Multiple Deaths in Washington, DC, Shooting Rampage; Potentially Two Other Suspects at Large
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Barbara Starr reports that extra security has been mobilized at the Pentagon, once again. It's out of an abundance of caution. They aren't saying they are responding to any specific threat at the Pentagon. But security, I can tell you, has been intensified throughout so many locations here in the nation's capital right now. Just a little while ago, we heard from President Obama. He addressed the shooting in remarks at the White House. Listen to what he said.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've been briefed by my team on the situation. We still don't know all the facts but we do know that several people have been shot and some have been killed. So, we are confronting yet another mass shooting. And, today, it happened on a military installation in our nation's capital. It's a shooting that targeted our military and civilian personnel. These are men and women who were going to work, doing their job protecting all of us. They're patriots. And they know the dangers of serving abroad, but today they faced the unimaginable violence that they wouldn't have expected here at home.</s>BLITZER: Clearly, the president moved as all of us are by this shooting incident here in the nation's capital. Another eyewitness who had to run from the scene spoke out, as well, and said this.</s>PATRICIA WARD: I heard three shots pow, pow, pow and, 30 seconds later, I haired four more shots. And a couple of us that were in the cafeteria knew they were shots and started panicking and then we was trying to decide which way we were going to run out. Everyone that was in the cafeteria, we were trying to run in the back, the workers in the back of the cafeteria told us to come in the back but I refused. I wanted to get out of the building so we all ran in the back where security was. And she was outside and she told us to run as far as we could. And she had a gun drawn. Someone had pulled the fire alarm. The next thing I heard, police cars, sirens. It just happened so fast.</s>BLITZER: Multiple fatalities, multiple injuries, precise numbers not yet available. Brian Todd is over at the U.S. Navy Yard just outside. Brian, what else are you picking up?</s>BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, picking up just an added police presence here around this part of the perimeter. This is the easternmost side of the Navy yard. These are D.C. metropolitan police officers here in tactical gear. We've seen multiple police officers moving up and down this part of the perimeter. There are some going down the street right there. Also, we are -- we know from just visualizing, we've got FBI personnel here as well as ATF personnel. There's been a park police chopper circling very low over part of the neighbor yard that is just to my left here. And I believe he's coming around for another pass here. I'm not sure whether -- he's actually very low over there. You may not -- we can't really pick him up with a camera right now because he's too low behind those buildings. Could be part of the search effort if, in fact, there are other two potential shooters. We heard the police chief saying they are looking for two other potential shooters. We have to stress, at this time, that we just believe that they could be potential shooters. But, in these situations, it is such -- you know, it is such a fluid situation that you get sometimes witness accounts of other shooters in these cases when it turns out there are not other shooters. But, again, according to the police chief, they are on the lookout. They are searching for two other potential shooters. They've got other police vehicles that have just moved past us here. There are multiple injuries, Wolf. We did get a report from George Washington University Hospital that among the first deceased people from the shooting was a man in his 60s who arrived at George Washington University Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. Other victims have reported to hospital personnel that they heard shots in rapid succession, indicating possibly, possibly the use of some kind of automatic weapons. But, again, to reiterate the -- what the police chief said a short time ago, one potential shooter is deceased. She said they are looking for two other potential shooters but, again, unclear where those people are. This is a perimeter that has been secured or not secured but they had set it up more than four hours ago. So, this search has been going on for now more than four hours, close to four and a half hours since one of the last potential shooters was last seen. I can give you that description, again from police chief Cathy Lanier. One of the potential shooters described as a white male, wearing a short sleeve -- wearing a short sleeve shirt, potentially military style clothing, a beret, possibly carrying a handgun. The other potential shooter a black male approximately 50 years old possibly carrying a long gun, wearing olive drab clothing. So, these two people potentially wearing military style clothing but the police chief said they had no information to indicate they were or are active members or retired members of the military. But, again, that's -- a lot of this information is very sketchy at the moment -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: It certainly is. And even if it's coming from official sources like the D.C. police chief, Cathy Lanier, I want to caution everyone, this is preliminary information clearly subject to change. It would not be unusual in a situation like this. Let's get some analysis now from Lou Palumbo. He's joining us from New York. Lou is a director of Elite Intelligence and Protection and a retired police officer in New York. When you hear what's going on, Lou, what do you make of this?</s>LOU PALUMBO, DIRECTOR, ELITE INTELLIGENCE AND PROTECTION AGENCY, LTD.: Well, as they indicated earlier, this is an ongoing investigation. I think what they may have done, at this point, is retrieved some videotape from the facility as well as interviewed people who may have seen these additional suspects. What they're trying to now do is just simply identify who these two individuals are. And, at the same time, creating a profile on the individual who, I believe, is deceased to try to determine who his associates might be. If, in fact, this individual is from the workplace, just a continuous investigation which just takes many different directions.