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CNN Tonight
Three Dead, Suspect At Large In Michigan State University Shooting. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired February 14, 2023 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:01:19]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman in New York. This is CNN special live coverage, we are following breaking news. At least three people are dead, five others injured in a shooting at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. Police say the first call came in at about 8:18 p.m. Local time. That's a little bit less than four hours ago at this point.
Officers were on the scene within minutes. They say they located several victims. The five people who are injured have been taken to the hospital. Some of them we're told have life threatening injuries.
Now, here's the thing, the suspect is still very much at large. There is a manhunt underway at this moment. This is video surveillance footage. Two photos you can see here released by the Michigan State Police this police say is the suspect leaving the MSU Union Building on foot. You can see that the heavy denim barn and jacket there, the baseball cap and notably the red shoes. Students say they got an e- mail blasts from the school warning them to shelter in place soon after the shooting started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were there locked in the rooms and the guys are telling us to run out the back door as quick as we can and run for our lives. And I sprinted out there as fast as I can into the woods.
And then from there, I thought, you know, I thought the side of the campus would be safe. And then I got a -- I got a text from my brother saying that they're over near that area. And then I entered acres. And then when I came into acres, people started running, telling me to run that they came in the acre. So, it's just a terrifying experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: -- were fired in multiple locations on campus, Michigan State has canceled classes and all school activities for the next 48 hours. FBI agents are also responding to the incident to help local police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INTERIM DEPUTY CHIEF CHRIS ROZMAN, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY POLICE: For parents, we understand I can only imagine the emotion that's involved right now. It's going to help us and it's going to help our response. And it's going to help us identify the shooter, the less people that are on campus at this point, please do not come to campus.
We are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of our campus and all of our students.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So, that news conference you just saw there was about one hour ago. There is another one expected in about 15 to 20 minutes. We of course will bring that to you live.
Joining me now, CNN Senior Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokuepcz, CNN Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Andrew McCabe, National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem, and also our Senior Terrorism and Crime and Justice Analyst John Miller.
Thank you all so much for being with us.
John, let me just start with you. First of all, again, one hour ago, we did hear from MSU Police. They told us at that point, there had been five injured. Since that news conference, we've learned three fatalities.
They've also released these photos that we've now seen of the suspect. What are you expecting or what are you hoping to learn at this next news conference?
JOHN MILLER, SENIOR TERRORISM AND CRIME AND JUSTICE ANALYST: Well, I believe what we now are learning is that at approximately 11:56 11:54 p.m., a man -- a Michigan State Police unit on patrol spotted a suspect fitting this description walking on Lake Lansing road. They asked for the description to be repeated. It was a male with black pants, blue jean jacket, red shoes, wearing a backpack.
[00:05:10]
They approached the male, the male took out a weapon and according to police conducted, shot himself in the head and then they called for backup.
Right now, as we are following this, emergency medical personnel are on the scene conducting CPR, trying to render aid. An initial search of the suspect turned up the gun that he had on him, a second gun in a backpack and numerous loaded magazines for those weapons.
So, it appears at this moment that this may be coming to a close.
BERMAN: That would be a major development, John Miller, if as you say police have come upon someone who matched the description in the photos they released and in the process of encountering this individual as you say. The individual may have taken his own life. Again, this information just coming in from our John Miller there.
Shimon Prokuepcz, you're with us as well, anything you're picking up on this front?
SHIMON PROKUEPCZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: No. So, there was some police activity in an area. And so, police did respond. And so, we're just waiting for confirmation, obviously, from them. And maybe we'll -- there may be a delay here now in the press conference as a result of that.
So, but we have no -- police have not issued a statement yet to confirm any of that. But certainly there was a significant activity.
And so, now we're trying to piece it all together. But we know we're going on almost four hours since this, since those first shots were fired. Still, students are inside classrooms, inside rooms, as the police are still continuing to go through that building. Some have been released, you know, I've been hearing from friends whose kids go there, you know, we have colleagues here who went to the school.
And so, we're hearing from many people telling us about the campus and of course, concerned about their loved ones who are there.
And so, it seems like things have kind of calmed down at the school. And now we're just waiting word on what this activity was definitively from police. They're supposed to have this press conference.
But obviously, we're going on about four hours since this happened, and police releasing that photo of the shooter. And you know, the description of what he's wearing kind of those red sneakers are, you know, certainly would stand out to anyone who would see him or approach him.
