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GA High School On Lockdown; Hospital Reports Gunshot Victims; Sheriff's Dept. Reports Casualties In Georgia High School Shooting; Sheriff: Casualties Reported At GA High School; Suspect In Custody. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 04, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Dana Bash, and we start with the breaking news. Georgia state police tell CNN they're responding to an active scene at a high school in Winder, Georgia. My colleagues are talking to officials and sources to get more information about what's unfolding.

But here's what we know right now. A local hospital tells CNN, they're receiving patients with gunshot wounds related to the incident. We're going to start things off with CNN's Nick Valencia, who's been reporting on this, still very early stages. Nick, at this point, what are we learning about what's going on here?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these calls came into the newsroom earlier this morning of a potential active shooter in Appalachia High School in Winder, Georgia, that's Barrow County, about 45 minutes northeast of Atlanta, Georgia. And they ended up being true. You know, we're following the story. Limited details at this point. We don't know if the shooter is officially in custody yet or how many victims?

But a source with knowledge of the situation, who's not authorized to speak to the media, tells me that there are multiple victims that were enroute to their trauma one -- trauma one Regional Medical Center there, Piedmont Regional Hospital. It's the largest hospital in North Georgia.

And you can see there, a video from the scene shows a very active situation. Georgia State Patrol wouldn't say that there was a shooting, only to say that they are monitoring, or they are at an active scene. We know that there are multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI. My colleague Josh Campbell, confirming that too for CNN just a few moments ago.

So, this is still a very fluid situation. The video that we were seeing earlier showed at least one medical helicopter evacuating a victim from the scene. And we saw police from multiple agencies swarming the area. This is the high school that's nine through 12, about 1900 students. And it goes without saying, Phil, you're a parent, school just started here in the last few weeks. And now we're hearing an all too familiar story that we've reported on countless times as journalists in America school shootings on college or on public school campuses here.

So, we are told a moment ago that the school system there in Barrow County told students, then their parents, that they are allowed to be picked up. That is a recent development. There was a time about 30 minutes ago that I was getting text messages from an eyewitness there on the scene who was saying that they were still in lockdown, that appears to be lifted with Barrow County saying that parents can now pick up their students. But a terrifying, terrifying situation there for everyone involved, including and especially those victims and eyewitnesses. Phil?

MATTINGLY: All too often and still never, not, extraordinarily tragic. We're still waiting to hear more. Nick, I know you're going to continue reporting. We do now have an update from the Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who just put out a statement directing all available state resources to assist with the situation at Apalachee High School.

In a statement on social media, Kemp said quote, all Georgians -- he urged all Georgians to join my family in praying for the safety of those in our classrooms, both in Barrow County, where Appalachia is located and across the state.

I want to bring in CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell, and retired Maryland State Police Commander Neill Franklin. Neill, I want to start with you here again. We are still in a very limited information space as it currently stands.

You've seen the students and the pictures we're showing you right now seem to be heading out of the school towards the football field. As Nick just reported, being told to go home if they have transportation to do so. What are you seeing right now? What do you kind of analyze this moment to be?

NEILL FRANKLIN, (RET.) MARYLAND STATE POLICE COMMANDER: Well, it sounds like there is some sort of resolution. It sounds like they're no longer in lockdown. And as reported, you know, this is -- here we go again. Law enforcement, unfortunately, has become too good at this. So, Governor Kemp has -- you know, he's invited all these law enforcement resources. You've already reported on the FBI, the state police, probably local law enforcement, there's going to see.

But because the students are now being allowed to leave the school. There's probably some sort of resolution as occurred here. They probably have identified, or have the term at least, determined that the school is safe to appoint. So, they're going to begin the act of evidence collection, interviewing witnesses.