</s>BLITZER: And I assume a facility like this, the U.S. Neighbor yard, the naval sea systems command, what's called building 197, Lou, would have extensive video cameras. But it takes a while to go through the videotape, doesn't it, to look at those closed circuit cameras and find the images that you desperately want to see?</s>PALUMBO: Yes, absolutely. I mean, based on just the geography of this facility, there's a lot of work involved. But they already know, for example, Wolf, where the shootings have taken place. So, they can immediately target those cameras that were focused on that area and start this investigation. They're going to want to branch this all the way out to the perimeter to see how and when these individuals accessed this facility, this complex.</s>BLITZER: Hold on for a moment, Lou, Jake Tapper is over at the scene where we saw the news conference just a little while ago from the D.C. mayor, the D.C. police chief. The D.C. police chief suggesting two suspects potentially were on the loose right now. Are you getting more information, Jake?</s>JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just a caution that a name that other media outlets have reported of one of the potential suspects is to be avoided. NCIS, naval intelligence put out the name as a potential suspect and then they retracted it but not before some other media organizations reported it, not CNN. That's the only update I have. But, still, the standing manhunt is on. The search for two individuals who may be connected with the shooting. I am told that there is some internal skepticism of the shooters, these potential shooters that the D.C. Police chief reported as being potentially involved in the shooting, although she did say it was unconfirmed. The idea that two individuals with guns wearing military style uniforms on the grounds of the Navy yard would not be so unusual, of course it being a Navy yard. And I'm told that those involved in the investigation are skeptical that this is definitive, that there are definitely two other shooters out there, that it may have been a case of a lot of things going on, a lot of people looking around, seeing people that they wondered who they were or didn't know who they were. But that potentially that these individuals are completely innocent and maybe even involved in security or were military police of some sort. So, that's just to say not that these two individuals don't exist but just that viewers should be cautious and know that the reports are being viewed with some skepticism -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, good point, Jake. Thanks very much. We've got more eyewitness accounts of what was -- what was going down just a little while ago over at the U.S. Navy Yard. Here's some more eyewitness sound.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While we were having a business meeting, it was about 20 after 8:00, and we heard three sounds. It sounded like a table able collapsing on the ground. And we came out of the office and said, what was that? And a minute later, we heard a loud pop which couldn't have been more than -- we estimated about 100 feet away. When that happened, everyone said this is no drill, go, go, go, emergency exits now, go, go, go. And a whole bunch of us were able to make it to the emergency exits. And we heard several more shots.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you were just having a meeting.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then what?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then we heard sounds, pops. But it sounded like a table. Nobody knew what it was. It sounded like a table just dropping onto the ground. And the fourth shot was absolutely unmistakable. It was a loud gunshot.</s>BLITZER: Gloria Borger is here, a long-time resident of the District of Columbia. People are nervous, right now, when they hear the D.C. police chief, Gloria, say that two suspects may be at large right now, potentially at least. People understandably, not just in that part of Washington near the Navy yard but throughout the District of Columbia, spilling over into Maryland and Virginia, are nervous.</s>GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right. I mean, look, they're nervous because you don't know what the entire story is, as Jake Tapper was pointing out. This is a really fluid situation. I think she was releasing this information so that people could be on guard and be on the lookout for these potential shooters. But we're -- but we're not sure whether indeed they are part of this or not part of this. So, I think she released this information out of an abundance of caution. I might also add, Wolf, we saw the president earlier on this and you could see the concern on his face where he talked about yet another mass shooting. I mean, this is a president who's been through Fort Hood, who's been through Newtown, and now this. And so, you could see this on his face as the president of the United States.</s>BLITZER: He said specifically not only another mass shooting at a military the installation, and that military and civilian personnel were trying to do their job, in his words, were targeted. So, that's pretty specific words from the president of the United States.</s>BORGER: Yes, it is. And we know that he's been briefed several times on this unfolding situation by his homeland security advisor inside the White House, so it's clear he's being kept abreast of all this information. He was supposed to come out into the Rose Garden today, Wolf, to take this pivot to the economy which he eventually did but he first had to mention these shootings at the Navy yard and, secondly, he had to mention the unfolding situation with Syria and chemical weapons talks.</s>BLITZER: So, the president's got a huge amount on his plate right now. Gloria, thanks --</s>BORGER: Sure.</s>BLITZER: -- very much. We're staying on top of the breaking news. The D.C. police chief suggesting potentially two subjects at large, others are throwing some cautionary words saying maybe there's some miscommunication, misidentification of two others who may have been seen with guns at the U.S. Navy Yard. We're watching all of this. We'll continue our breaking news coverage if a moment.