So, we're now just waiting here for police, you know, sad news, obviously, you have three dead, five at the hospital, police saying that three dead. And plus there's those five that are still in the hospital with life threatening injuries.
So, you know, the numbers here could certainly go up. And for many family members who have not been able to get in contact with their kids, it's going to be a long night there.
BERMAN: No question about that. And as you say, Shimon, three confirmed fatalities at this point, five additional people we've been told injured, some of them we were told with life threatening injuries.
Andrew McCabe, the information from John Miller, that perhaps there was an encounter with someone who matched the description in the photos that have been released. About one hour ago, there was an encounter between police and an individual where this individual it appears may have taken his own life.
If that did happen in the manner described there, Andy, what then do authorities now need to do to secure that scene and secure the overall situation to know in a way that the threat is over?
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: So John, you know, in all likelihood, your law enforcement authority, so that's the Michigan State Police and all of their local and state counterparts and their federal counterparts who have been drawn to this scene are likely going to continue to clear that -- all the locations relevant to this -- to this crisis.
So, until we have like abs -- until they have absolutely clear confirmation that this is the person they've been looking for who is involved in all of the shootings that led up to this event tonight, they're going to continue to have those tactical teams from state and local police agencies and the FBI and all the other federal colleagues that have contributed to this effort to keep going through there.
[00:10:04]
Basically, slow and clear process to enter every facility, every room, every space on all the buildings that are considered to be at risk here and ensure that there is no continued threat to this environment, you know.
So, we'll see how that goes. This is obviously a huge piece of information coming from John and his sources. But I would expect that the tactical teams on scene are continuing to do their work.
BERMAN: And Juliette Kayyem, once again, we are told that we will hear from Michigan State authorities in about 10 minutes. That news conference was supposed to be at midnight Eastern Time, then pushed back to 12:20. I don't know if it's going to slide more given the information that is coming in at this moment.
What do you imagine is going on behind the scenes?
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This is -- I was texting with your producer. We'll know what's happening if it's delayed. So, it's fall 12:30 is because they're trying to confirm and have a story that or have the accurate story of what in fact happened with the suspect.
And they still have ongoing things happening, I want to make it clear. So, at 11:00, they say there's one fatality and five injuries, and some of them severe, in critical condition.
And in that hour, they found two more people. So just to be clear, it's a large campus, the two different buildings are far apart. These are not like he walked across the street, these large campuses are great distances apart.
And so, we don't -- they are looking everywhere to make sure that there weren't third, fourth or you know, a fifth areas where there might have been shootings that they will then find others.
Because I think this gap in this hour where then they now say there's two additional fatalities means that they are -- they are -- they're searching, and they may be finding things that are horrifying in the sense that it's increasing the fatality rate, and that was not in their first numbers.
The second is, of course, the response at the college at the University. That is still going on, you have students -- the police officer rightfully said, you know, obviously parents want to know where their kids are, they have to be separated, you can't -- you can't just introduce a whole bunch of parents into this site.
And so, this is why, you know, text and phone and just make sure everyone's OK, and you're going to just let you know -- you know, let time go until the kids are out.
This is a large university with students who are older, so we don't know in terms of -- colleges are weird because you know, some parents are very involved and some kids sort of, you know, have their own lives.
And so, being able to notify next of kin if there's an injury, or if they cannot find a student is more difficult at these kinds of colleges and universities because people are coming in and out. It's not like a small residential college, where you -- where you're -- where a residential, you know, a person might know where were the kids are.
I just want to add one more thing, maybe as a mother 12:12 in the morning, it is also 30 degrees in Michigan, these kids are now outside of their buildings.
And so, what you're seeing now is emergency management coming in, and you see them all in blankets. It is -- this is not over for them. And hopefully it will be in the next 10 or 20 minutes and people can begin to go back to their rooms.
But these kids were told to get out. They don't have time to get coats. They don't have time to get much and so, that's what's going on on campus.
BERMAN: Yes, we've actually heard from students telling us how cold they are as they were waiting outside, trying to get around there.
Juliette, Andrew, Shimon, John, please standby if you can for a moment. Again, we're waiting for this next news briefing. So much has happened in just the last hour.
Number one, we learned three fatalities, five injuries, some of them may be life threatening. That number three fatalities is up from what we were told just about an hour ago. So, still unclear if that number still could rise.
