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00:00All right, here he is, the governor of Connecticut, Dan Malloy.
00:05...across the world who we have heard from in the ensuing hours since this unspeakable
00:11and tragic event occurred here.
00:16As you know, there are a number of victims, teachers, support personnel in the building
00:23and children, beautiful, beautiful children who had simply come to school to learn, and
00:35their day ended a very different way than any of us could possibly have imagined.
00:39And quite frankly, as we stand here today, still can't imagine what transpired there.
00:48People visited this community today, and it's too early to speak of recovery, but
01:00each parent, each sibling, each member of the family has to understand that Connecticut,
01:13we're all in this together.
01:15We'll do whatever we can to overcome this event.
01:19We will get through it, but this is a terrible time for this community and for these families.
01:29Our police personnel and others are doing the utmost to clear this situation as soon
01:40as possible, to return these children to their parents or these loved ones to their
01:48fellow loved ones as quickly as possible.
01:53And we'll work with all of the residents of this community and Connecticut to make sure
02:00that we do, in fact, get through this.
02:04I was mayor of Stamford on 9-11 when our state lost many of its citizens and I lost
02:14a number of my fellow citizens and friends.
02:17I never thought that in a public career that I would have to face these kinds of circumstances
02:24or that they would visit themselves upon this community or the people of Connecticut.
02:33We'll get through this and our prayers at this time have to go out to the families.
02:41And so as I began by thanking those who have expressed their desires to be helpful, the
02:46number one way to be helpful is to say a prayer or send a best wish or to be thinking of these
02:55individuals who have suffered so mightily today.
03:08That's the governor of Connecticut, Dan Malloy.
03:11I think we're going to be hearing from Lieutenant Paul Vance as well from the Connecticut State
03:17Police.
03:18If he comes to those microphones, of course, we're anxious to hear what he says.
03:21It looks like he's not speaking over there, but we will continue to monitor what's going
03:27on.
03:28A horrific, horrific day in Connecticut as we're watching this story unfold.
03:32The breaking news continuing to explode not only here in the United States, but around
03:38the world.
03:39We did.
03:40We want to welcome our viewers from around the world.
03:42The state police lieutenant, Paul Vance, he tells me authorities are interviewing everyone
03:47who possibly had any connection to the suspected gunman.
03:52Kate Baldwin is here.
03:53She's helping us with our coverage as well.
03:55This is a story that continues to resonate for parents, grandparents, loved ones.
04:00Everyone knows kids, kindergartners, first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade.
04:05And the situation like this unfolds, it's hard to believe.
04:07Everyone has been affected by this and will continue to be affected by this.
04:11I mean, the governor, I think, said it well and very simply put that evil has visited
04:15that town today.
04:16I think that's absolutely at least one thing that we can all be sure of that has happened.
04:20Well, the investigation is unfolding.
04:23The grieving, though, is only beginning.
04:25A church vigil, many are underway and due to start soon in Newtown where this tragedy
04:32has unfolded.
04:33Let's bring in our Jason Carroll, who is out on the ground there.
04:36Jason, are you at the site of the vigil?
04:40That is correct.
04:41That vigil expected to take place just at about seven o'clock here at St. Rosalima Church.
04:47And a little earlier, I had the opportunity to speak to the deacon here.
04:51And it was a very emotional discussion.
04:54He told me that throughout the day, at least 100 people have come through the doors at
04:57the church here trying to find peace, looking for answers, trying to find some sort of comfort.
05:04So he has been doing that throughout the day.
05:06And this is personal to him.
05:08It's personal to this community.
05:10He told me that a number of the victims went to church here.
05:13This is where these children had their first communion.
05:16This is where they sat in the pews with their parents and listened to sermons.
05:20He knew some of the victims, and he talked about that just a little earlier.
05:24Take a listen.
05:25This is a very tight-knit community.
05:29It's a very large parish, a dynamic parish.
05:33Everybody knows everybody here.
05:35And I don't know for sure, but I'm sure that quite a few of the kids that we lost today
05:41are in this parish.
05:51And I can also tell you that in terms of what people are asking is, there are lots of questions.
05:57They're asking questions, why?
