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Suspect in Custody after at Least Killed, Dozens Hurt at Parade; Two Officers Shot During Fireworks Display in Philadelphia; Unrest in Akron after Video Shows Fatal Shooting of Jayland Walker. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 05, 2022 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Berman in Highland Park, Illinois, about 25 miles north of Chicago. Brianna Keilar in New York this morning.

[06:00:00]

Behind me is the scene where, not 24 hours ago, six people were killed in a Fourth of July parade, another 25 injured. And you can see the street behind me. It's a moment frozen in time. It was 10:15 a.m. where a shooter opened fire from a rooftop two blocks hence.

But you can see the streets here littered with the beach chairs, towels. I see a frisbee, a beach ball, frozen in time, where people fled in every direction when they heard dozens of gunshots ring out from that roof.

Now, police say the shooter got to the roof from a back alley using a ladder. They called the shooting intentional, but random.

Now, eight hours after the shooting itself, police did apprehend a person they're calling a person of interest. They also called this 22- year-old man a suspect. They got him after a short police chase. Police got him on a road about five miles from here in Lake Forest. Very close after he was spotted on the road by one police officer.

This 25-year-old person of interest, or suspect, as the police are calling him, has a history of posting videos that do seem to tend towards the violent.

In one video, this suspect, person of interest, posted it, it called "Are You Awake?" He had a stick figure there dressed in gear, looking like a shooter, voicing over, saying, "I need to just do it. It is my destiny."

In another video, you can see the same stick figure on the ground in a puddle of blood, surrounded by police officers.

Those are just some of the investigative threads that police here will be looking at to try to determine what led up to this shooting, again, that killed six injured. Twenty-five more, luckily most of those injured, have now been released from the hospital.

And Brianna, I do understand we are now learning the identity of one of the victims.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Former preschool teacher Jacki Sundheim, John, has been identified by her synagogue as a lifelong congregant and a member of their staff.

The North Shore Congregation Israel says, "There are no words sufficient to express the depth of our grief for Jackie's death and sympathy for her family and loved ones."

This is at least the 308th mass shooting in America this year. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has seen more than enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): If you're angry today, I'm here to tell you be angry. I'm furious. I'm furious that yet more innocent lives were taken by gun violence. I'm furious that their loved ones are forever broken by what took place today. I'm furious that children and their families have been traumatized.

While we celebrate the Fourth of July just once a year, mass shootings have become our weekly -- yes, weekly -- American tradition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Let's get the very latest on the investigative threads and the aftermath from here. Adrienne Broaddus joins me here on the scene.

And one thing people need to know. There have been people coming to this parade for decades and decades from all the towns around here. This is somewhere people want to be on the Fourth.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I spoke with a young lady yesterday who said that she's been coming here since she was a little girl with her father.

And as you mentioned, behind us, chairs, a child's stroller, a child's wagon, all items that were left behind.

A little relief yesterday after that person of interest was taken into custody. But this morning, the reality is beginning to set in, especially as people learn the names of the victims. That adds another layer of grief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (voice-over): As Americans across the country celebrated the Fourth of July, shots rang out Monday from a rooftop in Highland Park, a suburb North of Chicago.

ZOE PAWELCZAK, SHOOTING WITNESS: It was the loudest thing I've heard that's not, like, natural. It was a loud "pooh, pooh, pooh, pooh- pooh," and it was just endless.

BROADDUS (voice-over): On the ground, this video shows the chaos as people who attended the parade ran for their lives. At least six people were killed and more than two dozen sent to hospitals, some in serious condition, their ages ranging from 8 to 85 years old.

BRIGHAM TEMPLE, NORTHSHORE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM: Of the 25 who came in with gunshot wounds, 19 of those individuals were able to be treated and actually discharged home, after they had had their full medical evaluation and treatment. Several others did arrive in more serious conditions and did have to be admitted.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Many witnesses, including a state senator, are describing the scene as frantic.

JULIE MORRISON (D), ILLINOIS STATE SENATOR (via phone): We saw there were a couple women came running back through the parade screaming, crying saying there was a shooter. And it still just didn't ring true with me.

[06:05:08]

Then there was a wave of people, hundreds of people carrying kids, and dads, and all people, running, weaving between the cars, running back away from the parade. And then we knew it was real.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Zoe Pawelczak attended the parade with her father and said she and others initially thought the pops were fireworks. But she sensed something was wrong.

PAWELCZAK: Just grabbed my dad and we ran. And suddenly, everyone was running behind us. There was a girl just dead. Another man was shot in the ear, blood all over his face.

