The information we are getting from people on the ground is that this individual is believed to have acted alone in terms of the actual violence. Of course, sean said before they are looking for any other individuals who might be involved and other weapons. Whether or not theres any type of explosives that he could have planted. They have to still secure the scene itself which is what theyre doing now. So, ive been watching this since the story broke a little over an hour ago, and when you watch High School Students stream out of a school, i think over 3,000 students, how does Law Enforcement approach Something Like this . So, its about a perimeter. First of all, after columbine, the approach to a scene like this is to go in. It used to be that Law Enforcement would kind of go around the school and try to secure the perimeters and try to set up and go in after that. Thats not the way to do it. They respond to try to stop the threat inside. Of course, the challenge here is all these individuals, students in and around the place, the shoo shooter, you dont know if its just the student. When the students stream out of the building, to make sure the person doesnt get away by either changing their clothes or doing Something Else a little more sophisticated. And, of course, we dont know what weapons were brought into the building. We dont know whether there was any homemade device. You cannot count out anything. And thats really the challenge for Law Enforcement on the scene. At the same time you have all these different people, parents are streaming into the area. Everybody wants to know immediately what is the situation, is my child safe, when is it going to be okay for people to come home, when is this going to become normal, quoteunquote. They want immediate responses and Law Enforcement is about safety, securing the scene, making sure everyone is out and conducting the forensic investigation which is so crucial. We have someone who can speak to what you just described. A parent joining us by phone, lysette rosen blatt, her daughter was safely evacuated. How is your daughter doing, how are you doing and what do you know . Hi, nicolle, thank you. Thankfully she is safe, shes out of the school but it was a nerve racking afternoon. We got a text from her saying there was a shooter. I unfortunately had missed the call and the text, so my husband and i were at home. He got the text. He told her to stay calm. As soon as he hung up, he called the school to verify if it was true. He told me it was true, we both freaked out. He got in the car and left immediately to try to get to the school. And then she just started texting me. She was telling me, she said she was fine, but she kept insisting that i call 911, that i call the police because there was somebody hurt on her floor. What floor are you at, she told me third floor, 1200 building. She could hear the person calling out and praying so she was pretty shooken up about that. She was trying to get that person help. I dont have details yet because unfortunately she has not been able to get home. Its just a mad house. Its crazy out in parkland right now. Its a huge school, so the evacuation is taking quite a long time. While i was on hold with you guys, i got a text from her best friend who happens to be our neighbor, zhoe gordon. She is stuck inside the classroom. Im not sure how many kids are with her [ inaudible ]. And if you give me one second, i can try to read what she said. Sure. She said, she said im locked in my classroom. The classroom right next to the freshman building where the shooter was. I think were being evacuated soon, but i got the same thing 45 minutes ago. So, poor kid. I was with her mother 45 minutes ago when she sent the same message to her mom and now 45 minutes later shes still in the classroom. Shes fine, the kids in her classroom are fine, but just, you know, i dont know, the police are aware. I hope they know there are children still in this building. There are about 3,000 plus kids i think in this school, quite a large school. Again, my daughter is safe. I havent been able to see her or hug her. I was told by, you know, oddly enough i cant reach her, but her friend stuck inside the classroom told me that my daughter was crying. She was very nervous because she was walking to a friends house the opposite direction. So, where we live which is less than two miles away, close to that walmart where most kids are seeking refuge, there is a perimeter and i guess there are cops everywhere. Im inside my home so i cant see whats happening outside. I do know its pretty chaotic. And, again, im just waiting for my daughter to come home. Its been really nerve racking. You dont think this kind of thing was going to happen. We were just voted one of the safest cities in the country and today here we are. Lysette, did any of your daughter in any text to you or from her friend thats also been in communication with you, did any of them describe the shooter in any way, or if he was looking for anyone, if he was moving room to room . Did they you said they were in the building next to where the shooter was. Did they have a sense of whether he was looking for someone in particular or did it seem random based on the texts from your daughter and her friend . Unfortunately, i dont have that kind of information from her. I think she was just texting me the essential information. I might know more later when she comes home. What i did hear from other kids, because some of her friends got out way earlier than she did, 20 minutes i didnt hear from her so i was a nervous wreck because i was like why are her friends out and shes not. Her friend, her best friend, our neighbor, is the one who is across, i just read to you. About my daughter let me see what my daughter says. Please tell them someone is hurt on my floor, third floor 1200 building. Apparently the shooting took place on the floor where my daughter was and that is why i was absolutely terrified because her last text to me was at 2 48 in the afternoon and i didnt hear from her again. So, i believe what happened is that her phone just died. But