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The Situation Room

Five Dead in Newspaper Shooting in Annapolis, Maryland. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 28, 2018 - 17:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: I turn it over to Wolf Blitzer now for more on this breaking news.

[17:00:18] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news. A shooting in the newsroom of the "Capital Gazette" newspaper in Annapolis, Maryland. Police say at least five people were killed and multiple people were injured, wounded, many of them severely, and that the shooter is in custody.

CNN's Brian Todd on the scene for us there in Annapolis. Brian, first of all, update our viewers on the very latest. What are you hearing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we are hearing one shooter is in custody. Police believe that is the only shooter involved this incident. They have cleared the building from a tactical standpoint behind me, meaning they don't believe there are other shooters. They're still searching, making sure there are no explosives in the building.

As you mentioned, five fatalities confirmed. There could be more confirmed later. Not clear on that. They say there are multiple people injured. A key piece of information that just came out was that the shooter is not cooperating, at least did not cooperate initially with law enforcement. That's according to a law enforcement source. The shooter was apparently found with no I.D. on him.

According to one source who told CNN the shooting occurred in the newsroom of "The Capital Gazette" here in Annapolis, but law enforcement are not giving many details on that.

We do know five fatalities, at least, at this hour. Multiple people wounded. The shooter at least initially, Wolf, did not cooperate and another key piece of information tonight that we just learned from law enforcement and city officials here in Annapolis is that this shooting appeared to have been interrupted by police.

Multiple law enforcement officials telling us that police got here within about 60 seconds after the shooting began. And that apparently, something was -- something happened to interrupt that shooting. They would not give details of that. And they would not give details about whether gunfire was exchanged between law enforcement and the shooter. But according to their accounts, the shooting was interrupted by law enforcement, arriving within about 60 seconds of when this started, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Brian, I want you to stand by. I know you're getting more information. It's been almost two hours since this incident occurred, and police now and local authorities are beginning to provide details. Very shocking details, I must say.

I want to bring in our experts, former FBI supervisory special agent Josh Campbell and former CIA counterterrorism official Phil Mudd.

Josh, first of all, what have you heard from authorities at that press conference that really stands out to you?

JOSH CAMPBELL, FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Well, three quick things, Wolf. First of all, being that authorities continue to search the building top to bottom. They're trying to determine, you know, are there other people there who might have been injured? That's textbook. They're going to do that.

So although, you know, sadly we've seen that number of deceased now, sadly, at five, you know, police will obviously continue to search to determine were there other casualties. We'll hear about that.

Secondly, there was this question which we've been reporting on for about the last half hour, and that's what were the circumstances surrounding the shooter being taken into custody. Now obviously, we've seen a number of these incidents where a shooter is either engaged by law enforcement and is killed or kills himself.

In this case, the subject was taken into custody. And one thing that stands out to me from the press conference is that he was transported directly to the police station in order to be interrogated. We've seen a number of these incidents where a shooter is either engaged by law enforcement and is killed or kills himself. In this case, the subject was taken into custody. And one thing that stands out to me from the press conference is that he was transported directly to the police station in order to be interrogated, which says that he wasn't injured. He didn't need to be taken to the hospital. So again, a lot of questions: did he -- did he go there intending to make it out alive and then simply decide that he was going to give up, or were there other factors there?

The last thing, Wolf, real quickly, is when you look at the type of weaponry that was used, a shotgun. Now, I can tell you, you know, having a bit familiar with the shotgun, you don't simply pick up this type of firearm and use it accurately. It's a very violent type of weapon with, you know, a very strong recoil that takes practice. So this person, again, there's a lot we don't know. But that particular use of a weapon with a shotgun tells me that he at least knew his way around a weapon.

BLITZER: One eyewitness spoke to our affiliate WJLA. I want to play that sound. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I was on the phone with a client and heard a loud noise. Like, an incredibly loud bang. And I poked my head around the corner of my desk so I could see out our front door into the front door of "The Capital Gazette."

And I saw a guy. I saw a guy holding a gun. The door of the "Capital Gazette" had been blown to pieces. It was in shattered pieces all on the carpet, and this guy was holding what looked like a big shotgun and moving across the entrance of the "Capital Gazette" office, pointing the gun deeper into the office like he was targeting people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keith, did that man say anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea. I heard some indistinct shouting after another couple minutes before there was some more gunshots, but he didn't -- I mean, I only looked at him for a second. I ducked my head back behind the wall as soon as I saw the guy initially. But I didn't hear him say anything distinct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After you hid, after you tried to hide, what did you do?

[17:05:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Called police. Called the police. And they got here really fast. I mean, they got here real fast. The police were here in a couple minutes, and they checked on us in our office to make sure we were OK and told us to just hunker down. And they, I guess, got the guy pretty quick after that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are all the people in your office OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone's OK, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MAL: Did you see anyone get hurt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did. I did. I looked around the corner a second time, and I saw a young woman who looked like she's been hurt. She was on the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Injured?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, there was a bunch of blood on the floor. So I assume so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you see the shooter get shot or did you just --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no. I saw him move across the entrance of the office. And that was it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then after you called the police, where did you go from there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We stayed in the office until a second group of police officers showed up. They actually broke down our office door, and then they -- they escorted us out. They escorted us out with our hands up over our heads. And we spent sometime in the office building next to our building, and they just made sure we were all safe and then let us -- let us go. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you describe the reunification point over

here? How many people are over there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I mean, when they -- when they evacuated us to the reunification point, we were in a conference room, and there's probably 25 people. It's a big building. Like doctor's offices and law firms and other insurance companies. There's a lot of people who work in that building.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Phil Mudd, what does it say to you that the shooter, he got towards that newsroom and began shooting through the door, through the glass as he tried to enter?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: A couple thoughts here. When you look at any case like this, whether it's maybe an independent shooter -- we don't know that, but potentially in this case -- or whether it's a major terror case, two categories of any case, Wolf, capability and intent. What can somebody do? What do they want to do? This gave me clues in both directions.

On intent, if this guy just wanted to kill people, why did he go to a building that was secured and force his way in by having to shoot through the door? That tells me that there's some reason he chose this target.