It was just so surreal. It's complete shock.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Danielle Pettibone said her daughter was at the Highland Park parade with a relative. She described the moment she learned about what happened.

DANIELLE PETTIBONE, DAUGHTER ATTENDED PARADE: I woke up to a text saying that, We were just involved in a shooting at the parade in Highland Park, but we're all OK, and Sophia's OK.

And it really scared me. That could have been her. And it really just tears me apart, to think anyone could ever know who lost their lives today.

BROADDUS (voice-over): A manhunt immediately ensued and by Monday evening, police took into custody Robert E. Crimo III. This video capturing the moment the suspect was taken into custody.

Crimo posted several online music videos on major streaming outlets and a personal website. At least three of those music videos feature troubling lyrics and scenes depicting gun violence.

The videos appear to have been posted in 2021.

Just days after signing into law the first major federal gun safety legislation in decades, President Joe Biden responding to yet another mass shooting.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We got a lot more work to do. We got to get this under control.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (on camera): And this morning, tributes are beginning to pour in for that former preschool teacher. One woman writing on Facebook that she was a member of her beloved congregation. And she said she helped coordinate her wedding.

Most memorable for her, she says she remembers miss Jacki smiling at her, fixing her veil -- and you know how important that is for a bride -- and opening the doors as she walked down the aisle to her beloved.

BERMAN: Cherished memories to be sure, now tinged with sadness this morning, no doubt. Adrienne Broaddus, thank you so much for that report.

Want to get the latest now on the investigation this morning. Let's bring in former FBI deputy director, Andy McCabe, a CNN law enforcement analyst.

Andy, they got a person they're calling a person of interest and a suspect. About eight hours after the shooting itself yesterday evening. What are they doing this morning?

ANDY MCCABE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, John, you know, I could -- your viewers could probably tell me just as well what they're doing this morning, because we've been through this so many times.

But what the FBI and local police are doing right now is building out a, first of all, a time line of events leading up to this attack. So they are sorting through every piece of evidence they can find about the shooter.

We -- you heard already about some of the information they found about his online presence: the music videos and other things he posted on YouTube. They're really looking at messages, text messages, communications he may have had with friends, or associates or family members.

And they want to understand when did he arm himself. When did he start thinking about this attack? At what point did he start taking steps to prepare for it? And to really understand every single step he took that led them to this horrible tragedy.

That information is not necessary specifically to prosecute him for for these crimes, but it's necessary to understand the path to radicalization, what brought this young man to this moment.

In addition to that they're, of course, collecting all the physical evidence that ties him to the shooting. So whether that's a gun that was allegedly left on the scene or other pieces of evidence that may have been in the car he was arrested in. BERMAN: There was a gun recovered at the scene, Andy. You've no doubt

heard the audio and the video from the shooting itself. What are they going to be looking at in terms of this weapon that we've been told only is a high-powered rifle?

MCCABE: Sure. So, they'll first trace the weapon to understand its last legal transfer. So that would be from a firearms dealer to a person who purchased it. That might be the shooter. Or it could be someone else.

That's important to know the kind of lineage of the firearm, to see if there was an illegal transfer of the gun at some point. That could lead to charges, for if there was, for instance, a straw buyer that got this gun to the shooter. That person might be looking at some criminal liability, as well.

They're going to want to understand how this gun was firing. We've heard that video numerous times now. You can hear the shots are going very quickly.

[06:10:06]

It's likely it's probably just a semi-automatic rifle, meaning one bullet per trigger pull. But it's possible it may have been modified in some way to make it illegal as a -- as a fully automatic rifle. That could lead to additional charges. So that gun is an important source of information, as well.

BERMAN: All right, Andy. You heard the reporting on these videos, these music videos. Some of them which have violent imagery, stick figures that are either about to be shooting or on the ground in blood. What do investigators do with that?

And also, Andy, the fact they're calling this person a "person of interest" and a suspect. They seem awfully certain that they have the person who did this in custody. What do you think makes them so certain?

MCCABE: Well, John, calling that person a suspect is when you are convinced beyond any doubt that you have tied, physically tied, this person to that shooting scene.

So whether that's recovering his fingerprints from the weapon that you know was used. Or maybe if he's captured on video -- local video surveillance, you know, accessing the crime scene, something like that.

So they're just being exceedingly cautious in referring to him as a person of interest. We all know that this is the suspect, the person they're looking for to hold responsible for this crime.

