Are on scene. We know atf is on its way. Joining us to talk about this i want to get to cnn Law Enforcement analyst, retired fbi supervisory special agent and cedric alexander. What scenario would bring the fbi and the atf to a crime scene in a small town like this . This is going to be worked initially as a murder case. That would be the local or state purview for that. Because this is such a small area 30 miles east or so of san antonio. There are other resources that can come in from pretty close. Because it is such a small area probably a Small Police Department and municipality the fbi would bring resources out of san antonio. The two things to give fbi purview over this, terrorism and if that is suspected they will work with locals until it is determined to be a terrorist case and then take over the lead and the second is a hate crime. Either of those have specific definitions. Im sure that is being worked out right now as they track down the motive. We dont know the identity of this gunman. What do you think investigators are likely doing right now . I think everything that they can do under the circumstances in which they have to work in, you have to remember that is still a very active crime scene and one im quite sure is going to take some time to clear. But the most important thing for them to do is to be able to identify the shooter. Who is he or she . Where are they from . What was their motives . Was it an act och terrorism or more domestic related. It is still somewhat early. I think the important piece is as every moment goes by more and more information is going to be ascertained and this may begin to come together in some type of way. James, you mentioned that this is such a small town. What do you make of the fact that it happened in this church in this town versus san antonio which is just 30 miles away . Dont know. It would be pure speculation for me to say it possibly the shooter might have known people. He might have been somebody known to the community or as you pointed out somebody that was in san antonio and wanted to go to a place where there is going to be less Law Enforcement resistance. That would be pure speculation. I think one interestingtragedy,s is a town of about 683 people. We have done these far too often talking about these things, that number is sure going to crime. We know there were a number of other folks wounded and air lifted out. 683. 20, 25 people. Think about that. That is three percent to four percent of that towns population. And one of the witnesses has told cnn that she knows at least three people who are injured are in critical condition. We are working to find out more information about the victims. We can confirm at University Hospital alone at least eight victims taken there. Cedric, this church video taped its services we know and would post them on youtube afterwards. It happened in the 11 00 a. M. Service. I think we have one video, not from this incident. It is very possible this shooting was captured on tape. What could investigators learn from that . Well, certainly hopefully there is video something to be gleaned from that information, whether the subject was already sitting in the Church Service or whether he just came to the front door. I think there is a lot to be gleaned from that. Here is what is touching in terms of what my colleague stated. That is a very small community. Two or three percent of the population has been effected by the community. Imagine the First Responders who are providing to that scene among the death and the mayhem who may be related to or they themselves may be friends of some of those victims. That is a traumatic event that has taken place. Continue to pray for them all because in a community that size people are very in close contact with each other and know each other. It is a very challenging and difficult scene for them, as well. I want to remind viewers we are standing by for a press conference, a News Conference with investigators where we will learn more information, get an update on their investigation and what may have taken place today. What we can confirm according to the sheriff there in the county is that at least 20 people are dead and we know dozens more are injured including perhaps families, children. James, knowing these kinds of numbers of victims, what does that tell you about the weapon or weapons that were used . I had been listening to a number of conflicting reports. Not being privy to the crime scene right now and what is being determined from actually harvesting forensic evidence because all ballistics will be studied and shell casings in concert with fbi and locals are doing that. I heard some people say it sounded like semiautomatic weapons, a magazine being emptied. We know this is texas. Texas has very forgiving gun purchase rights. People out there own weapons and are proud to do so. Have not been able to establish yet whether it was determined to be an automatic weapon. I think we should be very careful. We learned obviously late after two days or so that it was the bump stock in las vegas. Whether or not this was just a lot of rounds which people on scene could have confused for automatic weapon fire or simply somebody with a semiautomatic rifle. We dont know if there was more than one weapon. We dont. What makes this so tragic is the fact that inside a church people, similar to what happened in vegas where people were watching the country concert or something here where you have four walls and somebody armed with weaponry that they are able to take lots of lives in short order and people cant get out and get away from the fire quickly enough. We know the attacker apparently did leave the church because there was some kind of a chase. Hoping to learn more details about the that chase. What do you make of the fact the suspect took off . He didnt take his own life inside the church. Its a lot to be i guess we could speculate in regard to that. Clearly he was trying to get away