Does he not like newspapers? Does he not like the media? Is there somebody in there he doesn't like? It gives me a clue about targeting. It also gives me a clue about sophistication and capability.

If you look at things like the Pulse shooting in Orlando, if you look at what happened in Las Vegas, horrific shootings by people who had weapons that could maximize casualties. How much sophistication did he have if he brought in a weapon that could not maximize casualties, because you can't have a stock that has many rounds on it?

It gives me some clues that are taking me toward he chose the target with intent, and he didn't choose it as part of a sophisticated plot that was intended to maximize casualties, despite the fact that we have a horrific tragedy of five dead. It's not 50. That's -- that's a miracle.

BLITZER: Yes. So far at least five dead, but there are several more serious injuries. Some of those -- some of those injuries are critical, we are told.

I want to get some more on the breaking news. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland is joining us. He's a Democrat.

So what are you hearing, Senator? What's your reaction?

SEN. BEN CARDIN (D), MARYLAND: Well, Wolf, this is tragic. "The Capital Gazette" is an Annapolis newspaper. It is homegrown. It's hard to believe that something like this would happen at "The Capital Gazette." I know people that work there. So obviously, I'm extremely concerned. We know that five people have lost their life and more are at risk. This is just tragic.

BLITZER: Have you heard anything, Senator, about a possible motive? Why the shooter would storm the newsroom of the "Capital Gazette" in the state capital of Maryland in Annapolis and start killing people?

CARDIN: I have not. And it's hard to understand why this would happen.

Again, this is a newspaper which is a local paper. It's not a controversial editorial policy. It covers local news. And it's part of the "Baltimore Sun" ownership network, and it's just difficult to understand why this would happen anywhere, but at the Annapolis "Gazette."

BLITZER: Do you know, Senator, if there were any threats, any warnings, any indication that the "Capital Gazette" or any other newspaper in Maryland was under -- under some sort of threat?

CARDIN: I have heard nothing that would indicate that was the case. I have heard nothing about that whatsoever.

I do know that everybody now in "The Baltimore Sun" are a little bit concerned about security, and obviously, there's a great deal of interest as to keeping people safe. Until we know more, I think it would just be speculating.

BLITZER: All right, Senator, thank you very much.

CARDIN: My pleasure.

BLITZER: We'll stay in close touch with you. Our justice -- crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz is getting some more information. Shimon, what are you learning?

Shimon, if you can hear me, tell us what you're learning.

All right. We're going to get back -- we're going to get back to -- we're going to get back to Shimon in a moment.

But Evan Perez, you're getting more information, as well. What else are you learning?

[17:10:03] EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. We are told by sources that one of the things that they found when they arrested the suspect that he had some devices, he had some items on him that were intended to look like, at least investigators believe was intended to look like he was carrying explosive devices, perhaps grenades of some kind.

They've determined that there was nothing there, that this is not at all. It was not all explosives that he was carrying, but that is -- that is what they found on him, as we reported a short time ago.

The suspect, initially at least, refused to cooperate with investigators. He was not carrying any kind of identification. The FBI was trying to figure out a way to try to identify him, and I think that's one of the reasons that the police were a little hesitant at first to provide additional information. They don't know exactly what this man's motivation is. We don't know why he showed up at this newspaper today.

We don't know, certainly, whether or not he has a relationship with anyone inside the building or inside this newsroom. But he certainly -- it appears was -- was bent on carrying out mayhem there. And if it was not for the police who responded so quickly to top this situation, perhaps we'd be dealing with a lot more.

We're told that in addition -- in addition to the five fatalities, that the governor talked about or the police talked about in the last hour that there are additional people who are injured and are being treated. These range from simple trauma, people who ran out of the building, having dealt with this traumatic situation, as you might imagine, to people who may have been injured by flying glass or shrapnel as a result of what was happening there. So again, in addition to the five fatalities, we believe, according to our sources, that there are additional people who were injured or being treated. At least one of them is in fairly serious condition, so we will keep an eye on that to see whether or not this number of fatalities goes up. But at this point, we only know of five fatalities at this point.

BLITZER: Yes. And the local authorities describe some of those injuries as people who were, in their words, gravely injured. So five fatalities, unfortunately, that may be a low number. Shawn Turner was with us, as well.

Very early in this process right now, so we don't know the name of the shooter, don't have any idea what the motive possibly could have been. This investigation is only just beginning.

SHAWN TURNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. It is. And the fact that the individual not cooperating with authorities, he's not telling anyone who he is right now is a problem for authorities, but it is the case that it's just a delaying tactic.

The law enforcement authorities will be able to determine who this individual is. You'll look at a couple of different factors to do that. As Evan pointed out, this individual had devices on him that might provide some clue as to who this individual is.

There was a weapon here. Those -- a weapon has a serial number. So we'll be able to look at that serial number and determine where that weapon came from.

It's also the case that there's someone out there who this individual is connected to, who knows that this individual is not where he's supposed to be at this time. And there's someone out there who this individual would have been in contact with, who he would have talked to, who would know that this individual was troubled. So they'll be looking very closely at that to determine who this individual is.

The other thing is, as we talked about a little earlier is "The Capital Gazette," being a news organization, you know, if there were individuals who were reaching out to this organization with some sort of frustration, reaching out angry over some sort of issue, there would be a record of that at the "Capital Gazette."

So as we interview people who were there in this horrific situation, there are going to be people who are able to say, "Yes, there was a young person who was reaching out, who's angry about it. Here's what we know about that individual." So we'll be able to get to the bottom of who this individual is.

BLITZER: As they say, this investigation is only just beginning. Multiple agencies are involved. Local, state and federal authorities are on the scene right now. Want to bring in our senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter. At this point, Brian, we don't know if the newsroom specifically, the journalists were targeted. But there are a lot questions that we all have right now.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And we also don't know if the five people reported dead were all in the newsroom, if they were all staffers or if there were others, as well. Perhaps people outside the building or in other offices.

But if these journalists are among the dead, this will be the deadliest day in American journalism in several years. This might remind some people of 2015 in Virginia. A TV news crew was attacked during a live report. Two journalists died that day.

Thankfully, attacks on journalists are uncommon in the U.S. We do not see fatalities very often like this. And so as we wait for more information, we try to find out who has passed away, who has been injured. It is clear that something happened in this newsroom, something horrible.

