Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Tennessee Shooting Investigation Continues; Tennessee Authorities Hold News Briefing. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 17, 2015 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: So, my judgment, in my experience, is that this was an ISIS-inspired attack. And it has been opened as a terrorism investigation by the FBI, which is a very significant event in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And he went on to say that he can't confirm that it was ISIS-inspired until a full search of the gunman's computer is undertaken.

But what we can confirm right now is the identity of all four of his victims, all Marines, Sergeant Carson Holmquist, Lance Corporal Skip Wells, Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan, and Staff Sergeant David Wyatt, all killed by an AK-47-style gun.

The gunman's first target, a military recruiting center inside a suburban strip mall. He then drove here, seven miles away, a Navy operational support center, where he rammed into the front gate and opened fire, the gunman eventually killed in that firefight. Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez was a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga grad and a trained mixed martial artist and a devout Muslim.

His suspected radicalization not obvious to those who knew him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALMIR DIZDAREVIC, MIXED MARTIAL ARTS COACH: His demeanor, there was absolutely nothing on him that would show me that he was upset about something. And I know that he moved out of the country about a year or two ago. He went back home and he stayed overseas.

And I asked his dad about, where is Mohammad? I haven't seen him in a while and stuff. He said he moved back home. But I saw him a couple of times when he visited. Now, I'm not the one to speculate, but what happens overseas in certain different environments, I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seemed like the all-American kid. He -- you know, never loud, never boisterous, never got out of line, a hard worker, seemed to enjoy the training and got along with everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: I want to bring in CNN justice reporter Evan Perez. He joins me now from Washington.

Evan, what are you hearing about the possible motive here? That is still the big mystery, it seems.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

It's still the question of why, why did he carry out this attack? As you just played the sound from that friend, he made reference to this trip to Jordan, to the place where his family came from. And we know that that is part of what the FBI is focusing on, Pamela. You know that the travel is definitely something that people feel might help explain perhaps what changed in this young man's life, what changed that caused him to turn to carry out this attack yesterday.

We know the Jordanian government now says that he did travel there last year. He made several trips in the last few years there. He was born in Kuwait and he traveled with a Jordanian passport, although the Jordanian government said that he does not have Jordanian citizenship. In the end, he and his family became naturalized U.S. citizens.

So now the focus, as Congressman McCaul says, is to try to figure out if there are any links with established terrorist groups. As he pointed out, it's not yet known whether or not there are any links to ISIS or any other groups and whether as has begun to emerge from -- certainly from his blog posts and so on, is perhaps this is a young man who came up with his own brand of perhaps radicalization.

And so that's, again, part of this investigation. The second part of this, which is also interesting that the FBI is looking at, is the weapons, the firearms that he had in his possession. The FBI says that one reason why they are not releasing a lot of information about it is because they are trying to put together evidence for perhaps a prosecution.

That points to perhaps the possibility that they believe someone assisted him in obtaining these weapons and perhaps might be facing criminal charges down the road.

BROWN: Yes, because we heard he had multiple weapons on him, including an AK-47-style weapon.

PEREZ: Right.

BROWN: Evan Perez, thank you so much. Keep us posted on what you learn.

I now want to go to Victor Blackwell. He's at one of the scenes of the shootings.

You have some new information. Is that right, Victor?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Pamela. Federal sources who are involved with this investigation tell me that

what we're going to hear today is the transition from one part of the investigation to the next. For the last 26 hours or so, since this all started, as the investigation began, what you have seen behind me is a large area of this shopping center, this strip mall blocked off as the investigation continues.

We saw a lot of the FBI evidence response teams here collecting evidence. That has now ramped down. And what I'm told from the source is that the footprint across the city will get smaller as the investigation moves from, in part, this physical on-scene investigation to primarily the intelligence investigation, to find out why.

Of course, part of why we're going to see all of these branches together, all of these divisions together is to show -- it's a show of force. It's a cohesive nature that these officials want to project as this investigation continues, not just the local investigators who are cooperating with the national -- the federal investigators, but the state level as well that has played some role here, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

[15:05:22]

We will see all of them together talking about how this moves from the current phase to the next.

BROWN: And we just got the four-minute warning, Victor, so stand by. We hope to hear from officials soon there on the ground.

While we await for the press conference to start, I'm going to bring in our panel, CNN's Alexandra Field, ex-Navy SEAL and former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam, and Karen Greenberg, director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University Law School, and also former New York FBI Assistant Director Bill Gavin, and Ron Hosko, my friend, who is former assistant director of the FBI's criminal investigation here.

We have quite the panel and we don't have enough time in these four minutes, unfortunately.

Jonathan, I'm going to start with you. What do you hope to hear in this press conference? What are you looking for the most?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER U.S. NAVY SEAL: I'm humbled that you started with me.

(CROSSTALK)

GILLIAM: But I would hope first and foremost clarity. What we had yesterday left everybody confused.