Also, photos of the suspect released and this information coming in from John Miller of an encounter between police and someone matching that suspect, where it appears that that person may have taken his own life.
Police telling us they will speak to us shortly, stay with CNN for the very latest.
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[00:18:21]
BERMAN: All right, I'm John Berman in New York, the breaking news this hour, at least three fatalities, five others injured in a mass shooting at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.
We are waiting for a news conference from Michigan State Police, which should happen sometime in the next few minutes here and they may have some new information for us.
Again, one hour ago, they released photos of a suspect. And now we're getting some information about what may have happened to someone matching the description of that suspect.
So, let's get right to John Miller here in New York for the latest John on what you're hearing on that front.
MILLER: Well, remember John, they didn't know as far as we know who they were looking for. But they did have the photograph, it went out to all the police agencies.
A Michigan State Police team was driving on Lake Lansing road, saw the individual with the long jean jacket, the dark pants. When they attempted to encounter him on the street, they say he pulled a weapon and shot himself. We do not know his condition. But we are told that they found that gun, a second gun in a backpack, and numerous magazines loaded with additional ammunition.
So, given the idea that they are saying he is wearing the dark pants, the jean jacket and the red shoes, there's a significant possibility that they encountered the suspect in the photograph that they released to the public just an hour ago, and this could be taking a turn.
[00:20:03]
What they don't know because they didn't know his identity when they were searching for him. They may be able to learn depending on what they find on that individual. Is he a student? Does he have a relationship with the student? Did he work at the school? Or was this some particular grudge if in fact he's the gunman.
So, that is the developing part of the story. And hopefully, will be able to be illuminated on when their press conference and their update comes around shortly.
BERMAN: You say developing and we should know this is developing the last few minutes. This encounter is said to have happened John, when? Right before midnight?
MILLER: That's right. It was about four minutes before midnight. And it was a unit rolling down the street who saw an individual on foot and decided to make the stop.
BERMAN: Again. So, that'd be some 25 minutes ago, which itself was about some 50 minutes after police spoken, only about 40 minutes after the photos of the suspect were released showing that jean jacket, showing those red shoes and now someone matching that description has been in an encounter with police where this person shot himself. The condition at this point, John, not clear?
MILLER: They were giving CPR to him on the scene. And that's something that was happening again just a few minutes ago. So, unknown at this time.
BERMAN: OK. And again, we say a few minutes ago. We mean honestly, a few minutes ago, if the encounter itself took place just four minutes before midnight.
I want to bring in Shawn Turner, national security analyst who also happens to teach at Michigan State University.
Shawn, this has all happened so quickly. So quickly. We're talking about things that have only happened 20, 30 minutes ago at this point. Are you catching any wind of this on campus?
SHAWN TURNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the campus is on lockdown right now, John, but what I can tell you is I live about a mile and a half away from the campus here at Michigan State University and Lake Lansing Road, where John has reported that there has been an encounter is about a half a mile away from my house.
While I can't confirm the details that John has, what I can tell you is that in the last half hour or so, there have been a number of helicopters in the sky, in the -- in the area above my house and in the area toward Lake Lansing roads. So, that would seem to validate that something is happening there.
On campus right now, I know that we still have several students who are students faculty members, staff who are in lockdown there. And what we're seeing happening on campus right now is information is going out internal to everyone who's connected, letting them know what police will say when they come to the door to get them out.
We have people who are by themselves in locker rooms with the lights out. And they need to know how to -- how to validate that the person on the other side of that room is a law enforcement official.
So, we're sharing that information internally. Obviously, I won't say that information on the air. But that's the effort that's underway right now on campuses to get those people out, make sure they're all safe.
But there's definitely something going on here. Again, you know, we can just tell just based on all the law enforcement activity in the immediate vicinity here.
BERMAN: I think I can hear the law enforcement activity, you know, bleeding through in the audio here. Again, aerial activity, helicopters there, you hear the police cars on the street, and as you say, a terrifying situation for the people, the students still on campus still hiding in certain cases.
And Juliette Kayyem, I just want to bring up this point with you very quickly.
Again, we are waiting for this news conference, which hopefully will take place in a few minutes. But they want to get the information right at this point. I know there's an imperative. If this is the suspect, and if this is over, they want people to know that. On the other hand, they need to be sure.
