver. Here is what one witness told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUMMER YOUNG, WITNESS: I was walking right down here, walked down the street. I was walking over to Chase Bank. Then the car passed right by me and my friend, barely nipped her and hit the guy right behind us, literally from the street to the sidewalk. Looked to see if he was OK, after that, saw the car run-down here, he was just firing up shots.

We just ran inside the nearest restaurant and waited until it calmed down. It was really hectic. A lot of people were just running. I've never seen that before ever. We were walking down the street and heard sounded like fireworks, didn't sound like a gunshot honestly, that's why I was just like what are people doing.

People get stupid out here sometimes. I thought it was fireworks or something. By the time we got across the street, the actual gunshots, we heard him come right down here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: Back here live in Isla Vista, that's just one witness. We've heard the story multiple times from various people here. This is a sleepy part of town where they're just waking up. They had a terrifying night, Fredricka. There are a total of nine crime scenes. This is just one. We were able to walk up and down the street -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Is there any way of calculating the distance of these nine shooting locations? Is it all in a matter of, you know, a half mile or a mile distance? Just trying to kind of paint the picture of how the vehicle traversed and unloaded along the way.

LAH: Well, let's walk this way. We're going to step down onto the street. This is one. Look over that way. That's crime scene number two, where you see the officer there, then you can turn left, there's another crime scene, beyond him, another crime scene. So it is every single block they cordoned off the area where they found bullet casings or where people were hit.

The area where you see the officer, there was someone who was shot there. We understand from law enforcement they're still in the process of putting all of this together. A very large area, even though this is a dense, small area, large area that they have to comb over because the shooter was going up and down the street.

WHITFIELD: Quickly, one after the next. Then we reported that seven people were in the hospital, we heard that from the sheriff. Is that still the case? What do we know about how they are doing?

LAH: We have not gotten any sort of identification, the people inside the hospital. They're in the process now of trying to reach some of the family members. We also haven't been told the names or identities of the seven killed. We understand there are seven still in the hospital in varying conditions. We're hoping to learn more as the day progresses.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kyung Lah, thank you so much. We are following every angle of this story. Again, the investigation in its early stages now. Justice correspondent, Evan Perez is digging into details from Washington, checking with his sources there.

So Evan, what are authorities telling you and what is the explanation as to why federal authorities are involved in this very local investigation?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, you know sadly the federal law enforcement has a lot of experience with these types of scenes all over the country. This is a relatively small police department in Santa Barbara and this is the university community, so it is something that the federal authorities could probably help a lot with.

We're told the ATF is on the scene to help trace the handgun that was found and recovered at the scene. They'll be trying to figure out where the gun was purchased, when it was purchased, and perhaps you know that might perhaps give a little explanation of how long this gunman was considering this rampage.

We do know that the California State Crime Lab is going to be helping, going through some of the evidence, the scene that Kyung Lah showed us is very big, a lot of shell casings that the police are going to have to go through. There's at least two scenes in which the gunman was exchanging gunfire with the sheriff's office and police officers who were responding to the scene.

So what they're going to have to do is catalog every single one of those shell casings to see whether it was the gunman or whether it was the police that was responding to the scene, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Still lots to sort through. Then, Evan, are federal authorities also involved in going through the writings as well as the video that may have been produced by this gunman?

PEREZ: Well, that's probably another thing that the federal law enforcement can help with. They have a lot of experience going through obviously the computer, the computers of the suspect. We do know that the sheriff's office says he left behind some writings and there's a video in particular that they're interested in that may explain premeditation of this, what exactly the intent was of the suspect, and the sheriff's office described a little of that overnight in this press conference. We're going to hear a lot more of that later today -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Evan Perez there in Washington. So if investigators are looking at indeed nine different locations, we've heard that from authorities? How do they piece it all together? We will talk to a former detective and find out where this investigation is headed next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We are following this breaking story out of Isla Vista, California. Police say a gunman opened fire and drove through the town last night. Seven are dead, including the gunman. Seven others are wounded. Investigators are examining nine different crime scenes, all within just blocks if not feet from one another.