And now we know some of the reporters who survived are now trying to report the story. They're, of course, speaking with police, being interviewed, but they're also trying to report this story the best they can, because after all, Wolf, this is a daily newspaper that serves Annapolis and the surrounding community. It's an outstanding local paper. The kind of newspaper that people want in their lives. Local journalism on the ground there at the Maryland state house and around Annapolis and around the region, the Chesapeake Bay area. This is a special newspaper.

[17:15:13] And it's a moment that I think so many journalists have feared for a long time. Regardless of whether this newsroom was targeted or not, this has been a fear on many journalists' minds. And it is worth noting right now we've seen stepped-up security at "The Baltimore Sun" and in other cities, as well. The NYPD says that some teams have been deployed outside buildings housing newsrooms in New York City this afternoon.

BLITZER: Let me read some of the tweets. One journalist, Phil Davis, who covers business politics, also crime for the "Capital Gazette," this local newspaper in Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, he started tweeting shortly after the incident. At 3:41 p.m.: "I will tweet what I can while I wait to be interviewed by police." Three forty-two p.m.: "A single shooter shot multiple people at my office, some of whom are dead." Three forty-five p.m.: "Gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees. Cannot say much more and don't want to declare anyone dead, but it's bad.

Three forty-six p.m., "There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you're under your desk and then hear the gunman reload." Four ten p.m., "I'm currently waiting to be interviewed by police. I'm safe and no longer at the office." Four nineteen p.m., "OK, I was not tweeting from under my desk. I was already safe when I started tweeting." So he corrected that a little bit.

But it's pretty frightening to see those tweets, to read those tweets and to try to appreciate what this journalist and so many others in that newsroom, Brian, were going through.

STELTER: Indeed. Both his account and also the account from one of the interns at the newspaper. An intern who sent out a bulletin on his personal account saying, "There's an active shooter here. Please send help." He sent out the address of the building, and that was one of the first indications of what was going on.

We do know some staffers were out working. They were at meetings. They were at events. Others were on vacation. Because we don't know exactly how many staffers were in the newsroom.

But think about the time of day early afternoon. You're working on the next day's paper. That means you've got page designers, photographers, editors, reporters who are going to be working on that. And we've already seen journalism advocacy groups coming out, expressing heartache, heartbreak about this news. The Society of Professional Journalists saying, "We stand ready to help however we can."

I think the great unknown, of course, Wolf, whether this newsroom was targeted and whether the five dead are members of this organization, this newspaper or whether there were other members of the community around.

I do think it's worth noting this location was well-known. It's right by the mall in Annapolis. Readers, members of the public knew the address. It was printed in the paper. You could always drop by. So it was not a secret where this newspaper was located. It was not a high-security environment. And today, someone exploited that environment, that ability to interact between reporters, and members of the public. Someone exploited that today.

BLITZER; Yes. Five people confirmed dead. We don't know who those five are. And others injured, some of them gravely injured.

We're told within the next few moments, there will be another news conference from local authorities there in Annapolis. We'll, of course, have live coverage of that. Evan Perez, you're working your sources. You're getting more

information all of the time. This -- we don't know if the journalists themselves were targeted or presumably, potentially, could have been another motive.

PEREZ: Right. We don't know. And according to the police there, this newsroom as Brian is talking about, I mean, it seems to be a local newspaper with very much an open feeling and an interaction with the public.

And the newsroom appears to be on the first floor of this building. It's not far from downtown Annapolis. Annapolis is not a very large city. It's located near that mall. So it appears that the public has some ready access to this newsroom.

And it is the type of place where, if you want to place a classified ad or if you want to submit a letter to the news -- to the editor, is the kind of place where you probably walk up to the front door and deliver that information if you want it published.

So it is one of those things that newspapers and reporters themselves are vulnerable in this type of situation, Wolf. At this point, the authorities say that they don't know whether or not there's any connection between this gunman, whether -- whether he knows anybody inside this newsroom. Whether he knows anybody inside this building and has, perhaps, a beef of some kind with somebody in there.

All they know is that what the reporter there has been tweeting, his description of what he saw, which is somebody who simply walked up to the glass front doors and started shooting at people who were inside. And so, that's how we have five fatalities. We don't know whether all of those people were inside the newsroom or whether there's some people outside who also were injured.

And it appears that the police and their very, very quick response, within 60 seconds according to the police chief there, the acting police chief in Anne Arundel County, were able to stop this from becoming a much bigger number of people who were affected. At this stage, even with five fatalities, there are additional people who are being treated for various injuries, including trauma and injuries that were suffered as a result of the shooting.

[17:20:23] BLITZER: Yes. And Brian Stelter, I understand you're getting some more information from eyewitnesses there? What else are you hearing?

STELTER: Yes. To Evan's point, this is a small newsroom, a few dozen staffers. There's seven editors. One of the editors is Jimmy DeButts. He's a community news editor for the paper, and he has shared a really emotional thread on Twitter, trying to express what this is like for him right now. He's saying it's devastating and heartbroken. He's saying he's numb. He says he's in no position to speak. "But please know that 'The Capital Gazette' papers, the reporters and editors give all they have every day. There are no just 40-hour weeks, no big pay days. Just a passion for telling stories from our community." Jimmy DeButts going on and saying, "We keep doing more with less."

He's referring to constant cutbacks in local newsrooms. Fewer and fewer staffers. He says, "We find ways to cover high school sports, breaking news, tax hikes, school budgets and local entertainment. We are there in times of tragedy. We do our best to share the stories of people, those that make the community. So please understand," he says, "we do all this to serve our community."

Jimmy DeButts, a community news editor there for the "Capital Gazette" who has survived this, who's responding to some of the requests for interviews that are coming through on Twitter.

You know, this is the kind of paper, Wolf, where journalists will be scrambling to cover a shooting anywhere else. And in this disturbing way, they're now having to address reporters and give interviews and answer questions themselves. But this journalist saying, "Our mission is to get to the truth and inform our community, and that will go on regardless of this tragedy today.

BLITZER: "Capital Gazette" newspaper's been around, by the way, since the 1800s. An historic newspaper in the state capital of Maryland, Annapolis.