KAYYEM: Absolutely, they have time on their side, the suspect is either dead or getting CPR. They have the campus under control. They've got to get this right for a variety of reasons.
One is, of course, there are three dead members of the -- of the university community. And we got to notify next of kin. They got students all about the campus, either locked in as Shawn was saying or out in the cold waiting to see where they can go there, they're running there, they left their stuff behind.
And so, they want to close this well, because of course, the students are going to go back, the school is going to be closed for two days, for up to two days. So, the students have to find places to go if they don't have places to go.
And parents, of course, as we've been saying, parents are surging to the college and university. It's hard to say they shouldn't do it but it does cause an additional impediment.
[00:25:01]
So, if they're going to close this, one hopes that they want to close it right. And I will say the one thing that they may want to determine is what were his connections, if any, to the university, to an individual who might have been harmed.
We don't know if this was a random act, if it was someone just who wanted to do it or if it was a targeted individual and then others happened to be in the room. That's what we saw, for example, in Walmart -- in the most recent Walmart shooting.
BERMAN: And I want to bring in Andrew McCabe if he's still with us right now. Andrew, John Miller saying that firearms guns, two handguns apprehended at the scene with the encounter with this individual who matched the description of the person in the photos, two handguns and some magazine, some ammunition.
What do you do with them now? How do you trace those guns? What can you find out from them?
MCCABE: There's no question, John, that the ATF becomes a key partner in the tracing of those firearms. So, you want to understand where those firearms were, how they were acquired, where they may have been purchased? Who was the purchaser in those -- in these events?
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: Let's listen to what they're saying. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief of Police here at Michigan State University. Tragic series of events that have occurred here this evening. We've had a tremendous amount of support from our community to include our law enforcement partners, who are here with me at the moment as well. Standing at the far right we have even county prosecutor John Dewane. Next to him, we have Sheriff Scott Wigglesworth, Special Agent in Charge FBI, Jim Tarasca. And you've already met Deputy Chief Chris Rozman.
I want to thank you for coming to share us as we update our community in regards to tonight's events. We will get directly to the most recent update with that, and then we'll have a comment and questions.
ROZMAN: Thank you, Chief. Again, Chris Rozman, Deputy Chief with Michigan State University Police and Public Safety.
So, we start tonight by sharing an important update. And that update is the suspect in this incident was located outside of the MSU campus. And it does appear that that suspect has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It is confirmed that he is deceased.
This truly has been a nightmare that we are living tonight. But we have remained laser focused on the safety of our campus, our students and the surrounding community. We are relieved to no longer have an active threat on campus while we realize that there is so much healing that will need to take place after this.
Again, to reiterate the update, there is no longer a threat to campus. We believe there to only be one shooter in this incident and there is no longer a need to shelter in place on campus. There is no longer a threat on campus.
We are sad to report that there have been three confirmed fatalities. This is in addition to the five victims who were injured and transported to the hospital. Some of those five victims still have life threatening injuries.
Out of respect for the families and while we continue our active investigation, we cannot confirm any personal information about any of the victims at this time.
Again, we want to reiterate to everybody that we know there is a lot of information that's being shared on social media and being said on the scanner.
Please continue to get your information from us. We are committed to sharing timely and transparent information.
Our hearts are with those who have been affected by this senseless act of violence. Giving an update like this is never easy.
As a father, I can only imagine how parents are feeling right now. This will be the beginning of a long healing process for everyone who has been affected. That is the initial information that we're able to share at this point. I'll conclude by saying, again, that this is still a fluid situation. There are several different crime scenes that we are processing with our state and federal partners. And there's a lot of work that still needs to be done.
At this time, I'm going to turn it over to special agent in charge, James Tarasca of the FBI.
JIM TARASCA, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI: Good evening. I'm Jim Tarasca, special agent in charge of the FBI at Michigan.
Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and the entire community. I'd like to thank Chief Lynch for your leadership tonight and your partnership.
This evening FBI agents and our response teams joined our law enforcement partners to assist in investigating this horrific incident. We'll continue to investigate until we are sure no further threat is posed to the public, and to this point, we're pretty clear it's not.
Additionally, we will provide victim services to all students impacted by this incident.
We're asking the public, in addition to the other numbers provided to call for information, we added the 1-800-CALL-FBI number. Please feel free to use that, call any tips. This is an ongoing investigation. We'll continue investigating throughout the night and likely days.