Is there just one person involved as a suspect? Are there multiple people involved? What kind of weapons were used, collection of evidence and more. So, it's going to be all hands-on deck, the state police, FBI, local law enforcement, criminal investigators, trying to figure out what has happened here. [12:05:00]

And as you've heard, the hospitals have already received multiple victims. So, we know that something occurred. We know that there are people injured, and hopefully no lives have been lost. We haven't gotten that information yet, no.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. Certainly, the hope still waiting for more information and details on that front. Josh Campbell, over to you. Before the lockdown was lifted, there's still -- we had similar video as to what you're looking at right now. There were not all of the students out there, but you could see a significant police presence. Did you see anything that really stood out to you as we kind of watched, at least from the outside this process kick into gear?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we see is looking at the vehicles, the uniforms of these officers, essentially anyone around that area with a badge and a gun self-deployed, including as -- was mentioned earlier, special agents from the FBI, and that has become now text -- textbook.

If you hear reports of some type of shooting, you go, you self-deploy, and then you will try to gather with other law enforcement to form what's called a contact team. And then if you still hear the sounds of shooting, you go towards that noise.

Now what's interesting from this aerial footage from our affiliate there is that you see the law enforcement surrounded the building, multiple points of entry. Again, that standard protocol. But we don't yet know if gunfire was still ongoing as authorities arrived. If that's the case, obviously, that will vector them to where they need to go.

And one thing that's worth pointing out as well, you know, there's this phrase in law enforcement that action beats reaction. That means law enforcement has to respond to what the gunman does. And we know all too often, in these incidents, sometimes they're over in a matter of seconds or minutes before law enforcement actually arrives.

There's a lot we don't know right now about the potential resolution here. I'll concur that, looking at some of the imagery, we don't see, you know, an urgent type posture by police continuing to rush into the building. We see some of the students and faculty there that are being let out.

So, it appears the emergent phase of this is indeed over, but we're talking about a very large campus. And what we know from again covering so many of these shootings, is that just because law enforcement might have a suspect in custody, that doesn't mean that their work is done.

They'll still have to go through methodically clear that area, not only looking for other potential perpetrators, which is almost always not the case. But what we've seen is, you know, sometimes as people will flee the sound of gunfire. They themselves can be injured, and so they need to ensure that there aren't any additional victims that are out there as well.

So, although, it appears just from the imagery that, again, the emergent phase of this is over, there's still much for law enforcement to do there in order to try to figure out if there are any other potential victims and then start the investigation. Why did this actually happen, Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yeah. And still significant details to learn about what actually happened here. We're now being told from the sheriff's department that there are casualties. They have not specified what exactly that means, but there are casualties.

As you can see in the footage we're showing you right now, which is live in Winder, Georgia, where Apalachee High School is located. School enrollment just shy of about 2000. They started school at the beginning of August. They've only been in class about a month at this point in time. This is about 45 miles away from Atlanta, Georgia to the east in Barrow County, which is what Governor Kemp was referencing.

We are now told one suspect is in custody. Neill, back to you. And again, I want to continue to caveat with there are -- is a lot we don't know right now. But we do know from the sheriff's office that there have been casualties. That is as far as they go in terms of detailing what those casualties may be. And we do know that there is a suspect in custody. What does that tell you?

FRANKLIN: Well, as we talked about earlier, you know, they're letting kids go home now. That tells me that it's the situation is powerfully, somewhat under control right now. Now they're going to begin the process of digging into this person's background.

First of all, to see if there's anyone else connected to him. They're going to be looking at social media sites. They're going to be looking through his email. They're going to be -- going through his life with a fine-tooth comb. They're going to be getting information as to where this person lives, putting together a search warrant for the home, the car, whatever else may be involved, any property.

The painstaking heart of digging through this person's background to find out exactly what has occurred, what the motive is, and if there's anyone else involved. And we're always looking for ways to prevent these things from occurring. That's another reason why it's so important to dig into this person's background to figure out what happened here.

Is he a member of the school? Is he from outside of the school? Is the adult, is the juvenile? Are there family members involved? How did this person obtain the weapons that were used, weapon or weapons that were used? There's a whole lot more that needs to be done, as that's been said.

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MATTINGLY: You know, Josh, as the -- as law enforcement officials look into exactly what Neill's laying out, and again, that there's a roadmap here, which should underscore to people just how often this happens, which is completely insane, just to put that point out there.

But is there a connective thread in the perpetrators over the course of the dozens of these we've seen over the years? You've covered so many of them. Is there something that is common, or does it really just depend on the case?