and was encountered by local Law Enforcement there. Hopefully we will learn more as to how his life ended whether from police gun fire or if he took his own life. Here again we are still kind of early in this and i dont want to go out too far on a limb on this. Here is what i would say about the type of fire power used inside that church as my colleague was just speaking he is absolutely right, cannot get too far ahead of this. At the end of the day for people who are listening to this report and seeing this as we are speaking regardless of whether it was semiautomatic fire, automatic gun fire, something very horribly happened there that took the lives of a large number of people in a very small space. That in and of itself is very concerning. As we learn more and hopefully there will be some footage of what occurred inside that church. It will probably not, i would imagine, be seen anytime soon because it is going to become very much a part of evidence. That had to be a graphic and horrible scene. Here for those who are responding to that scene and having to be there in the community that is where people know each other is just very, very heart felt. I cant find any other words to describe it. We are looking at aerial video of the scene that was taken earlier from one of our affiliates. You get a sense of how rural this part of texas is where the crime was committed. We understand make shift Gathering Place has been set up for families to wait for answers and wait for news of their loved ones. I imagine you have been on the other side having to deliver this kind of horrible information to people, family members. Help us understand what these families might be going through right now. We refer to this in federal government from the fbis perspective as victim assistance. And i tell you i worked cases where there were mass casualties. I worked cases where there were just horrific circumstances and death and destruction. I cannot begin to tell you how difficult it has to be when you are on the front line dealing with a family that first and foremost doesnt have an answer and then secondly if the answer is tragically they lost somebody in the carnage, that is a very difficult, difficult thing for folks to do. The people that do that are as brave as anybody that runs into a fire or anybody that runs to the sound of the guns. Dealing with family members at this time you have to have the right temperament for that and the right courage. It is tragic. I cant imagine. I assume that what is going to happen here quickly is the fbi will set up a tip line. No one has said whether or not this was a lone wolf or not y. Always feel that is premature to speculate until we allowed the locals and fbi on scene to come out and Say Something about that. We are going to be looking for answers. Unfortunately, in this situation the gunman either took his own life or interdicted by the police and we will not be able to ask the questions of him or her. Thank you both and stand by. We have new information just in. The wife of pastor frank tells cnn their 14yearold daughter was one of those killed in Todays Church shooting. She says neither she nor her husband were at the church today when the shooting occurred but telling us, confirming to cnn that the pastors own daughter, 14 years old, is one of the victims. At least 20 people who have lost their lives right now. An investigation continues. I want to bring in representative joining us on the phone. Congressman, you represent this county, Wilson County. What are you learning about what happened today . I do. Well, first of all, our thoughts and prayers are with people of Wilson County. It is certainly a tragedy that no one could have imagined that would have occurred in a community such as this. Its known for being a very peaceful place, good country folks live there. And im shocked and we are all shocked. We are waiting to see what develops. It has been reported to me that we lost 25 members of the community and there are 20 others who are injured. Those numbers could change throughout the day and maybe the next few days. I intend to keep a close eye and try to assist the community as much as we can. And are you learning anymore about how investigators are now piecing information together . Do you know anything about the attacker . We dont. It was reported to me that he is actually not from this community. Apparently, his name was released as sam hyde. That was a name i was given. We dont know more details. I assume probably there will be search warrants executed probably later in the day. We will be trying to get to the bottom of this persons life and what could have motivated him to commit such a tragedy. Do you know for sure that there is only one attacker . I dont know for sure. It would be all speculation, but that is what has been reported to me that there was only one attacker. Do you know how that person ended up dying . We understand that he is dead, that there was some kind of chase but it was unclear to us up until now if he took his own life or if there was some kind of altercation with police. It was reported to me that his life was taken by Law Enforcement. Now, this just developed. Im getting reports from my staff. That is what i have as of now. Im following it closely. Sometimes we get reports that turn out to be different down the road. I want to be very cautious. I think that is important to note. We are awaiting official word from those in touch with cnn who have confirmed at least 20 people are dead as they continue their investigation. Fbi resources are on scene. Atf is on scene, as well. A lot of people in this community are just trying to wrap their heads around what happened. Have you been in touch with residents there . We have. We have been in touch with a few constituents who live there and we have been in touch with the sheriffs department. Certainly what occurred today is certainly not character of the community. Wilson county is a rural community. A