Once again, we're standing by for this news conference. We'll be getting an update from local authorities momentarily. That's scheduled to begin. In the meantime, I want to bring in Chris Trumbauer. He's on the Anne Arundel County Council.

So what are you hearing, Chris, right now? What's the latest information you are getting?

CHRIS TRUMBAUER, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COUNCIL (via phone): Well, I want to first say all the information is going through police, and they're giving a briefing at 5:30. And they're -- they're in control of the situation. So I'm going to let them be the spokespeople for the actual event and what they know and what they're prepared to put out.

BLITZER: Do you believe, though, that the number of fatalities, we hope not, but could go up?

TRUMBAUER: My understanding is that there are some seriously wounded and that that is a possibility.

BLITZER: Walk us through what you're hearing. What happened? We know it occurred during the 3 p.m. Eastern hour. What can you tell us about the series of events that unfolded when this shooter got to the newsroom?

TRUMBAUER: Well, I think -- I mean, it sounds like you guys have similar accounts to what I know from the reporters that were tweeting and from others that were there.

But let me underscore that this is -- this is a hometown newspaper. They're very accessible. I've been in that office. I've done editorial board meetings with them. I've gone to interviews with reporters. These reporters ae friends and colleagues of mine. And they're very much community based. So I think the whole -- the whole town is a little bit in shock. We are the state capital. A lot of news happens here, but we're not used to this kind of tragedy happening within our community.

BLITZER: Do you know some of the reporters who tragically, unfortunately, may have been victims?

TRUMBAUER: Well, I don't know. They haven't released the names of the victims to my knowledge. The reporters from the paper that have been doing some of the firsthand tweets, I do know them. Some of them are friends of mine. And I'm hoping that, you know -- that there are no additional fatalities. And I hope that my friends are OK.

BLITZER: Yes, we all hope that. Do you know, by the way, Chris, if there were any threats to the "Capital Gazette" newspaper in the days or weeks or months leading up to this?

TRUMBAUER: Not that I'm aware of. I mean, I think, you know, any -- any media outlet these days is probably concerned with that type of thing. But again that's -- that's information I think that will be put out through the police department.

But I do want to say it's very early on. I'm cautioning people not to jump to any conclusions. We don't know at this point what the motive was. But, you know, sounds like someone showed up with a firearm and started shooting.

BLITZER: And you say you've been there at the newspaper in Annapolis. Did they have security there? Were there -- were there police on the scene?

TRUMBAUER: I'm trying to remember specifics, but I think you walk in and there's -- you know, there's a reception desk. I'm not sure if there would be security personnel, but I don't -- I don't expect that they had a regular presence of -- you know, of officers or, you know, armed security guards there.

[17:25:12] BLITZER: That's pretty frightening when you think about what is going on in Annapolis right now.

TRUMBAUER: Why would they think that they would need it, right? I mean, they -- they report on high school athletes and community yard sales and what happens at the city council. You know? They really are a community paper, and they do good work. And I hope that -- I hope that they're OK.

BLITZER: I hope so, too. Unfortunately, we know that at least five people were shot and killed in this incident, and others were injured, some of them very severely injured.

Chris Trumbauer, thank you. We'll stay in very close touch with you.

Phil Mudd, so what are the questions going through your mind right now as you listen to these reports? And remember within the next few minutes, we're going to get a news -- a news conference from local authorities.

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I need identification. Because forget about motive. I want to know if there's anybody out there who's connected with this guy.

Since he's not speaking, I want to know about fingerprints; I want DNA; I want the serial number off that weapon. I want to know if there's an unusual car in the neighborhood that he might have left that has a license plate number I can follow. I want to know if anybody's calling in who said, "This is my cousin, my brother, my roommate who talked about this." I need an identification to start talking to friends, family and potential accomplices. Not to figure out why what happened just happened. But to figure out anybody else who knew and anybody else who might do something tonight. An I.D. is what I need, Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, and it's interesting, Josh Campbell -- you used to work at the FBI -- that we're now told this suspect, this shooter had no I.D. on his -- on his body.

CAMPBELL: It is very interesting. I mean, as we go into this, there's so much that we don't know. We are still in that phase where we know the action; we don't know the intent. So we can look at the results of what happened. It's left to all of us and obviously to authorities there on the ground to try to investigate and determine what exactly happened.

When these types of incidents happen, the first thing I typically do is back up, open the aperture a little bit, and look to see what is specific about this target that might cause someone to do something? Now obviously, it's too soon for us to say that the media was specifically targeted in this situation.

Obviously, we have a lot of data points that are continuing to line up. We can't yet draw a line through them.

But if you're looking around the neighborhood, if the intent was to cause a massive loss of life, you know, I don't want to go into specifics here, but there were other locations in that vicinity that would have, you know, provided that type of target that this one didn't necessarily do. So that obviously factors in when we're trying to determine why this person did it.

The second thing -- and as we saw, you know, some images earlier of the people that were being brought out that were evacuated from the building, every single one of those people is a potential witness, a potential source of information. And one thing that as an investigator that I would be doing is, obviously, conducting those interviews to determine, "Did you know this person?"

And the longer we go without someone saying, "Oh, yes, that's so and so. We know him from 'X' or from 'Y,'" you know, likely tells us that this is someone who maybe didn't have a direct connection there. So that then causes more questions.

There's going to be a lot that we need to learn as this goes forward. I don't expect that, you know, in this press conference that we're going to hear that we're going to get all of those questions answered. Because this is something that simply takes time. It's frustrating. It's information that we want.

But again, investigators are going to be conservative at the outset when it comes to sharing that information.

Now finally, if we get to the point where they are frustrated and they want to appeal to the public, then we're going to start seeing information. Then we're going to see the photos. We're going to see more about this person if they can't fully identify him.

BLITZER: Yes. And once again, we're standing by for the news conference. Supposed to begin momentarily.

Our crime and justice reporter, Shimon Prokupecz, is there in Annapolis for us. You're working your sources. What else are you hearing, Shimon?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, certainly, Wolf, the idea that the police, at least as far as we know, have not yet been able to identify this gunman, it's certainly concerning. It's something that is usually odd.

