We dont know whether the suspect is still alive in the house. Weve heard from a couple of authorities that the suspect may have shot himself, but we dont know whether thats correct or not. Theyre going to assume, as naturally you would, that he remains a threat. And so theyre going to do this entry by the book. And thats what youre seeing right now. But they believe that the threat to the community is pretty well over because they believe they know where the suspect is and that the suspect is contained and no longer a threat. But until they actually put eyes on the suspect theyre going to do this by the rules, and thats what youre seeing play out right now. While in the meantime area schools are on lockdown, the sheriff has told people in the neighborhood if they live anywhere near sawing ugs high school to lock their doors and stay inside. And if they see the suspect to call 911. But they believe they know where the suspect is and theyre about to make an entry. And fully confirm that this is over, craig. Pete, thank you. Our thanks to congresswoman katie hill as well. Ill hand things off now to Andrea Mitchell. Thank you so much, craig melvin. Another shooting, another terrible day. Good day. Im Andrea Mitchell in new york following the breaking news from california. Authorities responding to another School Shooting. This time at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita. That is just north of los angeles. Police responding after seven people were injured. At least three of them from Gunshot Wounds, in an incident that began just the past hour. The suspect fled the scene. All schools within Santa Claritas district are now on lockdown. Los angeles county sheriffs are methodically moving students from classrooms and auditoriums in Saugus High School out to safety. Law enforcement in the area have also surrounded a home near the school. Youre seeing areas of that now. Joining me now, nbc justice correspondent Pete Williams. Pete, you were just describing the scene there, preparing to move in and following safety
procedures despite whatever information you have as to what the actual situation may be. Do we think it is one suspect, pete . Reporter thats what the authorities have told us. A 15yearold male who was all Dressed In Black who opened fire at the school just before 8 00 local time. That would be just about an hour ago, just before 11 00 a. M. Eastern time. At Saugus High School, which is about 30 or 40 miles north of los angeles. Its a school of about 2,400 students. The shooting happened very quickly, as they tend to, and then the suspect fled. Authorities had a pretty good idea which direction the suspect went. Theyve used an investigative technique that we wont describe, andrea, because we dont want to give it away to locate the suspect they believe in this house. Now, i dont know what the significance of this house is, whether this was just a place where the suspect managed to get inside or whether the suspect has some connection to it. But in any event, they seem relatively confident that the suspect is in the house and they have surrounded the house. Weve heard from a couple of Law Enforcement officials that the suspect may have shot himself. We dont know whether thats correct or not. Authorities cant be certain of that. And thats why theyre preparing to enter the house using the standard techniques that they would use, taking defensive positions before they move in. Schools in the area were put on lockdown, andrea. There are at least two Elementary Schools nearby that were locked down immediately after the shooting happened. And the sheriff also put out a tweet saying that if you live in the neighborhood anywhere near Saugus High School please lock your doors, stay inside. If you see the suspect, a male wearing dark clothing, in back yards or anywhere else, call 911. But that alert seems to have maybe been a factor as well. But in any event, theyve
located what they believe is the suspect. Now, in terms of the actual victims here, andrea, the number keeps changing. A nearby hospital, henry mayo hospital, said they had two young people in Critical Condition and three others on the way. That was a while ago. So that would be five people. So we just dont know frankly what the number of people were who were shot. At one point the authorities were giving us two numbers, one of people who were shot, the second of people who were injured. So we dont know if those were also Gunshot Victims or people who were just injured in some other way. But so far as far as we can tell there have been no fatalities at the school. And so thats good news here, andrea. And pete, lets just listen to knbc, our nbc station in l. A. One of the moms is talking. Her son is still inside but has not been injured. Pete, hang on just a second. I think that interview may have just been in progress. Lets listen in. The shooter. I said are you sure its a shooter . She said yes, i heard the shots, i was in the quad, i saw three kids being shot. [ inaudible ]. I was pretty hysterical at that point because that was just confirmation that you know, from somebody that witnessed what happened and she was a teacher. So i of course got on the phone immediately and was trying to call him but he wasnt answering because i think they tell them to silence their phones. So i started texting him and he finally replied after about ten minutes of just waiting, which seemed like ten hours. But you know, once i heard he was okay i felt a little better. But just knowing that some kids were shot is really horrifying for those families. About those kids, do you know anybody that might have gotten hurt . Im not sure. We havent really heard any names. But like my friends are in there and ive been like texting and