CAMPBELL: Yeah. Well, it certainly depends on the case at this stage, with the little information that we have right now. But one through line that we often see, and you talk with behavioral analysts within law enforcement, the so-called profilers.

Is that one characteristic is often what they refer to as the grievance collector, someone who, you know, throughout the course of their life, feels like they've been slighted, and they need to respond to try to essentially respond with violence to their perceived grievances.

Now, again, I'll stipulate there's so much we don't know right now about this incident, but that's certainly something that law enforcement will be looking into. You know, was this a faculty member of the faculty? Was this a student? If so, were there people in the orbit of the shooter who may have picked up on certain things that may have had concerns about their behavior.

And for that matter, was there any past contact that law enforcement had with the shooter in the past as well? That's something that law enforcement and this day and age will start doing on day -- you know, the first several minutes of positively identifying a suspect, is run them, that person through their holdings to determine. Is there a criminal history? Was there any possible previous contact in a negative manner that law enforcement has?

Again, you're trying to get to -- try to paint a picture of who this person was to kind of build that that profile. You know, you mentioned that when you kind of back up and look at, you know, across the country, today it marks the 247th day of the year, according to the gun violence archive. We are now at 384 mass shootings in this country.

And so, this is something that we continue to see all too often, where you have people that have access to a gun. They may have violent tendencies. They decide that they want to settle some dispute using that firearm, and then innocent lives are the ones, obviously that are at stake here.

So again, this is something that we continue to see, continue to report on, and one big question that finally we'll be looking into is the firearm itself. How did the shooter get access to it? Was it legally obtained? Was it illegally obtained?

You know, we've seen past incidences where you've had people that were prohibited from having a firearm, but then were assisted by someone else, maybe perhaps not knowing that there would be some type of act of violence. But in this country, knowingly trying to get a weapon for someone who is prohibited from having it itself is a crime. And so, this may go beyond one, this one particular act, but still a lot we don't know right now. But with that word casualties that we're now hearing from this is certainly every parent's, you know, worst nightmare when you hear this happening at the school of your child. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Yeah, no question. And something that all parents now have to think about which, again, is a remarkable reflection of society right now. I want to expand a little bit more on what we heard from the sheriff's office. We know one subject is in custody. Casualties have been reported at the school you're seeing on your screen, Appalachia High School in Winder -- in Winder, Georgia.

Multiple law enforcement agencies, fire and emergency services personnel were dispatched to a reported active shooting, according to the sheriff's department. At the time of this release, one suspect is in custody. The details on the casualties and on the number and on their conditions are not available at this time.

The sheriff's office says authorities were dispatched around 10:23 am. They say it is an ongoing situation. Again, Neill, when we look at kind of what we're actually seeing on the screen right now, in terms of students have clearly been streaming out over the course of the last 15 or 20 minutes or so. Many of them were gathered on the football field at one time, the school has directed students with transportation to go home.

The sheriff's office says, this is an ongoing situation, but it does seem the lockdown has been lifted, which the point you've made several times is this should signal that things are at least somewhat under control.

FRANKLIN: Yeah, absolutely. But as the sheriff said, it's an ongoing situation because there's still a lot of work that needs to be done on the back end of this. And one of those is getting witnesses. So, these kids who are now going home, they're also going to have to create a process for finding out -- finding any witnesses.

So, as these kids leave, they're going to have to create something for tracking potential witnesses and making sure that everyone who may have seen something is interviewed. You know, I would also like to say, as we begin this school year, that not only if you see something, say something, but if you hear something, or if you feel something about someone you have to say something. Don't be afraid to come forward and speak.

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I'm surprised that this is the beginning of the school year, which is -- which is kind of interesting, because typically, as Josh said, we're dealing with mental health issues. We're dealing with someone who has collected some trauma or some interaction -- negative interaction, as the school year progresses. But this being early in the school year, I find this rather interesting.

So, I just want folks to be more cognizant of keeping their ears open, keeping their eyes open, and if they feel something about someone. And I think people know what I'm saying. Please come forward and say something to the proper authorities.