As far as the videos are concerned, you know, they might help the prosecution in terms of showing that he had a foreknowledge of what he was doing, that he had planned these events, things like that. But really, it goes mostly to those things we talked about first. Putting you inside the mind of this killer and developing a better understanding of how this mass shooting took place. What -- what pushed this individual to take this horrible step?

The more we can understand that, the better we may be positioned to prevent acts like this in the future.

BERMAN: And that's the goal. Andy -- Andy McCabe, thank you so much for being with us.

MCCABE: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Brianna.

KEILAR: In Philadelphia, two veteran police officers were shot and injured just before the July Fourth fireworks display began there while they were working a security detail on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

The gunfire set off this chaotic scene of people running for their lives in the birthplace of our nation on the Fourth of July. CNN's Jean Casarez is joining us now.

Jean, do they know anything about what started this, who was behind the weapon here?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, they are in the preliminary aspect of this investigation. And it was a Philadelphia Highway Patrol Officer that was grazed in the head and Montgomery County sheriff's officer that was hit by a bullet in the shoulder. They were both taken to the hospital.

As Brianna just told you, it happened right at the beginning but panic, because everyone heard it. People started running, ironically, down Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

And when it was all finished, the mayor of Philadelphia stood up, and he gave a presser. I want you to listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JIM KENNEY (D), PHILADELPHIA: If I had the ability to take care of guns, I would. But the legislature won't let us. The U.S. Congress won't let us.

The governor does the best that he can. Our attorney general does the best that he can. But this is a gun country. It's crazy. We're the most armed country in world history. And we're one of the least safest.

So, you know, until Americans decide that they want to give up the guns and give up the opportunity to get guns, we're going to have this problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And they do not have, at this point, anyone in custody. They are still looking for who may have done this.

The officers were taken to the hospital. Last word, they are in stable condition.

You know, Brianna, over the weekend, there was another slant given by our mayor here in New York City, Eric Adams, because people were enjoying pre-Fourth of July celebrations in Queens, and it was still daylight, 8 p.m. at night.

Someone took out a gun and started randomly shooting across the street. There was a corrections officer, off-duty, who took out -- he was armed -- and shot at the shooter. That stopped it all, although he was shot, ultimately.

But Eric Adams said during a presser, law enforcement are doing their job. We are doing our job. However, we need the courts to do our [SIC] job.

And he said that the shooter in New York had been sentenced for robbery with a firearm but was out, awaiting sentencing, obviously using that firearm again.

And so you have different slants. Mayors, law enforcement, they're trying to do what they are supposed to do.

KEILAR: I think you can sub in the mayor of any major city into the mayor of Philadelphia. They're all going through this. They're all experiencing this.

Jean, thank you so much. We know that you'll stay on this. Jean Casarez.

"Please don't forget about me." That is a desperate plea from Brittney Griner to President Biden from inside a Russian prison.

[06:15:04]

And we'll also have more on the mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. We'll be joined by a man who attended the parade and had to flee for his life with his two sons, one who has special needs. Their harrowing story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back. I'm John Berman in Highland Park, Illinois, about 25 miles north of Chicago. I'm actually standing on the parade route.

This is where yesterday at 10:15, the parade had already begun; it was well under way. People marching by right here when a gunman opened fire from a rooftop about two blocks behind me, killing six people, wounding 25 more.

Hundreds, if not thousands of people, had come here from all the neighboring towns to be part of this parade, many of whom had come for generations.

One of the people here was Paul Toback. He was here with his adult children, one of whom has special needs. They were watching the parade. And Paul joins me now.

Give me a sense. You were standing literally, like, almost right here.

PAUL TOBACK, WITNESSED SHOOTING: Right.

BERMAN: What happened?

TOBACK: So the parade started off typically. Everyone was happy and smiling, and as the parade was about five minutes in, all of a sudden, we heard a noise. And I thought for a second maybe it's a firecracker. You've heard this scenario before. People weren't sure what it is. And -- but it was too fast and too quick. And my son said no, that's gunfire.

BERMAN: Your 18-year-old son immediately said it was gunfire?

TOBACK: Right. Which is sad and sick at the same time, too, that he knew immediately what it was, and he said, Let's go.

So we turned. I was with my girlfriend and my two sons, and my one son is in a wheelchair. And we were literally right over there. And for a second, everybody froze. Literally like time stood still.

And then we looked down the street right over there, and we saw the crowd running toward us and screaming. And it was, like, mass hysteria. And people were just running in droves across the railroad tracks right behind you.

And we turned and ran, and I pushed my son's wheelchair. And the wheelchair collapsed on the pavement, and he toppled over, and I fell. And then it happened again. And then my young son picks up my older son and ran. It was like we ran for our lives.