So with that, Chief, thank you.
ROZMAN: In addition to the FBI tip line, we have countless investigators from not only the MSU Police and Public Safety, but our local, county, state, and federal partners assisting us with this investigation, and there still is a lot to do.
I'm going to provide another 800 number and email address for anybody that may have any information that will help our investigators as we put the pieces together for this incident. That phone number -- and we'll also share it on our social media -- is 844-99-MSUPD. Again, 844-99-MSUPD.
And our tip line is tips -- T-I-P-S -- at police.MSU.edu.
Our investigators will continue to work tonight and around the clock to process the crime scenes and start to put the pieces together to try to understand what happened here tonight.
At this time, we will open it up for -- for a couple questions. I just want to say, please understand that we are sharing information as quick as we can. There's a lot that we don't know at this point. This is still dynamic. It's still fluid, and we will do our best to answer your questions.
I'll start right here in the front.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the suspect a faculty member, a student? What can you tell us about him?
ROZMAN: So we are unsure of any affiliation that the suspect had to the university. Our investigators and officers are still working to determine his identity. Once his identity is determined, we will then look to what connection he may have had to our community here. But at this time, that's still part of our investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a follow-up along the same lines, are the victims in this instance students?
ROZMAN: So we continue to work to identify the victims in this case. Out of respect for their families, as we work through the process, we are not going to identify or confirm if any of the victims at this point are MSU students. That is something that we are quickly working to determine, and that will be a priority for us.
In the back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you describe if they're men or women, for the victims?
ROZMAN: I actually don't have that information. All we can confirm at this point is three fatalities at the scene on campus and five victims that were transported. That is all the information that we have. However, we will work to determine the specific identity of those victims and their affiliation with the campus.
Over here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where the shootings limited to the Union and Berkey, and then also, there were reports that the suspect was found with a backpack with magazines and another gun. Are you able to speak to that case (ph)?
ROZMAN: So the first question was the location of the shootings. We can confirm that the first shooting occurred at Berkey Hall, and the second subsequent shooting occurred at the MSU Union, which is adjacent to Berkey Hall. Victims were located at both of those locations.
There were no other scenes, or a shooting did not take place at any other location. There were erroneous reports that there were additional shooting scenes, and that is not true.
The question about what the suspect had in his possession when he was contacted, I cannot confirm that right now. We did release some pictures of the suspect. I cannot confirm if he -- if he was possessing a bag at that time.
Over here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do we know what type of gun was used?
ROZMAN: We do not at this point. We do not have that information. That will be part of this investigation in terms of what type of weapon was used. We do not have that information at this time. Our investigators are working. That's part of the investigation that we are putting pieces together right now.
Over here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any information about what the motive was for this?
ROZMAN: We have absolutely no information right now on what the motive is, and I can't even begin to imagine what that motive would be. That will obviously be part of our investigation. I know that that is going to be a question that lingers on everybody's mind. We will do our best to determine that, but at this time, we have -- we have no idea.
Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What law enforcement officers, agents assisted you in this entirety?
ROZMAN: The initial response to the initial shooting was -- was overwhelming. Every one of our law enforcement partners in Ingham County responded to the scene, and additional counties in this area showed up, along with our federal partners.
I'm comfortable saying, in the hundreds. We had hundreds of law enforcement officers from university, local, county, state, and federal from the mid-Michigan area that descended on campus today in a coordinated effort to resolve this incident and secure our campus.
In the back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know where the MSU president is and do you know why we haven't heard from her?
ROZMAN: I don't have that information right now. My understanding is that she is returning to campus and has been briefed on this incident, and I can only imagine what she's feeling at this point.
Our focus up to this point has really been on the safety of our campus and the public safety operations at hand. And we have briefed not only our president, but our executive leadership team every step of the way.
In addition to that, we activated our emergency operations center and put our plans in place that we have -- that we have planned for, in incidents similar to this. We initiated those plans. And part of the reason that -- that it was as smooth on our end as it was in this tragic situation was because of the pre-planning, the emergency plans, and the training that -- that we do county-wide for responding to act of violence incidents.
In the back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you confirm how many fatalities and injuries there were at each shooting location and how many people were at those locations when the shootings started?
ROZMAN: Sure. The question was how many victims were at each shooting scene. I, unfortunately, do not have that information. Out of an abundance of transparency, I can share that two of the fatalities were at Berkey Hall, and one was at the MSU Union. The other five victims I don't have the specific locations where they were.