But it -- he was not carrying any I.D. on him. Then it's clear that this was probably his intent, to sort of make it difficult for police to identify him. If he's not telling them his name, if he's not giving up any information. So certainly, this is his intent.

The other thing that we've heard off of scanner traffic that's police communications during the incidents, that there were about ten shots fired. As you know, Evan Perez is reporting that a shotgun was recovered. That's the weapon that's believed to have been used.

But I think at this point right now, and we hope to hear more from this press conference that's upcoming any moment now as to whether or not police have been able to, at the very least, identify who this gunman is and try to work off of that in terms of trying to really get to a motive here.

Was this someone here who was a former employee? A current employee? Was this someone who was angry, perhaps, about coverage? Was there something in one -- a story that upset this person? And therefore, they came in and opened fire on the journalists here, on the workers here.

Certainly, all of that is something that police want to know. And it's pretty difficult, if you can't identify the suspect, to really try. And determine a motive and certainly when someone's not cooperating obviously, Wolf, that would create all sorts of issues for police, as well.

BLITZER: Yes. Certainly, a lot -- a lot to investigate right now. Jim Acosta is our Chief White House Correspondent. I understand, Jim, the President has been briefed? JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. The White House says the President was briefed on the shooting at Annapolis. We should also point out he just arrived back at the White House after that two-day trip to North Dakota and Wisconsin. And as he arrived here on the south lawn of the White House, reporters tried to ask about 10 or 12 different times for the President to respond in some sort of way about what happened out in Annapolis. He declined. He walked past the cameras. When we get the video, you'll be able to hear the shouted questions from reporters momentarily.

But important to note, Wolf, Lindsay Walters, who was a spokeswoman for the President on Air Force One, she was asked about all of this, and she reiterated that their thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, and that they're grateful to the first responders on the scene. But, Wolf, one other thing we should point out, during that exchange with reporters on Air Force One, Lindsay Walters was asked about the President's comments about the news media in the past, and Lindsay Walters said to reporters that the President and his staff do not believe violence is acceptable in our society and, quote, we stand by that.

Obviously, we want to underline, we don't know the motive for the shooting at this point but it is notable, it's worth pointing out, it's worth reporting that as the President was making his way back to Washington this afternoon from Wisconsin earlier today, he had that event in Wisconsin earlier today, a deputy press secretary for the President was asked about his rhetoric, his unrelenting, unceasing rhetoric attacking the news media at just about every opportunity that he has when he's out in public. But at this point, the White House is saying, listen, they don't believe violence has any place in society and, of course, we're waiting to find out if the President has anything more to say about this. He did tweet about the shooting, again, saying that his thoughts and prayers with the victims and their families and he thanks the first responders for getting out there so quickly to the scene. But at this point, Wolf, I think they're at the information-gathering stage of all of this over here at the White House. They want to know more about what happened, what motivated that shooting before saying anything more on it, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. We'll get back to you, Jim Acosta, Evan and Shawn are still with us. Shawn, look at these pictures that we're showing our viewers, a really heavy police presence. If they've already captured the suspect, the shooter, and they believe there was a shooter, it looks like still there's an enormous amount of work going on over there.

SHAWN TURNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Right. It's still very early in this investigation. And one of the things we talked about is the fact that we still don't know who this individual is. And the longer we go without knowing who this individual is, the longer -- the more concerned I become because we need to make absolutely sure that when this individual made a decision to not disclose his identity, that that did not mean that he was holding for something else to happen in this -- in this tragedy. So, I think having a police presence on the scene, a large police presence is about making sure that we talk to absolutely everyone who was there. And as Josh pointed out, to make sure that there's no one who's ever seen this individual or who remembers something that might give police some clue as to who this individual is and where he came from.

BLITZER: The fact that he's alive, that he himself was not shot in the process of stopping him, that's significant.

TURNER: It is significant. I mean, what that tells us is that, you know, when police approached -- obviously, we don't know the details of this yet, but clearly, there was a situation in which they were able to take him peaceably. And I think at this point, what we really have to look at is, you know, this individual's motivation, you know, we talked about the fact that we can't say that it's about the news media yet but this individual's motivation is going to be key to understanding exactly how something like this happened in a place like the Capital Gazette. I mean, this is a local community paper. This is not a traditional or a major news media outlet. This is the kind of newspaper that does, you know, school football games and local events in the community. So, we really want to understand who this individual is and what motivated him.

BLITZER: And we're getting some indications, Evan, that precautionary measures are being taken elsewhere. A statement put out by John Miller who's the Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism and Intelligence for NYPD, for the New York Police Department, he said this, and I'll read it because I think it's significant. "The NYPD is monitoring reports of an active shooter at the Capital Gazette media organization in Annapolis, Maryland. The NYPD has deployed counterterrorism teams to media organizations in and around New York City. These deployments are not based on specific threat information but rather out of an abundance of caution until we learn more about the suspect and motives behind the Maryland shooting. It has become a standard practice to shift resources strategically during active shooter or terrorist events."

[17:34:57] EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Sadly, Wolf, the police are practiced in this situation in dealing with the aftermath of these situations, and I think what John Miller and the NYPD are doing is exactly what you would expect them to do. And look, I think Brian Stelter talked about one of the reporters, one of the editors of the newspaper there, who spoke in frankly just raw emotional words on his Twitter page and I'm reading a little bit of it, and you see some of the reactions because social media is just -- can be such a terrible place. You have this devastated, hear- broken person talking a little bit about what the community service that this newspaper provides to his local community and some of the responses are just vicious, there are terrible people who are essentially responding to this tragedy in that way. And so, that's the reason why police have been sent to the Baltimore Sun Newsroom, as well, because just as a precaution. You don't know whether because somebody did this in Annapolis, someone else sitting at home watching some of this coverage might say, well, now is the time for me to do something similar somewhere else.

Sadly, that is we've seen incidents happen where this is exactly the reaction we have from people out there. We don't know exactly what the motivation of this individual was today, but we do know that, you know, this is a small newspaper. It appears it's well-known for its community service, providing coverage of high school football games, and so on. And so, the idea that this would happen there, I think everybody there is completely shocked and heartbroken that it happened in that community.