05:59Why did something like this happen?
06:01And he said because of the newness of it all, there's no way to try to answer that with
06:06something profound.
06:07But he did say this.
06:08He said, quote, there are some questions that are only meant for God to answer.
06:13And he said that is what he's telling people.
06:15Listen to a little bit more in terms of what he had to say about that.
06:21I heard one of the victims, I'm not sure about it, but I heard that one of the victims, recently
06:28she, I think it was like birthday money.
06:30She gathered up her birthday money, her birthday gifts, and she donated it to the parish to
06:34give to the Hurricane Sandy victims.
06:37She's six years old.
06:40So that makes it very, very personal and very intimate.
06:51And that was when he was telling me about a six-year-old girl, one of the victims, he
06:55says, who went to this church.
06:57He used to look at this girl every Sunday.
06:59So you can imagine how painful it is for him, how painful it is for this community.
07:04Once again, the vigil is expected to take place here just about 7 o'clock.
07:08When I asked what will be happening, he said this is unlike any vigil obviously they've
07:13ever had in the past.
07:15And so a lot of it's going to be off the cuff.
07:17He said there will be a mass.
07:19He said it's expected to last for about an hour.
07:21He said all we can continue to do throughout the night, throughout the coming days, throughout
07:26the coming weeks, is be there and be there to try to provide comfort to these grieving
07:31families.
07:32Jason, I mean, it seems that the deacon himself is struggling for words on how to cope with
07:36this.
07:37Has he at all been contacted by any of the families, anyone from the school?
07:41I mean, it seems it is a very small community there.
07:46He has.
07:47He has.
07:48He has been in contact with the families.
07:49Some of the other priests here have been down at the firehouse consoling the families throughout
07:53the day.
07:54And he has children himself.
07:56So this is personal for him.
07:58They did not go to this elementary school but to another one.
08:00But he knew these children.
08:02He knew the faculty at the school.
08:03The faculty sat in these pews as well.
08:06And so not only does he have to provide comfort to some of the victims, the victims' families,
08:13but he also has to try and find understanding himself because, in his words, he's got to
08:17be the rock.
08:18He's got to be the person here providing the support, which is difficult for him.
08:22He said what he's going to do is he's going to take a little bit of a break, go home,
08:25hug his own daughter, give thanks, and come back and provide the support that is so badly
08:31needed here.
08:32Yeah, being that rock, much easier said than done at a time like this when such unspeakable
08:36tragedy has hit such a small community.
08:38Jason Carroll, live outside where a vigil will be starting in just about an hour from
08:43now.
08:44Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
08:45What a powerful, powerful report.
08:47Let me just remind our viewers what's going on.
08:49For those who may just be tuning in, around 9.30, 9.40 a.m. this morning, a man went into
08:55a small elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and began killing people, 26 people altogether,
09:02six adults and 20 children.
09:05This is a small elementary school.
09:07The Sandy Hook Elementary School, fewer than 600 children in that school, only grades kindergarten
09:14through fourth grade inside.
09:16We have no idea the motive, what was behind, what was going on.
09:21Twenty-six people were killed, and then the shooter, we believe, killed himself.
09:26Separately, the mother of the shooter, we believe, was killed separately at a home not
09:33far away from this school.
09:35You're looking at live pictures coming in from Newtown, Connecticut right now.
09:39The police are continuing their investigation, and I suspect the Connecticut State Police
09:45will be briefing us fairly soon.
09:47These are pictures coming in from the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
09:50Susan Candiotti is on the scene for us, as she's been now for several hours.
09:55Update our viewers.
09:56What's the latest, Susan?
09:59Well, the latest, Wolf, is that in addition to trying to piece all of this together to
10:03find out the motive, more about the shooter, we also understand that for a few hours now,
10:10police took into custody, or at least took someone in for questioning, someone who's
10:16been identified to us by sources as a brother of the dead shooter here involved in this
10:22school incident, the school shooting.
10:24And they're asking him questions about his brother.
10:27He is not being called a suspect at this time, but they do want to try to find out at the
10:32very minimum what information he may have about the dead gunman here at the school.