MATTINGLY: Josh, over the course of the last several years, we have seen law enforcement agencies, state and local, fail at various points in responding to school shootings. Uvalde, which you and our colleague Shimon Prokupecz, and his team have done tremendous reporting on over the years, is the immediate one that comes to mind.

It appears, based on what we actually witnessed from above that this was a pretty rapid response and a pretty full-scale response. How have lessons learned factored into the law enforcement response in these situations?

CAMPBELL: Can you repeat the last part of your question, Phil? I'm sorry.

MATTINGLY: It's just, how have lessons learned from past shootings and many -- in some cases, past failures factored into the responses here?

CAMPBELL: Yeah. No, it's an important point. And you know, when you look at that that failed response to the Uvalde shooting, that was really an outlier. I mean the law enforcement, essentially since Columbine -- Columbine shooting that we all, you know, know about sadly. That set the stage for a new type of response from law enforcement. Where, you know, before the idea was, you go, you set up a perimeter. You might try to make contact with a suspect.

We all know, you know, anyone who has covered these so often that when officers hear the sound of gunfire, they don't wait, they go in. And that has been happening across the country time and time again that we've seen, you know, multiple instances, particularly in this day and age where so many law enforcement officers are now wearing lapel cameras. We can actually see their response.

And so that is certainly a lesson learned that law enforcement continues to practice. You know, I've worked with the law enforcement leaders in the past who have really made a major focus on continued training for their people. This is what they call a perishable skill, knowing how to tactically respond to an incident where you have some type of shooting.

And so, this is something that law enforcement prepares for all the time. And again, you look at that Uvalde shooting that was really the outlier, a horrific failure by law enforcement, certainly, but this is something that law enforcement does every day. You see officers across this country rushing towards danger in order to try to help those who might be in need.

And you know, you just look at some of the aerial imagery that we've been watching, where you see officers going into various different access points around that building. Law enforcement doesn't know when you walk into an active shooter scene, whether a gunman might be around the corner, but they know their job is to go in order to try to stop a threat, and then after that, to try to render aid to anyone who might be injured. And then finally, I'll point out just, you know, with the theme that, Phil, you and me and Neill have been focused on, and that is the sheer number of these schools across this country, continue to practice time and time again. And that's obvious -- and that's actually become a point of controversy that we've heard, particularly in the last year or so, where you have some, you know, parental groups and others saying, look, you know, this often traumatizes kids.

When you have to go through this real life scenario where, you know, the training is conducted, where students and faculty have to prepare. So that's an issue that continues to be debated. But sadly, the state of this world is, is that so often that training is needed, that whole run, hide, fight type training, because we see time and again these shootings continue to occur, like this one we're sadly reporting on today.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. Great points on all fronts. Josh Campbell, Neill Franklin, appreciate your time. We're going to keep coming back to you as we get more reporting, figure out more details again. Here's what we know right now. What you're looking at on the screen is Appalachia High School in Winder, Georgia, about 45 miles east of Atlanta.

One suspect is in custody. Casualties have been reported. The number of them and their condition has not currently been made available. Authorities were dispatched around 10:23 am, according to the sheriff's department, in response to a reported active shooter. We will continue to update when we come back.

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MATTINGLY: We are following the breaking news. Another tragedy at another American high school. This time in Winder, Georgia. The Barrow County sheriff's office says one suspect is in custody. There are casualties, but we still don't know how many or what their conditions are. At this time, we're also told a local hospital has received one gunshot wound victim from the school.

CNN's Nick Valencia has been reporting on this throughout the morning. Nick, what do we know right now?

VALENCIA: Yeah. The initial calls came in unconfirmed reports of an active shooter about 10:23 this morning in Winder, Georgia, 45 minutes northeast of Atlanta, and that shooting was later verified. We don't know exactly how many victims there were on the scene. But very early on, a source at the local hospital who was unauthorized to speak to the media, but had knowledge of the situation, told me that Piedmont Regional Hospital in the Athens-Clarke County area.

[12:25:00]

Trauma one hospital, the largest in North Georgia, was receiving gunshot victims from this shooting scene. And we saw this all sort of unfold in front of our eyes, a very fluid scene, students out there on the track and field at one point, point forming a prayer circle. It seemed from the aerial view. We saw at least one medical helicopter, transporting one victim from the scene there.