BLITZER: At least five people are dead in this shooting incident, and others, several others injured, some of them described as, quote, gravely injured, and some of them taken to local hospitals as well as in Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Hospital, as well. Josh Campbell, I think this news conference is about to begin momentarily. It looks like the authorities are walking over to the microphone. Let's listen in.

LT. RYAN FRASHURE, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY POLICE: Ryan Frashure, F-R-A- S-H-U-R-E. I just wanted to come out and give you guys a brief update for some of the information that we've learned or come to know through investigation. Some of the questions that you had earlier, we'll have some answers for, and unfortunately we still have some that we can't answer but we do have an update for you. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Anne Arundel County Executive Steven Schuh.

STEVE SCHUH, ANN ARUNDEL COUNTY EXECUTIVE: I'm county executive, Steve Shuh. As we reported earlier today, there's been a terrible tragedy here in Anne Arundel County. There was an active shooter incident, five people are dead, several more are wounded and in the care of Anne Arundel Medical Center. The shooter is in our custody and being interrogated as we speak. I want to acknowledged the tremendous work of our public safety professionals today, particularly the Anne Arundel County Police Department, the Annapolis City Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County Sheriff's Office. They were on the scene in about 60 seconds. But beyond that, they went immediately into that building without a moment's hesitation and demonstrated incredible courage. And we are so deeply appreciative of their great work, it could have been a lot worse. Governor Hogan?

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R), MARYLAND: Well, I want to thank you all for being here. Obviously, our hearts go out to the victims and their families. And I just want to reiterate County Executive Schuh, all three county agencies, the city police force, county police, the sheriff's department. We have, I think, 10 different other agencies backing them up. All state police agencies are here, as well. Federal partners and, you know, it's a tragic situation. But there were some very brave people that came in and kept it from being even worse, and the response time was incredible, so that's all I have to say. Chief Krampf?

WILLIAM KRAMPF, ACTING CHIEF, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good afternoon. I promised you guys an update.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say who you are.

KRAMPF: Deputy Chief William Krampf, Anne Arundel County Police Department. So, the building as we speak is now tactically secured, and what that means is our SWAT team and our quick responders have been through the building. It is secure as far as there are no more persons in the building that are a threat to anyone else. We did recover what we thought may have been an explosive device. That has been taken care of. We have members of the bomb squad on scene. We don't anticipate having any more explosive devices. What is happening now that you see behind me is that our criminal investigation division, the actual investigators, are now taking over the scene. We have released it to our members of the criminal investigation division so they can start the process of identifying what occurred, and how it occurred, and why it occurred. So at this time, we had over 170 individuals in the building that were escorted out safely. They were taken to a reunification area over at the Annapolis mall.

[17:39:55] We brought Jen Corbin in from our crisis intervention team who's going to say a few words in a moment to talk with the witnesses, some of the victims, and the police officers who responded. At this time, we are going to continue to -- the investigation and we'll have an update for you later on this evening and I believe Ryan's going to give you time for that. Jen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you give us some numbers, please?

KRAMPF: Go ahead, Jen.

JENNIFER CORBIN, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY CRISIS RESPONSE: Hi, I'm Jen Corbin with Anne Arundel County Crisis Response. We have been on several different sites working with both witnesses and police officers following the incident. We will be working continuous throughout the night, both on a phone line and throughout to assist. We are mental health clinicians that will be working both with the witnesses and the officers for the next day or so. So, that's what we'll be available for throughout.

KRAMPF: Thank you, Jen. I have one more item. This area, the area of the mall, the area of Bestgate Road is going to be closed for an indefinite amount of time. I can't tell you when it's going to reopen at this point. So, if you received calls, please let them know what occurred and why we have it shut down. The investigation is going to continue into the evening hours. And at that time, when we get more information, we'll have another update for you.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do we have a motive at all? (INAUDIBLE) Can you or the state's attorney (INAUDIBLE) is the suspect being cooperative? Answering your questions?

FRASHURE: Yes, I can confirm that we have the suspect in custody. They're currently interviewing him right now. The only other information that I have from questions I was asked earlier is we don't have any identification of him yet, we do know he's a white male, adult male, and the gun that was used is described as a long gun. So, I don't have the specifics from that, but we do know it was a long gun, and as we continue to get information, we'll make sure that we continue to put that out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the motive?

FRASHURE: We have no information on -- yes, we're still doing interviews and still doing that --

(CROSSTALK)

FRASHURE: He was taken into custody -- he was taken into custody by officers. There was no gun fire exchanged between officers and the suspect. Since we were able to get here very quickly, it's just something for you guys to know, you know, we have a unified training on how to respond to active shooters, and that's what made one of the major things that made this a hige success. So, law enforcement agencies around the entire -- around the entire United States train the same way for these active shooters since we've had critical incidents like this. So, it's -- I don't want to say it's very easy, but it's very easy for officers to get together from other jurisdictions, link up, know the -- know the movements, the terminology that's needed to go in and effectively locate a suspect in an active shooter situation and take care of that target inside there, so during an active shooter.

(CROSSTALK)

FRASHURE: Sorry, say again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he shoot through windows or doors?

FRASHURE: I can't answer that right now. That's something that's going to be determined by our investigators as they go through and process that crime scene. So, it's going to be a very long night. We anticipate having another update at 8:00. Any information that's new, I'll give out then and make sure that you guys have all of that information and any updates as we go along -- anything we can put out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many victims are in the hospital? How many victims are in the hospital?

FRASHURE: We can confirm that five have been -- are deceased and we're still working on injuries for you guys to get a good number. So, we're working on that, but it's estimated around three.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell us how many were in the newsroom when this happened?