Let's bring in HLN law enforcement analyst and former D.C. police detective, Mike Brooks. Mike, we saw Kyung Lah show us the area of the concentrated investigation now, because we talk about nine different crime scenes because this gunman opened fire as he was driving through. We're now seeing that.

This is a very concentrated, tight knit area, not like he traveled miles, he traveled just a few feet from the next location when he opened up. That explains this incredibly quick police response time, right? MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right. Put it in perspective now. Imagine these streets at 9:27 on a Friday night, a holiday weekend night, filled with pedestrians, filled with people out getting pizza. You see some of the bicycles there, one bicyclist was struck and seriously injured. But think about it. Nine crime scenes.

You see Santa Barbara sheriff's investigators out there now that the sun is up, going around, finding different shell casings, because you have nine crime scenes, at least two of them involved an officer involved shooting where officers exchanged gunfire with the gunman. One of them was about 6 minutes after the initial call to 911 came in.

WHITFIELD: In terms of response.

BROOKS: Right.

WHITFIELD: So people heard the shooting, heard the gunfire, called police, maybe even some of the foot patrol heard it.

BROOKS: They heard it, yes.

WHITFIELD: Responded and then engaged right away.

BROOKS: Exactly. Six minutes from the time they called it in, 9:27, some officers, sheriff's deputies on foot heard shots, ran toward the sound of gunfire, they found some victims, started to give them aid, then heard other shots, and some deputies that were in cars engaged the suspect, 6 minutes after that first initial call came in.

But think about it. He is driving around, he is mobile. So they engage him there. He sped away. And about 3 minutes later, some more deputies engaged him, got into another gun battle. That's when they found him dead, when they approached the car, found him dead. We don't know if it was self-inflicted to the head or from sheriff's deputies.

WHITFIELD: OK. And of course we know investigators are looking at this video, looking at writings that may have been left behind by this gunman, but as they try to discern the motive, what you can try and, you know, figure out here is that even if he was targeting a specific person or persons.

BROOKS: Right.

WHITFIELD: One of the objectives may have been to take out a number of people because this is a concentrated, dense area. Is that something which investigators would extrapolate here?

BROOKS: Absolutely. From this video evidence they're talking about, a video called retribution, by this young man, and if you listen to it and you see exactly what he's talking about, investigators are now going to go back, if in fact that is him, which they believe I think it is, they're going to go back. OK. How long was he thinking about doing this? How did he get that gun?

Did he show any signs or symptoms that this was going to happen with his friends, relatives, these kind of things, and it is going to help investigators piece together what was going on inside his head leading up to the shooting.

WHITFIELD: Why this location. Mike brooks, thank you very much. Again this investigation in its infancy, even though we're talking about it happened last night, daylight, after 9:00 a.m., they can see things perhaps they wouldn't have been able to detect last night.

BROOKS: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Mike. We will check back with you. When the gunman opened fire on people in the streets, instincts, they ran. Tried to escape the spray of bullets. We will hear from one man that witnessed terrifying violence in one minute. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We are following this breaking news out of Southern California. Police say a gunman went on a shooting spree near the campus of UC Santa Barbara, killing six people, and wounding seven others. One of the students in that area is Robert Johnson. He was there.

He was an eyewitness to the shooting. He also happens to work for the University of California Santa Barbara student newspaper, "The Daily Nexus." So Robert, tell me where you were in relation to all of this activity last night?

ROBERT JOHNSON, COPY CHIED, "THE DAILY NEXUS" (via telephone): I was standing on the corner of two of the streets in the area. Then first I heard some popping sounds in the distance and I originally thought it was fireworks or firecrackers because it's not uncommon to hear that in this area. Soon after, a BMW passed the intersection where I was, and continued down the street, heading away from me. Then I heard a popping sound that sounded like came from the car.

I remember thinking it sounded like it backfired, and I remember thinking that was strange, it was a brand new car. Then there was a second popping sound. By that point it had reached -- it was right outside of a convenience store, deli, looked like there were 8 to 10 people outside in front of it. Then at that point someone inside the car started firing on that crowd there.

