Active Shooter Scene Takes Place In Mall In El Paso, Texas; Beto O'Rourke Speaks About Active Shooter In El Paso; Police Indicate Multiple Suspects Held After Active Shooter Scene In El Paso; Police Indicate Injuries And Fatalities In El Paso Active Shooter Scene.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We begin with this breaking news. Police in El Paso, Texas, say they are responding to an active shooter situation. They're warning people to avoid the area of Hawkins and Gateway East. Our Rosa Flores is joining us right now with this. So this is a shopping mall, shopping strip. And what more do we know about whether there is one potential gunman or multiple?</s>ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have very limited information at this point, Fred. But what we do know, and this is just into our newsroom, at least one person has been injured, and this is at El Paso Walmart. Like you said, this is a shopping center. We're trying to learn more about the area. Actually, one of our producers have visited this particular shopping center in just covering the news, and she says that on a normal Saturday, on a weekend, there is a lot of people shopping at this shopping center. We've also learned that three businesses are on lockdown, and these three businesses are reportedly around this shopping center, around this Walmart. These businesses are a Landry Seafood House, Hooters, and also Red Lobster. We're getting reports from witnesses on the scene who say that there were people running around, they could hear helicopters overhead, police responding to the scene. Of course, a very active scene and a very active situation, and police and fire officers and firefighters asking people to avoid this area because it is still an active scene. And police of course responding. We don't know anything about the potential shooter or shooters at this time, but we're asking those questions, hoping to learn more. But again, the latest that we've learned here in the CNN Newsroom is in that at least one person been injured. We're making more phone calls, trying to get more information, Fred, and we'll get it to you.</s>WHITFIELD: And just looking at that aerial shot, that Google map, it's difficult to discern whether that is an enclosed mall. It certainly is a collection of a variety of stores there. You mentioned the three rather sizable restaurants that are on lockdown. Do we know anything more about this mall, whether it is open or a closed mall?</s>FLORES: We don't. But we're trying to learn more information about that. And in just thinking about the time of year, Fred, we're very close to start of the school year. So some of the things that could be happening at Walmart is families going to this shopping center, and others around it, to get school supplies. That of course is a huge concern. But again, the latest report that we have into our Newsroom right now is that at least one person is injured.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, Rosa Flores, keep us posted. Thank you so much, appreciate that. Let's talk further, with me now, former Second Service agent Jonathan Wackrow, and former assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security Juliette Kayyem. Good to see both of you. So Jonathan, you first. Give us an idea of how law enforcement approaches a situation like this.</s>JONATHAN WACKROW, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: These are very dynamic and unpredictable situations. And when police first get report of an active shooter in the vicinity of just a general area, right now El Paso police and responding law enforcement have a very wide area of operation that they need to contain and then address the threat immediately. So they stop the active shooter. Terminology here is key. Active shooter means that there is a suspect, or multiple suspects, that are engaged in the act of shooting a weapon and causing destruction and harm to individuals and property. So it's key here that they are still utilizing the word that it's an active scene and that there's an active shooter. So that means that law enforcement has yet to address this threat and mitigate it. So the public should heed the warning that is being put out via social media and other outlets to stay away from this area because you could be put in harm's way.</s>WHITFIELD: Juliette, some of the businesses are on lockdown. Help folks understand the strategy involved there when you have a lockdown situation, you still have an active shooter and people might be worried about being more vulnerable when they are asked to stay put.</s>JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So just picking up on what Jonathan said in terms of how to read at least what we know now coming out of the police, I think given the amount of time that it has been since the first tweet to now, one has to assume that there is something in terms of their inability to get the shooter or shooters. And so there is a variety of options that we tell the public. When you are in law enforcement, one is run if that's available. But in this case it appears that because they don't know where the active shooters are, or maybe the person or people are isolated to, say, the Walmart, everyone else is much safer barricading inside, not being vulnerable to stray bullets or any sort of shootings that may occur. And that is what the police are asking them to do. The fact that the Walmart seems to be a focus of it, and Jonathan certainly knows a lot of this, you do have workplace violence issues. You also have family issues that may get a little bit violent. I don't know about the Walmart rules in El Paso, but certainly Walmart sells weaponry. And so there is just a lot of variables right now. But in terms of protecting the vast majority of the public, you got to stay put. And if you think someone you know is in the area, just stand back for now, unfortunately.