We also don't have specific information on how many students or people were in those buildings when the shooting occurred. I do know that there were students in those buildings. I don't have a specific number.
I want to commend the students and our community on how they reacted when we set out our emergency messaging, instructing people to shelter in place, to run, hide, fight. Our community listened, and that's why a lot of folks in those buildings were able to escape. It is because of following our instructions.
Over there in the back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You talked about the collaboration and the massive response. What led you to this guy? How did you find him?
ROZMAN: So I actually don't have that information right now. The -- the update that we provided about the contact that we had with the suspect off campus was very fluid and dynamic and occurred right before coming in here today. So unfortunately, I don't have that information on what led us to his location.
He was contacted by law enforcement. He was contacted by law enforcement off-campus. I cannot confirm that location right now. That scene is also being treated as a crime scene and is being investigated as we speak. We may have additional information to share relating to that in the future.
Over here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The five victims, are all of them still -- still in critical condition? Are some in stable conditions? What's the range of their condition?
ROZMAN: So we do not have a current update on the five victims that are at the hospital. I am aware that they experienced life-threatening injuries. We hope to have an update from the hospital, and I think at future briefings, we will have a representative from the hospital here that may be able to share additional information, as well.
Sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, thank you. The shooting victims in Berkey, were they all one location, such as a particular classroom?
ROZMAN: So I don't have that information right now. That would -- that will be part of our investigation in terms of where the -- the victims were located within the building. We don't have that information available to us right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there plans to close campus beyond the 48 hours? ROZMAN: So at this point we are declaring that campus will be closed
for 48 hours. That is the current status right now. That is subject to change as we evaluate our response to this incident, keeping the victims and the students of our community who have been impacted by this tragedy at the forefront.
If we need to extend that, we will. And the appropriate conversations are occurring to make those determinations right now.
Sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you confirm that the -- the suspect in the photos is the same person that was found dead?
ROZMAN: I can confirm that the photograph that we pushed out immediately as part of our transparent information sharing is the same suspect that was found deceased, yes.
Sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be clear. Can parents come to the campus now to pick up their students, and can students leave the campus?
ROZMAN: Yes. We have lifted the shelter in place. That communication was sent out during this -- this conference. Students are free to leave and go about their business. If they would like to be picked up, they may do that.
We encourage any student that experienced any part of this incident, that may be a witness, to contact us. We have already been in touch with several of them, but if there are any students that witnessed any of the tragedy that occurred tonight, we would refer them to our tip line and email. We would like to have an investigator speak with them to understand what their experience was during this tragic incident.
In the back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To your knowledge, was there anybody that confronted the shooter either at Berkey or at the student union building?
ROZMAN: We do not have any information on whether anybody confronted the shooter at either one of those buildings, one way or the other. Part of the investigation, we will look at the sequence of events and what occurred at each building. And that's why we encourage any students or witnesses to come forward to help us piece the sequence of events together.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were any campus threats reported in the last few days or on social media? And then how did police find the suspect? Did he shoot himself prior to police interaction?
ROZMAN: So we had not received any threats to campus in the last several days or before this incident. We have not received any -- any threats, to our knowledge. Obviously, our state and federal partners are constantly monitoring different sources to provide information to us, and to my knowledge, right now, we were not aware of a threat before this.
What was the second part of your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you all stop the suspect? Did he shoot himself before he made contact with you guys?
ROZMAN: So I don't have the particular details on the -- the encounter that happened when law enforcement confronted the suspect off-campus. That will be part of our investigation, as well, but I don't have the specific details of how that incident transpired.
Sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the first time that the call came in?
ROZMAN: The first report that we received was at 8:18 p.m., 8:18 p.m. We responded in force. We had officers on scene, not only from MSU Police and Public Safety, but East Lansing Police Department, the Michigan State Police, the Ingham County Sheriff's Office, Meridian Township Police Department initially responded to that scene within minutes. We had officers in the building, following their active shooter protocol and going towards the threat.
While officers were in Berkey Hall, the suspect moved over to the Union. And when the incident took place there, officers quickly redeployed to the Union. And that's when the suspect left out the North door of the Union, which was the point that he was last seen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll be taking one more question, and then we'll provide an additional update at 1:30 a.m.