FRASHURE: I don't know how many were in the newsroom. But I know we have approximately 170 that we were able to safely evacuate out of that building and transport safely to meet with family and friends over at the Annapolis Mall. 8:00 will be our next update. I don't have any other answers for you. Any other updates will get out at 8:00. Thank you very much. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: All right. So, we got a little bit more information from local authorities just now. The suspect is in custody. A white adult male, had a long gun. They still have not identified the suspect and they still don't know the motive, why this individual went toward that newspaper, the Capital Gazette newspaper, in Annapolis, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, and began shooting people. Let's bring in Phil Mudd. Phil, what did you gain from that little briefing?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: There is one little segment where there's a suggestion, it wasn't quite, quite clear but a suggestion that they found something they thought might be an explosive device. If that's true, there's a lot of opportunities in that one device. There's some specific details, for example, are there components with serial numbers? Are there fingerprints on that thing that -- or fingerprints that don't belong to the suspect? I'd be curious about the sophistication of the device and judgement of the experts. Is this something that somebody could build off the internet or does it -- this require a great deal of expertise or training? Last thing, Wolf, it tells me, again, if it is an explosive device, a tiny bit about what's going on in the suspect's mind. If he snapped in the course of an hour or two hours or an afternoon and picked up a weapon, that's one story. If he thought far enough ahead to not only acquire a weapon but acquire a device or build a device, that tells me he was thinking about this for some time, and I think it also increases the likelihood that somebody knew at least a clue about what he was up to, did he spoke to somebody?

[17:45:15] BLITZER: Those are important points indeed. Josh Campbell, the explosive device if, in fact, it was an explosive device, the local law enforcement said, it was, quote, taken care of. What does that say to you?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: So, law enforcement officers will enter a scene. If they something that's suspicious, they have a process for what we call rendering that safe. So, the bomb technicians as the officer there mentioned, looks like they determined that, OK, there's no longer a threat with this device. One thing that's interesting that we learned from the press conference is that they've now moved from a tactical response to an investigative response. He mentioned the QRT there, Quick Response Team, their SWAT team has cleared the building. So, at least they're safe now saying that there is no additional threat, no additional victim that's inside the location. So then, we move to that investigation and that will continue. There are a lot of questions we have. We also learned something interesting there where the officer -- the public information officer said that there was exchange of gun fire when the subject was apprehended.

Now, that stands out, you can't read 100 percent into that because it's possible that perhaps the subject ran out of ammunition and, you know, no longer had a method of engaging the officers. But if he gave up, that's telling because, you know, in these situations, we tried to determine, what was the motive? Was this person someone who thought that he could live through this and then tell a story or did he go there thinking that this would be his last day on the face of the ear, we just don't know. And again, you know, at some point, officers will have to present this person before a judge so this is that critical time where they're going to do everything they can to conduct that interrogation to gather as much information as they can.

BLITZER: Yes, they said no gun fire was exchanged between the shooter and local police when the shooter was apprehended. What is it -- what would it say to you if that so-called "explosive device" and they said it appeared to be an explosive device. They said it was taken care of. But, Josh, let's say it was a fake explosive device. What would that say to you?

CAMPBELL: Well, it's hard to get ourselves in the mind of someone this depraved, right? So, if they brought a device, he was attempting to scare people, who knows what was going through his mind. If it was actually a device that was operable, that would then ratchet this up to a new level of sophistication because a long gun in itself, a firearm is fairly easy to get. Long guns are easier to get than pistols, for example. But if this person had gone through, you know, getting some type of device and putting something together, even if it was fake, that shows just the initial level of depravity and perhaps sophistication, we just don't know. We'll get those details I'm sure as it would come out from law enforcement officers.

One thing, also, Wolf, that's really interesting is that, you know, and I feel safe saying this knowing that this subject has no access to the news media right now and cannot hear this, but the jig is up for him. Because in a building like this that's a modern-day building, you're going to have CCTV, you're going to have witness testimony pointing out, you know, we saw this, we saw that, so there's no question in my mind that this guy is done. The question will be now, what level of cooperation will he provide to prosecutors in order to help himself to the extent that they're willing to let him?

BLITZER: That's a good question. Maybe we'll get some answers from the Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh who's joining us right now. Steve, thank you so much for joining us. What can you tell us about this individual, the shooter who was arrested is now talking to police?

SCHUH: Well, the situation is obviously tragic. We've had an active shooter incident. We've confirmed five fatalities, there are several more injured. They are in the best of care and we are praying for them and their families. The shooter is in our custody and currently being interrogated.

BLITZER: Can you tell us if you know who this individual is? I take it he had no identification, no I.D. on him.

SCHUH: He has not been particularly cooperative. We -- law enforcement does have a name. We're not able to confirm it at this time, I'm sorry to say.

BLITZER: And do you have any idea what a possible motive might have been?

SCHUH: No indications of motive at this point, but I will say I'm so proud of law enforcement. Police officers of both the city and our county, as well sheriff's deputies were on the scene within 60 seconds. It could have been much worse. And they went into that building without a moment's hesitation and showed immense courage.

BLITZER: They certainly did. And do you know if you say he's not being very cooperative, is he doing any talking at all? SCHUH: I'm not in the interrogation facility so I can't be that specific but my understanding is that he's not being particularly forthcoming.

BLITZER: And when he was stopped, there was no exchange of gun fire we're told between police and this shooter. Did he just simply run out of ammunition?

SCHUH: As best as we can tell, there was no exchange of gun fire between law enforcement and the shooter. He had already put his gun down. And surrendered without incident. He was trying to evade law enforcement, he was hiding in the building, and we found him.

BLITZER: Do you know where he was hiding?

SCHUH: My understand is that he was found under a desk.

BLITZER: He was found underneath a desk. With his long gun still on him?

[17:50:03] SCHUH: My understanding is that the weapon was on the ground and not in his immediate proximity.

BLITZER: Was he in the newsroom of the newspaper?

SCHUH: I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

BLITZER: Was he actually in the newsroom of the Capital Gazette newspaper?

SCHUH: We're not confirming that. He was in the office building, which houses the Capital Gazette newspaper.

BLITZER: Yes. We did hear the police say that he was there in the newsroom. And do you know if there -- do you know, Steve, if there were any warning signs, any threats, anything that could have indicated an incident along these lines could be taking place?

SCHUH: None to my knowledge. I have not heard any suggestion that there were early warnings, indications of any kind.

BLITZER: So, you don't know if the newspaper specifically was targeted?

SCHUH: We don't know that at this time.

BLITZER: And when he was hiding underneath the desk ...

SCHUH: But he was -- he was in the facility of the newspaper.

BLITZER: Was he -- when he was hiding underneath the desk, was he trying to evade police? Was he pretending to be a victim?