</s>WHITFIELD: And then Jonathan, talk about the resources. For local authorities to be able to handle and how they approach something like this, and at what point do federal authorities get involved?</s>WACKROW: I'm sure federal authorities are going to be immediately involved. But the first responders are the El Paso police. There are tactical units. Just prior to coming on air I did take a quick look at the El Paso website. They are very well-versed. They have mandatory raining around active shooter protocols, as well as they've expanded into their citizens academy. So they take a public/private partnership in terms of how do they address and respond to these critical incidents of active shooter situations. So immediately the first responders on scene, the first law enforcement officer that arrives, their duty is to go in and address that threat, to try to put that threat down immediately. That is a challenging situation right now. We are talking about a very large area, whether it's Walmart, the mall that's next door. Reports that are coming in to 911 and other sources also can lead to some sort of chaos or confusion for responding officers. So right now in the immediate action is command and control, containment, and addressing that threat.</s>WHITFIELD: And so our affiliate KSTM is now responding, too, that multiple victims are involved here. We don't know the extent of injuries or the status, but that many have been injured. Democratic presidential candidate and former Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke is responding to this, tweeting out "Truly heartbreak. Stay safe, El Paso. Please follow all directions of emergency personnel as we continue to get more updates." Juliette, what are your thoughts and concerns based on very thin information that we have, just that it is active?</s>KAYYEM: And Jonathan and I, unfortunately we were together last weekend, we'll be super careful about what we know now, and just reminding people last Sunday, the original reports were that the police had killed the shooter at the Garlic Festival. We've now learned a few days later that it was actually a suicide. So these first reports really, really tend to be -- not that they are always wrong, but they are just something that is part of the information --</s>WHITFIELD: And Juliette, as you are talking, we're seeing video that is just now coming in. It looks like someone's cellphone video running, moving. You can see now what appears to be one shopper running. And we don't know in which location this is, whether that's in one of the lockdown locations and these images have been sent. Oh, now we're seeing them actually in the parking lot running. I don't have anything more to tell you about these images were obtained the story of this. But you can see it puts us there in a moment. The sheer panic of what happens after people hear gunfire or hear that there is an active shooter.</s>KAYYEM: Right, to run away is obviously the right response at this stage. And as Jonathan was explaining, the only priority of the police right now is to get the shooter. It is actually not to get people out of the building right now. They need to get this shooter or shooters to bring it down. We're hearing multiple reports of injury. It means that either -- let me put this way. The fact that the El Paso police have not provided any more information says to me that this is an active shooter case and they do not have any news to provide to the public. And these are lessons learned after Columbine and after all these active shooter cases. The best the police can do right now is just provide information to the public and the surrounding area, stay put and do not go to that area. I know it is hard for people watching who have family members in the area.</s>WHITFIELD: And let me ask you, Jonathan, quickly. So we've seen these image, we see the Dillard's department store. Rose Flores has reported on a Walmart being there and other big restaurant chains. So now that gives us a better idea about the size of this shopping mall. And these are large establishments, which means that lot of people on a Saturday early in the day. Talk to me about the then approach from law enforcement to deal with something geographically so large on the map.</s>WACKROW: So again, it goes to containment. Law enforcement has to set up a perimeter. They have to try to contain this threat, ensure that if there is an active shooter, that individual, that threat doesn't try to put their weapon down and integrate into fleeing individuals. So this is a very dynamic and challenging moment for law enforcement as they are trying to address this threat. Complicating the matter further, as we're hearing that there are injuries, emergency medical responders are not going to go into an active shooter zone. They're not going to go into a hot zone. So that makes it much more difficult where the responding law enforcement is there, their primary mission is to put that threat down. There is a psychological effect that law enforcement officers have to overcome, because their natural instinct is to go and address people who are injured, wounded, take care of them. They have to bypass those individuals to address the threat to ensure that they mitigate any future people from getting injured or harmed.</s>WHITFIELD: Boy those are hard choices to make. All right, Juliette, Jonathan, stay right there. We're going to take a short break. Of course, we're continuing to follow this breaking news out of El Paso, Texas. We'll be right back.