10:40Also trying to find out more about the mother of the shooter, who you know has been identified
10:46as a schoolteacher, and of course she was found dead, we are told by sources, at a residence
10:52nearby the school here.
10:54So all of these pieces and parts of the puzzle being worked on at this moment by investigators
11:00to try to find out exactly what led into this and what the timeline was as well, Wolf.
11:06For example, was the mother shot before all of this began?
11:10We don't know.
11:12Wolf?
11:13You can only imagine if the shooter, though, Susan, was found dead at the scene, no one
11:18shot him, we assume the shooter committed suicide, and all that took place between 9.30
11:25and 10 a.m. or so, approximately 20 minutes or half an hour.
11:30The assumption I have is that the shooter presumably killed his mother at the home before
11:36driving over to the school.
11:39That's a fair assumption here, but no one officially is saying that.
11:44In fact, they haven't even officially released the name of the gunman in this case.
11:49We do know from sources they recovered at least three weapons from the scene.
11:54Two of them handguns, including a Glock and a Sig Sauer, and another one, a semi-automatic
12:00weapon, identified as a .223 Bushmaster.
12:04We don't know how many bullets were fired.
12:06Of course, you've heard a number of witnesses say that there were a lot of bullets that
12:11were heard, and we also do not know.
12:14I've been trying to find out, for example, how much ammunition the shooter came to the
12:19school with, and did he have any extra magazines with him, gun magazines, ammo.
12:25Those are the kinds of things we're also trying to find out, Wolf.
12:28We'll be getting more information in the hours to come.
12:31Susan, thanks very much.
12:32Tom Foreman is joining us now.
12:34He's been looking at the layout of this school, and what are you seeing, Tom?
12:38You know, Wolf, Susan was just raising a good point there, as you have this whole time.
12:42Piecing all this together is grim and difficult, difficult work, because there are so many
12:47moving parts to this equation.
12:49That's what investigators are trying to do right now, and in more than 30 years of covering
12:53massacres and school shootings, I'm afraid, I've seen this happen many times.
12:57The early hours, it's hard to know exactly what the timeline was, exactly how things
13:02unfolded, but we're piecing it together as best we can as well.
13:05So take this timeline as being a bit loose, but we'll work our way through it.
13:08About 9.30 this morning in this school, classes were underway here.
13:13They had a good crowd in there, about 600 students in the school, 50 faculty members.
13:18And at that time, a meeting had just broken out up at the beginning of the school here.
13:23There was a small meeting with the principal, the vice principal, a school psychologist,
13:27a few other adults up here in a room near the office, and school was underway.
13:32School actually started at 9.05, so at 9.30, about a half an hour underway, they had been
13:37going up there.
13:38So at 9.40-ish, as best we can tell, it's a little different depending on whom you talk
13:42to.
13:43Sometime around 9.40 is when it would appear that this gunman enters the building.
13:49How?
13:50Well, we don't really know.
13:51Police have spent an awful lot of time today.
13:53You keep seeing pictures of a black car right up here.
13:56They've been looking at that car right here.
13:58If that is connected to the crime as we would think, and based on what the eyewitnesses
14:02have said, that would suggest the gunman came right in through the front door here.
14:06This little red part here is actually sort of a covered walkway.
14:10He would have come right in through here, as best we can tell, and everything that transpired
14:14seems to have been somewhere in this general area.
14:17It did not spread out through the entire school.
14:19Nonetheless, as soon as he came in, from all we hear from various people there, people
14:24throughout this entire building started hearing shots being fired.
14:28Some of them thought it sounded like hammering.
14:30Some of them heard loud bangs, but some of them also knew what it was.
14:34By 941, we had calls going in to 911.
14:41The principal, vice principal, and school psychologist who were in that meeting came
14:46out and went toward the gunfire, according to a witness.
14:49They headed toward it, but only the vice principal returned, and the vice principal was wounded
14:54in the leg or the foot.
14:55It's not clear which when they came back into the meeting room there.
14:58Nonetheless, at this point, everything is clearly in the school getting very tense because
15:02people know that something is going on that's very bad there.
15:05Now, the timeline gets even looser at this point because we don't know how the progress
15:10of the gunfire went.