WHITFIELD: And so Robert, when you saw this vehicle, you described the black BMW going by and figured out this is where the sound was coming from, was it traveling fast, was it going slow? Do you recall?

JOHNSON: It seemed to be going slower than you normally would go on these streets here. I mean, they are traffic with bikers and pedestrians. Most people don't drive fast around here, but seemed to be going markedly slower.

WHITFIELD: Were people scattering, once there was a realization this is gunfire and not what could be usual fireworks in the neighborhood, was there panic?

JOHNSON: I saw him fire upon that group in front of the store, and then they all after being fired upon jumped up, tried to get inside the store, at which point I turned around, started running the other way.

WHITFIELD: This is a holiday weekend, and I understand some students are still at the school, you know, in session, haven't gone away for the weekend or even home. Was it particularly less crowded in this area compared to most other weekends or quite the opposite?

JOHNSON: It seems like it was less busy than it normally is on Friday night, yes.

WHITFIELD: And then once people realized this is a shooting, you described how some people responded, was it an issue of even some people, some students, some pedestrians trying to help or come to the aid of those who have been hit?

JOHNSON: I can't answer that question because as I said earlier, as soon as I realized what was going on, I was with my friend at the time, and we went into his apartment and from there we couldn't really get a good view of the street.

WHITFIELD: Robert, now this morning, many hours after, you know, what took place last night, what are you feeling like this morning?

JOHNSON: I've actually been awake for the last 25 or so hours, I'm just really tired now. I guess, I was actually at the press conference that the sheriff's office held, and there's still lots much questions to be answered. They haven't released any names yet. So I think everyone is just confused about what happened and everyone just wants answers.

WHITFIELD: The confusion, very understandable. Robert Johnson, all right, thank you so much. Glad you're on the rebound this morning, but of course, I know a lot of people are very much shaken up. Appreciate your time.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So the investigation into this tragedy in Isla Vista is really just at the beginning stages, and in just a minute, a former ATF agent that headed up the scene at the Columbine shootings in Colorado will be joining us and helping us to determine what happened next in the investigation after a shooting spree of this magnitude.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back now to our breaking news, a deadly shooting spree in California. The sheriff says a gunman drove through a college town near the University of California Santa Barbara, shooting and killing six people. The suspect was also killed, but it is not clear if it was a self-inflicted wound. Earlier one eyewitness, Daniel Slovinsky talked with us about what he saw and heard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SLOVINSKY, SHOOTING WITNESS (via telephone): I thought it was fireworks, like other people. Contrary to what you expect, there wasn't a lot of chaos immediately. Didn't hear screaming. A few people were running, most people didn't know why. It wasn't really until police started yelling at people to get inside that we realized something big went down. Even then, people didn't really know what. I think Robert is really right when he says there's a lot of confusion rather than panic. I didn't even -- sorry, go ahead.

WHITFIELD: No, go ahead.

SLOVINSKY: I didn't really figure out exactly what happened until I started talking with some of the eyewitnesses myself, such as Robert.

WHITFIELD: So you were talking to Robert. What were you saying and what did you see I guess once things started to clear up and you were getting a picture of maybe how many people had been shot or how expansive the crime scene is?

SLOVINSKY: Well, yes, the first thing we were trying to figure out is how many people were injured and, you know, what exactly was going on with this suspect. And it seemed at the time that there were only maybe four at max possible deaths, so it was a huge shock to us when the police announced there were seven.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that seven including the gunman. Again unclear if it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. So the investigation is in this deadly shooting spree is still at the beginning stages. Authorities are examining nine different crime scenes, which really extends a matter of blocks in that little college town.

Want to talk now about where things go from here. Let's bring in Rich Mariano, retired assistant director with the ATF, served as on scene commander for the deadly massacre at Columbine High School years ago in Colorado. Rich, give us an idea of the steps and how this is all broken up in this investigation because you've got these nine crime scenes.