SCHUH: That's an interesting question. We don't know the answer to that yet, Wolf. We -- that's the purpose of the interrogation is to determine those very kinds of questions. BLITZER: The five people who were shot and killed, were they journalists?

SCHUH: We don't know that. We have not revealed the names, the identities of the victims. Four of them died on the scene in the building in the offices. One was evacuated to University of Maryland shock trauma and was treated there but unfortunately, despite immense effort, the individual did not survive and has deceased.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a horrible, horrible situation right now. So, walk us through, Steve, what's going on right now.

SCHUH: Well, it's quite an amazing scene. As I mentioned earlier, law enforcement was here in very large numbers within about a minute to a minute and a half. Several control stations, command stations were set up for various purposes: police, fire, for invention, and for medical care. And within a matter of a few more minutes, there were more than 100 law enforcement professionals from multiple agencies, including federal agencies. So, it's Anne Arundel County Police and Fire, City of Annapolis Police and Fire, sheriff's office of Anne Arundel County, officers from Howard County, Prince Georges County, federal agencies, ATF, the FBI, capital police from the City of Annapolis. It's an immense operation. And I'm so proud of law enforcement, how they sprung into action so quickly and with such professionalism. It was a finely tuned operation, and they practiced for these things. The public should be aware of that. These professionals are ready. And they are so courageous to go into the building knowing there's someone in there shooting. To protect other people is something that I know we are all grateful that there are these kinds of professionals. When they put their lives in the lines for us.

BLITZER: Yes, these are heroes. And we're all certainly grateful to them. We heard at the news conference, Steve, that there was an -- they believed there was an explosive device there with this individual that was taken care of. What if anything can you tell us about this explosive device? Was it a real explosive device or something that looked like an explosive device?

SCHUH: When public safety entered the building, there was a package or a knapsack, some sort of carrying device that was on the ground. The shooter did not identify it or its contents. And with, I think conducting the investigation on the scene, it was determined that it may have been explosive liquids, possibly gasoline, but I can't confirm that for certain.

BLITZER: But there was -- was it something that could have exploded? So, in other words, it was a real explosive device, not simply something that looked like an explosive device?

SCHUH: Not to my knowledge, I don't believe it was an explosive device. I believe it was an inflammable liquid.

BLITZER: All right. Well, that's still pretty scary.

SCHUH: And the building is now secure. Everything has been checked and the building is secure. There were no other devices or items of concern and no other shooters. It was -- itt appears to be the active alone shooter.

BLITZER: What does it tell you, Steve, about this attack? How much planning does it looked like went on?

SCHUH: I'm not a professional in the field, but it does not look to me to be a particularly well-planned operation. It looks like -- it was amateur hour. But even amateurs can cause a lot of damage in the absence of excellence response by law enforcement, and we fortunately had that in this instance.

BLITZER: I know you and your team over there, you've spoken to eyewitnesses, you've spoken to some of the victims. Do you know if he was shouting anything as he was shooting?

SCHUH: I have not heard any information along those lines, I'm afraid.

BLITZER: What have you heard from some of the eyewitnesses? And I know you've spoken to some of them.

[17:55:05] SCHUH: I've not spoken personally to any of the eyewitnesses. They are in the hands of law enforcement professionals who understand the craft of interviewing people in those delicate situations. These people have been traumatized.

BLITZER: Tell us a little bit more about the Capital Gazette, this newspaper that's been around for, what, well more than 100 years.

SCHUH: The Capital Gazette is our local Annapolis paper. And has a large circulation, I believe, of around 40,000, it's very well-read, very well-respected. And my heart goes out to the employees, management, and owners of the Capital Gazette that this has happened in their -- in their offices. It's a very, very sad thing.

BLITZER: And the newspaper focuses in on local news, right? It's not focusing in on big national or international stories, is that right?

SCHUH: They do both. They do excellent coverage of local news, and that's our primary source of local news in this area, but they also as an affiliate of the Baltimore Sun, they do provide ample reporting on national and global news as well, along with financial reporting. So, it's a full-service newspaper.

BLITZER: Will there be a photo released of the shooter?

SCHUH: I will -- I would assume at some point that will happen, yes, sir.

BLITZER: Yes. We -- because everybody is anxious to know who this individual is and what the motive was. What can you share with us about the condition of some of the victims who are now in local hospitals?

SCHUH: Well, as I mentioned earlier, four of the victims were deceased and on the floor of the facility when law enforcement arrived. One had life-threatening damages to her arm and upper body. She was evacuated to University of Maryland shock trauma and deceased there at shock trauma. The others two, perhaps three other people are wounded with less severe injuries. They were taken by ground transport to Anne Arundel Medical Center which is located here in Annapolis, a very short distance from the site of this terrible incident. And that facility is well equipped to care for victims of this level of trauma. Very fine institution, and I'm sure that those people will have a full recovery.

BLITZER: Do you know when this shooter will be arraigned?

SCHUH: No, I don't.

BLITZER: But that would be the next step in the legal process. In the meantime, he's being questioned, not answering a lot of questions. Have they provided him an attorney as far as you know?

SCHUH: I'm not aware of that. He's at CID, our investigative division, where he is being questioned. States attorney Wes Adams has been here on the scene. He will obviously lead the prosecution. And at this point, it's in the hands of our criminal investigators to gather all the evidence, determine what happened and to determine -- and to determine why it happened. We all want to know.

BLITZER: Yes, Steve Schuh is the Anne Arundel County Executive. Steve, you've been very, very helpful to us. Thank you so much for answering our questions. We want to stay in very close touch with you as well. Our deepest, deepest condolences to all of the victims and their families. This is a heartbreaking -- a heartbreaking situation that has unfolded. Thanks so much for joining us.

SCHUH: Thank you.

BLITZER: Et me bring Phil Mudd. Quickly, you heard what the county executive said. Give us your reaction.

MUDD: He had one comment about sophistication. Let me capstone that, the shooter showed up with a weapon that didn't have a lot of reload capability. He didn't appear that is the shooter to have a plan for standoff with law enforcement. And he didn't appear to have thought in advance about how to get out. This is telling me at least initially that this is somebody that didn't think much about the attack.

BLITZER: Phil, stand by. We are continuing to cover the breaking news out of Annapolis, Maryland. We'll be back in 60 seconds with much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)