calling my friends and they couldnt answer for like a good like 30 minutes. It was like i was like freaking out. I was crying because i didnt know if theyre okay or not, i didnt know if they were hurt. And finally they texted me back saying hey, were okay, theyre about to let us out of the classrooms, weve been stuck in here on lockdown. So your plan, mom, is to stay here null get your son . My plan is to stay here until i see him with my own eyes and make sure hes really okay, and then ill head on to central park where theyre holding them and releasing them. I know you heard from him. Have you heard from authorities . Have they said anything to you . No. Just from the school. The School District keeps sending texts just saying that theres an active shooter at Saugus High School and all the schools in the area are locked down. But thats all. And ive sort of been trying to stay nearby with the other parents, you know, just talking about what theyve been hearing. Thank you so much. Thank you. [ inaudible ]. Thanks. We heard from a mom outside waiting to actually see her son with whom she texted at least, and a young woman who was late for school. Her brother and cousins are inside. So obviously, the concern until they actually see their young people. Clint watts joining me by phone, Msnbc National Security analyst, form former security agents. According to Pete Williams we think the suspect is a teenager himself. We dont know an identification obviously. But a young man Dressed In Black. Clint, what does that tell you, if anything . Yeah. At this point theyve identified the shooter it seems like and theyre either closing in or have it contained, the situation contained. It is worrisome, and i think as soon as they can narrow down or
make sure this persons been apprehended. To understand the motivations of the shooter. When you hear the description even though we dont have many details, but someone dressed in all black going into a high school, that immediately harkens back to columbine, some of the other real tragedies weve had in this country. They will then expand out the investigation. It ideologically motivated or and then whats the social Media Presence or connection . So if its more ideologically motivated you tend to worry about other connections to other people, maybe being part of it. If its individually motivated, youre also worried about inspiration, meaning that a contagion can take over. And weve seen thyme and again with these shootings where one shooting sort of inspires someone else to eventually undertake a shooting of their own. So that is where Law Enforcement will probably go after this, is trying to narrow down in terms of motivations, connections what are their Communications Like to make sure there may not be
others stemming from this incident. Congresswoman katie hill went to Saugus High School. Its in her district of course. Congresswoman hill, lets talk about your community because its shocking in any community. This is what seems to be a suburban area. Describe the neighborhood and the school. Sure. Thank you. So this is the high school that i went to. We heard the suspect was headed toward the Elementary School i went to and the junior high i went to. Its a very closeknit suburban community. My mom and my dad all have friends who have been to the school. We had dozens of Campaign Interns and volunteers that went there. The march for our lives group was incredibly active at saugus and the other neighboring high schools because this is the fear, that so many students expressed to me over the course of the last several years, and theyre living not just fearing Something Like this to happen
but almost waiting for it to happen. Saugus, the Santa Clarita community is always on top ten lists of the safest communities. It was just picked as one of the top safest communities in california a couple of months ago. So parents dont expect this. But i think its becoming more and more the norm. And its horrifying for us. The borderline shooting, so many residents were impacted not that long ago. The vegas shooting, we had dozens and dozens from our community who were there and we lost three of ours to that tragedy as well. So this is i mean, unfortunate unfortunately were at a point where as a public official and you a member of congress we talked all the time about how this is one of the worst nightmares to be happening in your community, not only for of course the tragedy but because theres so little that you can say when you go back about what we can do. Exactly. And congresswoman, i wanted to just i wouldnt interrupt,
but apparently knbc is talking to the sheriff who says the suspect was a member of the student body. I want to listen in to that. That no. Thats going to take us a while to go through. Well have to do a very thorough search of all their social me a media, all their family, friends, everything that leads up to this tragedy so we can understand what went down. And can you talk to us more about the suspect in this case . Do we know approximate age, what year they may have been at the school . Male asian juvenile. As you said, dressed in dark clothing. And then the other victims involved were also students from the school. So whatever conflict that was or what led this person to resort to violence, that is a question were going to have to answer. And what i do want to ask you is you were talking about two
locations that youre surrounding and looking at. One of them is one of them that Baseball Field . And do you think the student did run the last eyewitness says did run across that Baseball Field, dropped off a backpack at some point, and then ran into this house. Well, thats based on information. Were going to have to retrace the route the person took and follow up on all the leads. So well do an extensive search of the area. Well use our canine folks to go through the path if there is such a backpack that was dropped off. Theres a potential they could have waepd. Were definitely going to debt our hands on that. The containment area, going through the search now, the location of the residence, and well take it from there. Sheriff, you mentioned positive identification. Does that mean identifying the suspect as a student and their name or does that mean