Likely you also have investigators going to the residence or last place of residence of this gunman, reaching out to the parents as we understand that he is a young man. Give us an idea how that prioritizes the investigation.

RICH MARIANO, FORMER ASSISTANT, ATF (via telephone): Right now, daylight tells a whole new story. In the several hours that have taken place, gives investigators opportunity to slow down the pace, to examine the ballistic evidence and to also conduct a thorough, very comprehensive investigation to everything this offender was involved in. Specifically looking at like I said, the ballistic evidence where shots were fired from.

How many magazines did he carry with the semi-automatic weapon? To discuss and have conversations with his friends, relatives, interview witnesses, they all tell a story. The social network, search of the car, belongings. Local video from ATM machines, convenience stores, restaurants, bars. It is almost a story within itself that each one of these pieces contains a different frame to tell the story from the perspective of what actually happened.

WHITFIELD: And in large part, sorry, to figure out the motive primarily or is it also to try to confirm or make sure that there aren't other people that may have been complicit involved with him?

MARIANO: Yes, absolutely. Want to look at the social media aspect and look at the video to see if there's anybody with him on the street, anybody in the car, some witnesses said two people were in there, others can't confirm if it was one or two. It is also to corroborate whatever they have. There's some mention by the sheriff's office they have some admissions from the individual. This will corroborate, put together a good investigation. I think they're on the right path bringing in the government and subject matter experts to the table.

WHITFIELD: Is the collecting of evidence any different when you have a suspect alive, who has to be prosecuted, versus one that is dead?

MARIANO: Not much, a standard procedure we follow as good investigators is to get to the truth. We're not looking to get anywhere, but to the truth of what happened and tell the story, whether to the jury or to the American public.

WHITFIELD: And then you mentioned reaching out to friends, family members, et cetera, returning to the place of residence. What would investigators be looking for when returning to the place of residence?

MARIANO: Well, specifically in Columbine, we looked at a manifesto written by the two offenders. What tells the bigger picture is where I'm going with this. Who else knew about this individual? Who else was part of this planning? Who else may have assisted getting him the gun, getting him the ammunition? Who else took part in this terrible deadly act? It's going to give us more information how long the plot has been brewing, whether in the last 12 to 14 hours, a week and a half or more time.

WHITFIELD: There could potentially be prosecution if there were people or persons who knew something, right?

MARIANO: Absolutely. If someone straw purchased this gun for him with the knowledge and intent he was going to use it for a shooting, they will be prosecuted. Any individual that knew that this was going to take place, that aided, abetted, assists should be prosecuted or charged. May be several people that took part in this thing. He was kidding, he was joking, didn't bring it to the attention of authorities can go to jail a long, long time.

WHITFIELD: Rich Mariano, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Every detail is critical now in the investigation. But the big question remains, why did this gunman do this? Our legal guys will be weighing in on the latest after this.

(COMMERCIAL BRAK WHITFIELD: California is in shock this morning, some 12 hours now after a gunman opened fire killing six people. The attack was premeditated. They're looking at video and evidence to determine the motive. Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor in Cleveland and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Las Vegas.

All right, good to see you again, Gentlemen. Thanks so much for coming back. Richard, you first, we spoke with a former ATF assistant director and he was talking about even though this suspect is dead, investigators really have to figure out who knew what, when, if anything, and along the lines of that, there could possibly be prosecutions.

If it turns out there were people that were complicit, even though authorities are now saying it looks like this gunman acted alone. How much energy is being put into that at this stage of the investigation in your view?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think a lot of energy is put into how this individual obtained the weapon or weapons that he used in this crime spree. That's the critical inquiry. Did someone provide him with that gun, or as the caller said, was there a straw man purchase to get the gun. How did he obtained a high calibre semi- automatic handgun like this?

I'm telling you, Fred, he either had a massive extended clip on it. I don't know how he changed that and got that many shots off. There may be multiple handguns here used. Again, the emphasis is how did he get this handgun? That's the inquiry now.