lot of really good people. Most of them are in farming and ranching and work in oil and gas fields. Its known as a very safe place. This is certainly way out of character and i think shocking to everyone there and everyone in the Community AroundWilson County. Sure. Are you able to share anything about any of the victims . Well, probably what has been reported to me is a lot of the same reported to you at this time. We are still gathering information. We have been in touch with fbi and local authorities and i think they will probably have more to share with the public. I know you are working to gather information to confirm information. When you say what has been reported to you when we were talking about the shooter, for example, who is telling you that information . Are those officials on the scene . These are officials that my staff is communicating with. Thats the information that ive been able to convey. It is still very limited at this time. I was told that they released the name of the sam hyde who caused this event. And i have been told he is not from the local community. Its a community of less than 700 inhabitants. Everybody knows each other. Many are related to each other. Its certainly not something that anyone would ever have expected. Thank you so much for spending some of your evening with us. Im so sorry for what you and your constituents and people of texas are having to grapple with right now. Thanks for your time. We are expecting to hear from President Trump tonight, as well, on this texas mass shooting. The president keeping close tabs on the situation in texas in japan. Trump is on the first leg of his historic trip to asia where he is expected to focus on trade and north korea threat. The president earlier announcing he will meet with his russian counter part Vladimir Putin this week to discuss north koreas rogue regime. Lets go to tokyo now. Jeremy, what are you hearing from President Trumps reaction to this tragedy in texas . Reporter so far what we have heard from the president came in the form of a tweet this morning shortly after the reports emerged. The president tweeting may god be with the people of Sutherland Springs, texas. The fbi and Law Enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from japan. So the president continuing to be updated on this situation. This is, of course, just the latest tragedy that this president has had to respond to. 35 days ago we saw the mass shooting in las vegas and then last week, of course, we saw the terrorist attack in new york city. This has been the last 35 days have truly been marked by tragedy. And the question now is how the president will further respond to this tragedy. We saw after las vegas the president offered thoughts and prayers but did not in the coming days after that go beyond that to try to figure out legislation to address Mass Shootings in the u. S. Where it was last week we saw the president very quickly jumping to policy towards the ways that the country could address threat from terrorists. So these are questions that will be posed to the president today. He has a busy schedule where he continues to meet with Prime Minister shinzo abe of japan. Those questions will be posed as this debate turns to Mass Shootings in the united states. And it is such a sad, sad day here and there. Will the president s plans for the rest of the day change as a result of the mass shooting in texas . Reporter as of yet there is no update to the president s schedule. We are expected to hear from him in just a couple of hours. He was expected to go to the u. S. Embassy here in tokyo to address u. S. And Japanese Business leaders. I expect the president would likely address this mass shooting for the first time on camera at that event unless there are changes before then. A busy day ahead and now this trip is going to be against this terrible back drop of another mass shooting in the united states. Traveling with the president , thank you again president tweeting may god be with the people of Sutherland Springs, texas. The fbi and Law Enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from japan. Meantime, we are awaiting a News Conference from officials in texas. We will continue to update you on the latest information we are getting on this mass murder shooting inside a small texas church when we come back. Stay with us. I love you, droolius caesar, but sometimes you stink. Febreze car vent clip cleans away odors for up to 30 days. Because the things you love can stink. Gives skin the moisture it needs and keeps it there longer with lockin Moisture Technology skin is petal smooth after all, a cleansers just a cleanser unless its olay. I want to bring in Texas Attorney as we continue to follow horrible event that has unfolded in texas this evening. It happened earlier today at a church in the small town of Sutherland Springs, texas. That is about 30 miles southeast of san antonio where a gunman we are told by witnesses on the scene walked into the middle of the Church Service and opened fire. The sheriff there in Wilson County has confirmed at least 20 people have lost their lives and many others have been taken to the hospital and are fighting to survive at this hour. We are awaiting for a presser, a news update and briefing. As soon as they step to the podium we will make sure to bring it to you live. Lets go to the attorney general in texas. Thank you so much for taking a little bit of your time on this horrific day in your community and your state. What can you tell us . What are you learning . First of all, this is horrific. I was just recalling that we have been through this before. I think it was eight years ago today we had the fort hood shooting. This is something we are unfortunately all too familiar with. As far as the details i think the focus, local Law Enforcement has been on taking care of those who have been killed and the deceased and also the injured. And i think we will get more information. Do you know a