again, im grateful that shes out. I pray for the victims. Im not sure how many there are. I guess when she comes home im going to have more details. I did hear some kids saying it sounded like balloons were popping, the fire alarm, i believe, went off. But, you know, i will not have details till later this afternoon when she comes home. Lysette, i heard on your local film coverage earlier in this school they have trained very recently for a situation just like this, an active shooter situation. Obviously i have kids in school. As a parent you shutter when you hear theyve trained for that. Did you ever think the day would come when that training would be put to use . No, not at all. I didnt grow up like this. And whats really sad is my daughter is a sophomore. She has always, always asked me to be home schooled just simply for the fear that Something Like this would happen, you know. And i always confidently told her, dont worry, we live in such a great neighborhood. It just goes to show you that this kind of thing can happen anywhere at any time. You know, we cant take it for granted and gun control is so important and Mental Health issues are so important. I dont know the details of why, i dont even know who it was, but nonetheless, your heart goes out to the victims, to the parents of whoever the shooter was. You dont raise a kid to grow up to be a shooter. You dont know whats going on in the minds of people who do this kind of thing. Its just really nerve racking. I do know the school does prepare they have. I was asner vus nervous as knew she knew what she had to do. When my son was in preschool, they taught them what to do here. That is a very positive thing in the schools in our local area, that they have been trained for such a thing. Lysette rosen blatt, we are grateful to have some of your time. We are thankful that your daughter is safe and wish you the best. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Tim kavanagh, former atf special agent in charge now an msnbc counterterrorism expert joins us now. I want to ask you, jim, when you hear of these kids able to text to their parents that theyre in a classroom next to where the shooter is carrying out his we dont know yet what he was carrying out, but they were close enough to hear the shots, what do you expect, what kinds of things are going to unfold in the next few hours . Will we learn the extent of the injuries . Will we learn a motive . What is going on inside Law Enforcement and what is happening on the scene right now . Well, you know, wie may get heavy tidings if there are wounds in there. There are reports of a lot of wounds. Hopefully the tactical medics, the s. W. A. T. Teams move on those fast. So, if there are people that are bleeding in there, theyre in there with s. W. A. T. As they go in and they try to stop the bleeding. We have extensive programs and all the s. W. A. T. Teams with tactical medics. So, thats some good news. If they can stop a wound, they can help those people survive. The suspect looks like he fits the description exactly, nicolle, burgundy shirt, shorts, 58, male caucasian, he slipped out after the shooting is possible. They had deputies searching the perimeter with dogs. Its possible he slipped out into the tree line and was hiding and then located. It struck me when this first report came in, just three weeks ago three weeks ago in ben ton, kentucky, a student killed two other students and shot 20. And, you know, that was a young student, too. What we found in the atf go into these things and working these things, these students, they get the guns usually from home. Theres variations. Sometimes they buy it on the street or from a friend, but most often it seemed like they just got it from home, a relative, they snuck it out of the house. And they were acting on some teenage angst, you know. It could be driven by grades or pressures or bullying or its valentines day. It could be driven by almost anything. And the child has access to a gun and then they go to the school. If the reports that were here on msnbc earlier from a witness from nbc miami said a child had reported that a shooter in the burgundy shirt pulled the fire alarm first, and then emptied the classrooms into the hallway before he started shooting. So, that would be quite a diabolical event if thats true. But to finish answering your question is homicide detectives from broward s. O. Are going to be interviewing this shooter. Thats going to be extensive, ongoing. Were going to see a search warrant for his home. His parents are going to be interviewed. All his classmates. They are going to do a work up on why he would have done this, whats he been doing in the last three to six months that would have drove him to this. Theres plenty of witnesses in these School Shootings. There will be a charge. There will be the states attorney from Broward County will bring a murder charge, reports we have of fatality are true, hell be facing a murder charge, multiple murder charge, assault charges, gun charges. So, thats all has to transpire. Sometimes we have a shooter who kills himself or the tactical officers kill the shooter. And then we dont have a trial. This is a case where there is going to be a criminal trial with a shooter in custody. So, thats going to be a real Important Note for the Detective Bureau and all the agents Going Forward because theyve got to tighten up and get their evidence right. After they help all the victims in the school, thats already happening. Its not in our sight right now, but thats already happening right now. Michael balboni, i remember watching columbine and the shock and the horror was indescribable. Now you see a tank there outside of a school, there is an active shooting situation that went on for several hours today. How has this become the norm . What we do is try to recognize the tempo of these types of things. Sandy hook, a horrific shooting not too long ago that spurred so much legislation to try to change things. But what we find is the tactical response, strategic response. They didnt have bear cats like that 20 years ago. It is used for these