WHITFIELD: Because, Avery, we learned from our reporter on the ground Kyung Lah and sources like Evan Perez, nine crime scenes within blocks of each other.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Within four blocks.

WHITFIELD: Right. The changing of the magazine, having more than one handgun, something to that degree, all of that being looked at thoroughly, Avery?

FRIEDMAN: You know, honestly, if people want to get guns, they're going to get guns. And in California they've got tough gun laws. I think it is a very legitimate issue to explore. Frankly, this is the same story again, on the assumption we know who the suspect is, Fredricka, we're dealing with testosterone fueled rage based on irrationality, as if society owes this individual something.

The question is I'm mad, I'm going to make everybody pay for it. How he got that gun, because there's not a prosecution of the suspect, he's gone. For those people involved in seeing his condition and facilitating it, helping him along, aiding and abetting, I think this is a serious legal issue. Obviously everybody in law enforcement wants to get their hands on that evidence.

WHITFIELD: It will be fascinating to piece those things together, the time line of the planning, who may or may not have been involved, looking at videotape, not just videotape that investigators are examining now, which may be a manifesto or perhaps not, but it may be looking at surveillance video in the community in stores, ATMs, all of that, Richard, to try to piece this together. This is still very complicated, even though you have this gunman dead, and even though police on the surface believe he acted alone in terms of carrying out this act. But so much happened prior.

HERMAN: That will be critical, Fred. People even where I'm sitting now are discussing the fact that there are surveillance cameras all over the area, probably street cameras set up. All those video and all those recordings are being attempted to be obtained by law enforcement, reviewed by law enforcement to piece this time line together and to see as much as they can from that video surveillance.

WHITFIELD: All right, Avery, Richard, thanks so much, Gentlemen, appreciate it. Always love seeing you.

HERMAN: Have a great day, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up in 10 minutes, that's how long many eyewitnesses say it all happened, just all within 10 minutes. And it ended with deputies exchanging fire with that gunman. What the sheriff is saying about all that took place in just 10 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, back now to our breaking news. A deadly shooting spree in California. Police say a gunman drove through a college town near University of California, Santa Barbara, shooting and killing six people. The gunman was also killed. It is not clear if his wound was self-inflicted. Earlier, the sheriff's office held a news conference to answer reporters' questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERIFF BILL BROWN, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: This incident appears to be a mass murder situation. The timeline, as we've been able to put it together thus far, is as follows -- at 9:27 p.m., the Sheriff's Dispatch Center received calls of multiple gunshots being fired in the Isla Vista area. We had deputies in the area on foot who also heard a number of shots being fired.

The deputies began responding in the direction of the gunshots, and immediately found several victims who were suffering from gunshot wounds. As they were performing first aid on those victims, they were also receiving suspect information and a vehicle description. As this was occurring, additional shots were fired, and calls were received by the sheriff's dispatch from several areas in Isla Vista.

During this initial stage, both the suspect and suspect vehicle descriptions were broadcast to those law enforcement personnel who were in the area. At 9:33 p.m., 6 minutes after the initial call was received, the suspect engaged a group of responding deputies with gunfire. The deputies returned fire, and the suspect fled in his vehicle. Seconds later, the suspect was again spotted by another deputy. Another exchange of gunfire occurred at that time. The suspect fled down Del Playa and eventually crashed into a parked vehicle. The deputies approached the crashed vehicle and determined that the suspect within that vehicle was dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. A handgun was recovered from within that vehicle.

Although we have preliminarily identified the suspect, we are not releasing the suspect's name until a positive identification can be made.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And there's another scheduled briefing from the sheriff's office at 4:00 Pacific time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Of course, we'll take that live.

Other headlines now. Violence in Belgium. Three people there were killed, another wounded in a shooting at Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels. Authorities say someone pulled up in a car, walked inside, and started shooting. The gunman left. Police are now looking for that suspect. Belgium's interior minister says the circumstances could suggest an anti-Semitic attack.