identifying the person inside the house . What exactly did you mean by that . Identifying the student, the person by name, and then using that information to work our way toward locations. Typical leads, detective leads. How about inside the home . Is there anybody else inside of that home other than what you believe could be the shooter . That i dont have information at this time. How troubled are you, sheriff, by what youre experiencing this morning . Were looking at these images and its heartbreaking. Its gutwrenching to see students being wheeled out in gurneys, loaded into ambulances, being led out of their classrooms by officers and Law Enforcement, heavily armed. What were your thoughts when you got the call this morning about what was going on here at Saugus High School . Its one of my worst nightmares as sheriff is to have to go through an experience like that. But that pales in comparison to the parent that has their kids at the school in pam because we all embrace our kids in the morning, send them off to school thinking
theyre safe, and then we just never know what someone is plotting at the school. We want to do our best to make sure parents know their children are safe, the schools are locked down. Its only a precaution for other schools in the area. Saugus high school itself, portions of it are locked down. Portions of it are evacuated. The Reunification Center is going to be at the central park. So well be matching the students with their parents and well make sure they bring their i. D. To identify themselves. And thats the sad reality of modern life with these active shooters in schools. Its very sad to hear that. Can you give us a little bit more information about the victims . Do you know if theyre all students . Maybe Staff Members . We just got an update there are now six victims being treated, two of them in Critical Condition. And can you also update us on their condition . I dont have an update yet. We will have it available in the
near future, and im understanding they are students. So sheriff, weve been in close contact with your department there. You guys have been doing a really good job of getting information out as quickly and youve been listening to an interview with our colleagues at knbc, the nbc station in los angeles are dealing with the l. A. County sheriff alex v villaneva. They are reporting six students being treated two in Critical Condition. And the sheriff saying the suspect was a member of the student body. Joining me now is msnbc analyst jim cavanaugh, of course a former atf Special Agent in charge, on the phone. But first, jim, you stand by. Pete williams with some breaking news. Pete . Well, andrea, the picture were getting now is this is over. Several authorities have told us theyre now trying to positively identify the shooting suspect. That suggests to me that the shooting suspect has either been disarmed or is dead. We had heard earlier that there was some thought that the shooting suspect shot himself. But the suggestion that theyre Quote Unquote trying to positively identify suggests that theyre that they have the suspect now and theyll be checking fingerprints or seeing if the suspect was carrying i. D. Or looking at whatever else he may have been carrying, his cell phone and so forth. So it seems pretty clear, andrea, this is now over, about an hour and 15, hour and 20 minutes before it started. Since it started, rather. Theres no longer a threat here. Its now, as you heard the sheriff official a moment ago saying its now the investigative Process Offing trying to figure out for sure who and why. But it appears now pretty clear that the shooting happened about an hour and 20 minutes ago, the
gunman fled quickly, ran through a Baseball Field you that saw earlier in the aerial picture thats near this residential area, and was dropping things as he went, perhaps a backpack, perhaps he was carrying additional ammunition or other firearms, and then got into this house. We dont know whether this was just a house that was nearby and open or whether he has some connection to this house. But in any event, i think its pretty safe to say, andrea, this is over. You can see from the aerials were showing on the right side of the screen, pete, they have the area surrounded. Do you have anything more you can share about the techniques they used in surrounding that house and entering the house . Reporter they used an investigative technique to track the shooter but i think its best we not say what it is because they may want to use that sort of technique again and probably dont want to give away how they do it. Good enough. Pete, i know youre going to be standing by. Jim cavanaugh, i interrupted myself and you as i was about to
ask you if we know anything about the weapon, anything at all about what was used. I know its a little early and we have several Gunshot Wounded students in hospital right now being treated. The sheriff said a weapon was recovered. Sometimes these shooters, andrea, have more than one weapon. They sometimes have a couple or two or three weapons. They can have a few handguns or a long gun and handguns. Ammunition is very heavy and the more you carry the heavier it is. So i would not be surprised if a dropped backpack is loaded with ammunition. It quickly becomes pretty heavy when you start running and carrying it away. As pete described, is this the shooters house or is this a random house he broke into when deputies were pursuing him and he was tryi