specific types of purposes. It could be shooting coming from a building, but you need to get in there quickly. One of the things jim talked about, also the change weve seen in the school preparedness, that we have had training. They are getting people to understand shelter in place. The guy pulls the fire alarm, he understands that thats whats going to happen. He needs to get people out into the hallway to make for easier targets. So, it begins to get one little data point about that type of preparation in his mindset. As jim said, the fact this guy did not take his life, most of these are over quickly by the shooter taking their own lives. In this case the fact this individual is now available for not only prosecution, but understanding why did you do this, how did you get the weapons, what type of steps did you take. Thats very, very important. Not just for this instance, but things we can learn for future. And what jim called it diabolical, this idea of pulling the alarm. You both honed in on this. Does that get to a profile of the shooter . Is that why that is such an important piece of the story for both of you . The investigators will obviously come in and based upon the evidence that they have, will begin to develop some type of a profile for what happened. But what it just says is that he didnt walk into the school and start shooting. He actually had the frame of mind to go and drive people into the hallways by pulling the fire alarm and that means hes looking for targets of opportunity. And really want to inflict as much damage and injury as he possibly could. We are joined now by the mayor of parkland, florida, christine. First, our thoughts, our prayers, our best wishes and our hopes that everyone is all right are with you. I think i speak for just about everyone watching this on our television sets. How are you doing and how are the students doing . Thank you. We really appreciate that. Its been tough. Ive seen several students who were inside when this happened. They are very understandably upset, shocked. When i first got here, we didnt have much information. The parents were very understandably any of us who are parents completely understand how worried they were. Thank goodness for cell phones and the ability to text. So several of them heard from their children and that put them at ease. We are very small, closeknit community here and its a very sad day for us. Do you have any information on the numbers of people who were injured in todays shooting . I have no firsthand information. When i got here, they were just beginning to set up the perimeter, the First Responders and the police. And i have heeded their wishes and i have remained outside the perimeter with everybody else and allowed them to do their job. Today, you know, we talk often about how proud we are of our police and our First Responders, and its a day like today we are grateful more than ever to have them. Your senator, one of your senators, bill nelson, reported on our air just before 4 00 that there were, in his words, a number of fatalities. Do you have any information on that . I do not have any firsthand information and, therefore, dont feel comfortable saying one way or another. I have not heard firsthand. We appreciate that. I wonder if you are hearing anything from local Law Enforcement officials on the ground and im sure there are federal Law Enforcement officials joining them soon if they havent already. Yes, the federal Law Enforcement is already here. The Law Enforcement is mainly still inside the school building. They have been going section by section, making sure its safe and letting the students out as they clear the area. Yeah, and if i could just point out for a minute, we had a momon mom on a little while ago who heard from a friend of her daughter who wanted you and Law Enforcement to know that i think on the third floor, the freshman building, there were still some kids locked in their classroom next to where the shooter was. So, if i could just pass that on, on the third floor yes, i appreciate it. We are systematically going through and theyre doing a wonderful job and were very thankful to have everybody here. What will your community do once the extent of todays tragedy is known to support these kids and the school . We will do everything we can. For those who dont know, parkland is a very small city in the northwest corner of Broward County. We are a very closeknit community. We are a community that gives back all the time. And our city will do everything we can to support the students and the parents and everyone involved Going Forward. And i understand from watching your local coverage that this is a school that is, until today, a very safe, desirable place to be, but a school that as every professional school does trained for a day like today. Are you on a day like today glad that your schools and the people that run your school were prepared for the worst . Yes. So, the schools in our area are run by our county, they are Broward County schools, and we are very grateful unfortunate it is that way, but were grateful the Broward CountySchool System has put measures in place to train for events like these. Mayor christine, thank you so much for spending some time with us. Our thoughts will be with you well past today. We hope everyone is safe and we wish all your students there and the teachers well. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. So, you know, a few more pieces of the picture. Not many clear yet, and obviously the focus is on whatever is happening inside those walls. I mean, just sitting here together, you and i have pieces of the story that maybe people on the perimeter dont, there are still students waiting to be evacuated. Here again, the image of the person thats been taken into custody wearing a shirt that matches the description that was coming in while the active shooter situation was ongoing. At this point now were about 25 minutes after hes been apprehended. Whats happening right now . Now is really all about the victims. What are they trying to find out from this individual . Unless he says something, that he