And as you just mentioned, Phil, we know here in Grady Hospital, which is another trauma one level facility, that one of the victims from this shooting is being transferred over here, you know, to the local hospital in Atlanta.

Again, still an active scene. Multiple law enforcement agencies on the scene there, including the FBI. They put a social media post out just a short time ago saying, that they're helping local law enforcement agencies there with the situation.

It is still very active, though, parents still picking up students. It was within the last hour that the school system there in Barrow County notified parents of those students that they were allowed to be picked up from the school.

And just the aerial video that we saw, Phil, is just chilling and sobering as a parent, to see those images reminiscent of past school shootings, places like Columbine, where we saw masses of students out, you know, really trying to get information.

And it's those uncertain moments where we don't know the details. We don't know if this shooter is still on the loose that really is terrifying. That's not the case right now. We know that one suspect is in custody. So, it seems to be at least, there's a remedy in that, a sigh of relief, sort of for the community there that's dealing with this, but still very much so a terrifying situation with that school just weeks underway.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. And still trying to get a lot of information about what exactly happened here, the scale of what happened here as well. Nick, I know you'll keep reporting on that. Please keep us posted as we continue to watch from above and these aerial shots appeared to be stretchers being loaded into ambulances just a short while ago.

Again, what we know right now, one suspect is in custody. There are casualties. How many and their condition is still not clear, based on what the sheriff's department has put out. We do know that one gunshot wound victim has been reported at one of the trauma hospitals.

I want to bring my panel in now. Look, this wasn't guys what we planned to talk about today, and yet, how many times have we been in situations where we've been reporting on -- whatever we're reporting on, and we are thrust into talking about this. There'll be plenty of time for politics. We can get into politics. But just, you know, what's your reaction? You're parent.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, POLITICS & POLICY COLUMNIST, BLOOMBERG: You know, no, it's sadness. I mean, I think about growing up as a kid, this never happened when I was in high school and elementary school, in middle school. And the regularity with which this happens to our kids in this country is just -- it's still shocking. It's still incredibly sad and scary that these kids have to deal with this reality.

They are going to be witnesses at some point. They might have to talk to police about what they saw at their school. They're a couple of weeks in to school. They probably got their brand-new backpacks. And now they're having to leave and evacuate because there was a shooting on their campus. It's such a violation of that space. This sort of sacred educational space that we're all familiar with. And you know, this is just an intractable problem and it's a uniquely American problem as well.

MATTINGLY: I think that's the critical point. Like, look at the statistics around the entire world, it is a uniquely American problem. But as you also add, it is an intractable problem. I'm sorry, I'm not numb to it, but I'm also a realist on some level that it doesn't seem like there's any grand solution to fix this anytime soon.

MOLLY BALL, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, I mean, on the one hand, I think the Biden administration would point out that they actually did pass a small war gun control measure under his watch. So, it's not true that nothing can ever get done on this issue, even if, obviously, what was done did not prevent this tragedy from occurring.

But -- and you know, there was -- this was a smaller but a focus of the Democratic convention. There were the parents of victims of school shootings and other gun violence, a very moving, even devastating segment that was part of that convention. So, it has been a part of the political conversation, obviously, to a lesser degree than some of the more top of mind issues.

This is a debate that's sort of frozen in place right with the Republicans more focused on either Second Amendment rights or on the broader problem of crime and disorder, and putting violence in that context, rather than saying, as Democrats do, that it's a gun problem and that the problem is people's access to guns. So that is the axis on which we seem to be perpetually stuck when we talk about this issue.

MATTINGLY: Yeah. And Jeff, to Molly's great point, the most expansive gun related legislation to pass since, I think, 1994 was enacted. And this isn't saying that it wasn't effective. There have been studies and reviews of that legislation, which is still in kind of nascent stages, that they believe it's had some effect.

Where does this go from here? From a policy perspective, it's mental health on one side, it's gun laws and the Second Amendment on another side. The Second Amendment exists. That's the reality.