And the timing back in this country for an E. Coli scare couldn't be much worse as millions of Americans are getting ready to enjoy their Memorial Day cookout. E. Coli scare hits two staples, water and ground beef. In Oregon, they cleared out shelves of bottled water after it showed up on the Portland City water supply, 670,000 in the region being told to boil water before drinking it and even brushing their teeth, that or use bottled water.

E. Coli force add recall of 2 million pounds of ground beef. The bacteria made nearly a dozen people in four states sick. Contaminated meat was traced to a packing company in Detroit.

And it is one of the most highly anticipated papal trips in recent history. Pope Francis is on a whirlwind three day tour through the holy land. It marks the 50th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's trip to the holy land. Pope Francis paid a visit to the Jordan River, where many Christians believe Jesus was baptized.

He met with King Abdullah at the royal palace. Jordan is mostly a Muslim nation, but there's a significant Christian community, and thousands of people packed the city of international stadium to hear Pope Francis say Saturday mass.

Coming up, more coverage of the horrific shooting spree in California. How will students cope after a gunman killed six people near a busy university campus?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The deadly shooting spree near UC Santa Barbara has many in shock this morning. Nine crime scenes within four blocks or so. Six people murdered and the gunman also dead. It is not clear if his death was self-inflicted. Right now, the investigators are looking for a motive. For many, many people that live in that area, they're trying to figure out how to cope with what they witnessed.

Jeff Gardere is with us is a clinical and forensic psychologist. Many people witnessed their friends getting shot or dying there, six people killed in the shooting spree. What kind of advice do you have for these young people who are in shock, still trying to put together the loss?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL AND FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: I would think that the police that are involved in the different crime scenes are debriefing many people in that particular community in those areas. That in itself is therapeutic. It gives information on the crime but allows people to have that moment to talk about what they're experiencing. This is a smaller community, they're not used to this kind of tragedy as far as I know. So this is new territory for them.

So it is going to be about getting as much information as possible, Fredricka, knowing exactly what happened. And I know this is going to take days, but if nothing else, being able to communicate with one another and getting as much information as possible to process this.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. You say that really for some of the people, talking to investigators, it may feel cathartic, whereas a lot of us would automatically think for many folks to rearticulate what took place would almost be like reliving it all over again. Some folks would be I don't want to talk about it, I don't want to acknowledge what happened. I just kind of want to be alone. You're saying that's probably not the best thing?

GARDERE: What we find is when the debriefing happens, those people who are still in shock, they need to be stabilized first, and the police are smart enough to be able to leave those people alone until they're able to give the information. But for others, they need to talk about what happened, they need to let it out. They can't sit on those emotions, so they continue to give information. They continue to communicate, even after the police have what they need.

The important thing here psychologically is not to internalize the feelings because studies have shown that when you do that, it does cause all sorts of emotional and physical reactions that are quite negative and counterproductive to the human condition.

WHITFIELD: Of course, after something like this, naturally people always ask, how could somebody do this, why would someone want to do this? All we know now publicly from the sheriff, the sheriff says he believes this person was mentally disturbed and believed this was premeditated. What kind of conclusion should any of us have at this juncture, not knowing enough about the suspect as to why and what would lead someone to do something like that?

GARDERE: Earlier on I believe CNN talked about they had gotten information from law enforcement. This person was classified as, quote, "a madman." I think when you look at that in itself, the explanation is there. Someone of course who has a lot of rage, someone who has been building up resentment for quite some time. May see themselves as an outsider, very isolated.

They blame everyone else for their being by themselves and not having the appropriate social skills, and if it is as we suspect someone who has planned this, and I really do believe that's what happened here, and what we've seen in previous cases, this is someone who is pathological, who is not a schizophrenic, but someone with a severe personality disorder who would act out in this way so publicly because they want to leave a footprint of infamy, but revenge more than anything else.

WHITFIELD: And hopefully, if anything, we can learn from something like this, if all those things are indeed the case, how to identify those things before a person snaps and does something like this. Jeff Gardere, thank you so much in New York.

GARDERE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And of course, we have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all begins right now.