BERMAN: You carried your -- your other son carried his brother?

TOBACK: Yes, he was a hero. I mean, there were a lot of heroes. There were heroes this day but he was one of them.

Your son with special needs he was here in a wheelchair in this day. But he was, you know, one of them.

BERMAN: And your son with special needs, he was here in a wheelchair. He likes to watch people?

TOBACK: Yes, he doesn't walk and talk, but he loves to watch people walk and run. And so he was happy as could be, and he was laughing and smiling and clapping along with the music. And then all of a sudden, everything changed.

I mean, we've heard this scenario too many times in America, but we lived it in a place, like everyone says, you can't imagine what happened here to you, but it happened again and to us this time.

BERMAN: Was he scared?

TOBACK: He was. He was a little -- I mean, because we toppled on top of each other. We were literally rolling out in the street. The wheelchair collapsed on him, and I fell on the wheelchair. And then, until we could scoop him up and get him out of here, we didn't know if the gunman was running back down the street. Nobody knew anything. So we just ran.

BERMAN: I was going to say, what do you think is happening at a moment like that?

TOBACK: For a second, I didn't believe it. Again, my younger son believed it more than I did. And then your instinct takes, and we just ran. You can't remember whether you're supposed to shelter or run, but your instinct is to run. And we ran.

BERMAN: And at this moment, at that time, there was a gunman still on the loose?

TOBACK: Right. And you couldn't -- we couldn't know. We didn't know where the shots were coming from. We couldn't triangulate the location. You didn't know if he was chasing a crowd down, because they were running like they were being chased.

So it was -- it was scary; it was terrifying. We ran for our lives 18 hours ago right here.

BERMAN: How far did you have to run?

TOBACK: We ran about a block and a half over there. Our car was parked right on the outside perimeter. Got in the car, closed the doors and were out of here as fast as we could. I mean, people were just scattering.

Because we went home and he was on the loose for eight hours. We sheltered in place, windows closed, shades drawn, because nobody knew.

BERMAN: How are both your sons this morning?

TOBACK: Well, my -- my older son with special needs is actually pretty unaware of what happened. My younger son is -- you know, he was again, in my mind, he was a hero, but we're all a little shaken. It was -- it's hard to believe this happened and only 18 hours ago.

And I think we're all a little shaky and unsettled is probably the best way to describe it.

BERMAN: Well, I'm sure you're proud of both your sons. I'm sure they're proud of you also.

TOBACK: Thank you.

BERMAN: I'm sorry you had to go through this. I know you've been coming to this parade for years.

TOBACK: yes, we've come a lot. And, you know, it certainly speaks a lot to, as a society what we would be doing or what we should expect. You can't -- you can't be in a society that you can't go to a Fourth of July parade and not be comfortable or go to school. I mean, the mass shootings with the high-grade weapons, it has to stop.

BERMAN: I hope you're back next year.

TOBACK: Thank you. Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Best to your family.

TOBACK: Appreciate it.

BERMAN: Brianna.

KEILAR: Akron, Ohio, is on edge after video is released showing police officers shooting an unarmed black man dozens of times as he ran from them. We have a live report next.

And the U.S. says an Al Jazeera correspondent was likely killed by gunfire from Israel's military. We have the details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:27]

KEILAR: Officials in Akron, Ohio, bracing for more unrest over the fatal police shooting of Jayland Walker. Dozens of protesters were arrested for violating a curfew.

The mayor imposing that curfew after the city released body camera video showing officers firing a barrage of bullets as Walker fled, following a car chase.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is live for us in Akron with the latest -- Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna, good morning to you

As it begins to rain here in downtown Akron, I can tell you that that actual curfew has been allowed to basically expire. And the result has been a very quiet evening, largely. No obvious signs of any kind of protests, really, and violence, in sharp contrast to what we witnessed yesterday morning when residents here in the city of Akron woke up to damaged store fronts, to vandalized city property.

And at least 50 arrests, which actually took place on Sunday night into Monday. The charges of these individuals ranging anything from a failure to disperse, to rioting. A combination of residents from the city and also from surrounding communities.

But again, last night, though, a very different story. As it appears that that curfew that was implemented yesterday and will be in place indefinitely by city officials seems to have worked.

We have to remember that the Walker family has been joining -- Jayland Walker's family has been joining city officials and pleading for the public to remain peaceful and patient as the investigation into last week's shooting of their son is now in the hands of Ohio's Bureau of Criminal Investigation. A process that the family's attorney told me could last anywhere from 60 to 90 days. [06:30:00]