ROZMAN: So we'll take one more question, and we are going to do another update at 1:30, which is less than an hour from now.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know the -- the scene with the shooter is still ongoing. You just found out about it. But do you know was he at an off-campus apartment, in his -- in a car? What was the location om which he was found, the suspect?
ROZMAN: So we're going to share any information right now about that specific location where that occurred. I can assure you that it was off-campus. It wasn't directly near campus at all. It was an off- campus location. Because that scene is still active, as well, we're not going to disclose that particular location right now.
So again, we really do appreciate everyone.
MARLON LYNCH, VICE PRESIDENT FOR PUBLIC SAFETY AND CHIEF OF POLICE, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY POLICE: One final comment.
ROZMAN: Go ahead. I'm going to turn it back over to the vice president. Chief.
LYNCH: Just wanted to end it with this particular comment. We can't describe and appreciate the response from that we had from our partners and our community. The number of police officers, emergency medical service, fire department that showed up, literally within minutes to support this effort, it's completely overwhelming with that.
If you were on campus at the time, you saw it, with that. They're still there, still clearing buildings. Very methodical process. We have the numbers to do it. And it's only because of the relationships that we have here locally and the ability to train and partner constantly. And the communication is always there.
It's a situation that, when one department receives the call, everybody does with that.
We are extremely grateful for our relationships. It would not have been as thorough and as expedient and as efficient that it has been to this point without those partnerships. I just wanted to take a moment to thank our partners with that, as well as our community, for -- for being responsive to the messaging that was sent to them this evening.
Thank you, and we'll see you at 1:30.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
BERMAN: You have been listening to authorities from Michigan State University, law enforcement there, reporting that the threat is over. The suspect, they say, responsible for killing three people on campus several hours ago and injuring five others, that suspect, they say, took his own life.
They say the threat is over. The shelter in place order that had been in effect in Michigan State University, that has been lifted. So that will be a relief to that community there.
The tragedy, however, still remains. Three people killed at different locations. Two at one location in Berkey Hall, one at a nearby location at the student union. Three fatalities in total right now. Five others injured, transported to a local hospital. Some of them are now with life-threatening conditions.
But the news you heard moments ago. This all developed so quickly. The threat is over. The suspect, they say, for whom they released photos just about an hour and a half ago, that suspect died in an encounter with police where he took his own life.
My panel of experts and analysts back here now with me. Shimon Prokupecz, Andrew McCabe, Shawn Turner, John Miller, Juliette Kayyem. Thank you all for being here.
John, you were the first to alert us to this encounter, which happened not even one hour ago, just a few minutes before midnight. You heard the authorities from Michigan State University tell us that the suspect were dead. Any details around the margins for how this encounter of took place?
MILLER: It was after the clear description went out. But more importantly, after the photographs went out to all of the police that were saturating that area, beyond those who were on campus.
And then driving down that street, Michigan State Police encountered a man wearing the jacket that was like the jacket in the photo, the pants that was like the -- the pants in the photo, the backpack. And they initiated a pedestrian stop.
And as they approached, the individual pulled out a weapon, shot himself, took his own life. And then they recovered evidence at the scene, including the gun he used to shoot himself, an additional gun in the backpack, magazines and additional ammunition.
That tells us a lot. That tells us that this individual came prepared with multiple weapons and a large amount of ammunition to commit tremendous damage, which he did.
So as on campus, the fear ebbs into sorrow for those who were wounded and lost, but also trauma, for the students who have gone through this tonight, on lockdown, hiding in closets, under desks in classrooms.
We still have a lot of questions about the individual behind the shooting. Now that they have taken him into custody, now that he's taken his own life, that gives them a chance to go through that material.
Does he have I.D.? Can they establish an association or a relationship with the school? Was he a student? Was he a former student? Ever an employee? Did he have a relationship with somebody at the school? All of those are going to be open questions that will help them go towards what was the motive before -- for this horrific event.
I will tell you this, John. And you know this from your own experience. When you find out what the motive is behind these shootings, if you find out, they never really add up to something that would make sense, given the carnage and the cost of these actions.
And because the individual is now dead, learning that motive may not be apparent. It may be when they get the search warrant for the house, when they go through then computers, when they are able to, if they are able to, enter his phone and look for that reason.
But again, this investigation now is to -- is to find answers. Not to move towards a prosecution.
BERMAN: And again, we don't know.
MILLER: Because there's one individual.
BERMAN: We don't know the identity of the suspect, do not know if the suspect is connected in any way with Michigan State University.
We do know , as you say, when they do find a motive, we know it won't make sense. Because by definition, a mass shooting like this makes no sense. It can't make sense.
MILLER: Never does.
BERMAN: Shimon Prokupecz to you, just very quickly, it could have been -- when you hear deaths in multiple locations, it gives you a sense of truly how terrifying this must have been. Three and a half hours of terror and what will now be days, months, you know, years of mourning.
PROKUPECZ: Right. And we also don't know, some of the stuff that is kind of going through my head right now, listening to police, their talk, is we don't know why he stopped. Right? We don't know what happened.
So he gets into the union hall. What happens there? You know, we know there was a victim there. Why did he stop? Why did he leave?
When you look at the photo, I still -- you know, the photo of him in what appears to be a staircase, stairwell of one of the areas. It looks like he just easily walks in.
Now, people have been saying to me, because I brought this up earlier, is like, how did you get inside? And so perhaps it's a public area, and so you could just walk in.
Did he know where he was going? Was he targeting certain locations? Because he seemed to move through the area.
So that's certainly something that I think is going to be important for law enforcement. Because also, someone asked wisely, was there any affiliation to the school? And that's going to be the key thing --
BERMAN: Sure.
PROKUPECZ: -- right now for authorities, certainly, to figure out, John.
BERMAN: We just don't know. Shawn Turner, national security analyst and teacher at Michigan State University. I imagine some sense of relief at this point.
TURNER: Yes, John. You know, when we consider the tragedy that the shooter brought to our campus tonight, it is -- it's really hard to see any positive in -- in the outcome here.
But I will tell you that I've been in touch with colleagues all over campus, and there is a sense of relief that the shooter has been neutralized and that our students, our faculty, our staff are all safe.
But as everyone has said, now come -- now comes all the questions. Why did this individual come on our campus and kill people and wreak the havoc that they've wreaked, and you know, what was the motive?
So we're going to turn to that now. But I think the real important thing for us is that everyone is safe. And, you know, tomorrow you know, we're going to -- we're going to look to understand the causal factors.
BERMAN: Yes.
TURNER: I've been -- just to give you a sense, John, of this community, I've been in touch with professors this evening. It's almost one in the morning, and they're still reaching out to their students to make sure they're OK. Just gives you sense of what this community is --
(CROSSTALK)
BERMAN: Yes. And they're going to need each other. They're all going to need each other in the coming days.
Andrew McCabe and Juliette Kayyem, 30 seconds to each of you. Andy, just first, what now? What's going on right now?
[00:25:09]
MCCABE: Sure, John. So the FBI and their colleagues are going through the history of this person to try to understand what his motivations were, to try to understand what brought him to this moment in this community at this time.
You know, Michigan State, this community is struggling to understand why they are the latest in what is a -- a uniquely American experience and understanding and experiencing a mass shooting in their midst.
But it is the job for law enforcement to understand as much as they can about what brought this person to this moment and this mass shooting tonight. And we'll hear more about that, I think, in the future.
BERMAN: And Juliette Kayyem, again, we have about 30 seconds left.
KAYYEM: Yes, I mean --
BERMAN: And as this community mourns, you know, what was learned here, do you think?
KAYYEM: That's going to be a huge part of it. We are all, I think, rightfully applauding the transparency of the police department, what they know, what they didn't know. The pacing. How quickly they came out, telling us when they're next going to come out. We know there's another press conference next hour.
So what's happening back on campus is shelter. As I've been saying, the kids, a lot of them have been out in the cold, or they ran out. Get them back to as comfortable as they can.
And then family, reunification. There are potentially unidentified victims. At least the families, next of kin have to be notified.
But also, lots of parents who, by all accounts, from people I'm talking to, they are standing outside the university. They want to see their kids. They should see their kids. So you're going to see a lot of family unification, maybe kids leaving
campus for a couple days while it's closed to go home to areas around Michigan and other areas where the kids are from.
So that's essentially -- the school is going to be very active for the next couple hours.
BERMAN: Yes. Very active for the next couple hours. And again, the school and the community will be very much in pain for the next several months, if not years.
KAYYEM: Yes.
BERMAN: Thank you all for being here. I know many of you will be involved.
Just after this next break, John Vause picks up our breaking news coverage, right after this.
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