The other thing I definitely want to hear is that what are they actually looking at? Are they looking at ISIS specifically as a group? Are they looking at somebody radicalized through fundamental Islam? We need to start using that language because this is a fact. We do know that if there's one thing in any of this individual's

correspondence that he was pushing towards Islam and that's one of the things that motivated him, we know that he is a fundamental Muslim who was radicalized. He may not be specifically ISIS or al Qaeda, but we do know that all of these different organizations and divisions of fundamental Islam belong to one ideology. We need to start looking at that first and then differentiate between which group.

BROWN: We know this is being looked at, treated as a terrorism organization.

For that, I want to bring in Ron Hosko.

Ron, again, as we said, you were in the Criminal Division at the FBI. Pretty early on though they labeled this as a terrorist investigation. But that doesn't necessarily mean that they have determined that he was acting on behalf of terrorist groups. Is that right?

RON HOSKO, LAW ENFORCEMENT LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: That's right, Pam.

In the post-9/11 era, the FBI has long looked at these events as terrorism first until proven otherwise. You have this mechanism. That's the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the collection of talent, both at the federal, state and local level in all of the FBI field offices. And it's a prudent way to go.

It clarifies the way forward, and certainly there are elements that are in our face right now that strongly suggest terrorism based on what we have heard from ISIS, their encouragements, their propaganda over the last month. That seems a very logical starting place.

BROWN: Bill Gavin, you have investigated terrorism cases. What jumps out to you with this particular case?

BILL GAVIN, FORMER NEW YORK FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: With this particular case, Pam, I agree with all of the comments from both Jonathan and Ron.

The other thing that I look at is there had to be some trigger mechanism here that brought hundreds of FBI personnel, assets to the scene as rapidly as they did. And there's something telling about the fact that the director went to the White House immediately. That very seldom ever happens.

It seems to me that there's a little bit of a missing piece here and maybe it's not missing for the investigators at this point and they should well know, but it's not necessary that they concern themselves with informing us about it either. I think it's going to be very important, as Jonathan says, to kind of codify this, to clarify it and say this is what happened.

I have been to Jordan a number of times and the security forces there are pretty darn good. And so they may be able to get to some of the problems, some of the things that he did there. When he was in high school, he did that martial arts. If you look at any of the training films of ISIS or ISIL, that's part of their regiment. Who knows if that is attached or not attached, or something that he had going before that.

I don't know. But I think this thing, it's starting to unravel at this particular point in time and I think all the information will become known.

BROWN: Still a very active investigation though and there's a lot of people mourning as this investigation continues.

Alexandra, you're learning more about the victims and their loved ones and the community as well. What can you tell us?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, so many questions about the shooter, but so much of the focus now and the grief is being directed at these four Marines killed together at this Marine and Naval reserve center.

And we have now put the faces to these names. We have learned about Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan. He earned a Purple Heart. This is somebody who did two tours of duty overseas. He's being honored today in his home state of Massachusetts. The flag in that state has been lowered to half-staff in Springfield, the city that he hails from.

[15:10:11]

We have learned about Lance Corporal Skip Wells, the youngest of the four victims here. This young man graduated from high school just three years ago, pursued his dream to be a Marine. He has spent some time in college studying history before becoming a part of this ugly chapter of this country's history.

He had spent some time with his mother recently visiting Disney World and she had some very, very heartfelt, moving words, saying that he died doing what he loved in the service of his country. We're certain that that's the way that all four of these Marines would want to be remembered.

There was Sergeant Carson Holmquist, also a two-tour Marine. You're talking about real veteran Marines here who did a great service to their country and we're learning about Staff Sergeant David Wyatt. His wife posted on Facebook a picture of him and his children, the children holding the American flag. So, they're grow up, these are young children, learning the story of their father's service and also learning the story of what happened to his father and the three men killed alongside him.

We know that there was also a sailor who was injured during the attacks. He was shot three times, according to his grandmother. This is Randall Smith recovering today.

BROWN: OK, Alexandra, thank you.

Let's listen in on the press conference now. It's getting ready to believe. I believe that's the U.S. attorney there in Chattanooga.

BILL KILLIAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: Good afternoon. Thank you for coming.

I'm joined here today by the sheriffs, mayors, the district attorney locally, and other statewide homeland security officials.

First of all, my heartfelt condolences to the four Marines who were killed yesterday. I'm joined on the stage by Captain Jason Balzer of the United States Marine Corps. Next to him, Chief Fred Fletcher, chief of police of Chattanooga Police Department. Next to him, Steve Gerido, special agent in charge of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives. Next to him, Ed Reinhold, special agent in charge of the FBI for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

I'm Bill Killian, United States attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

We wanted to relay to you details and be as transparent as we can be and what the law allows us to be. The active shooter situation is being treated as a terrorism investigation. It is being led by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, and we will continue to investigate it as an act of terrorism until the proof shows us otherwise.

We will let the facts and the evidence lead us where it may. The Department of Justice, the FBI, our local, state and federal partners are putting all the resources necessary toward this effort. We will not leave any stone unturned for the victims of this heinous and cowardly act.

I can tell you that we have one common goal. That is to protect the safety and the national security of our citizens and our people and this country. The Chattanooga police chief is here and he will detail some unquestionable acts of bravery and heroism exhibited by the Chattanooga Police Department in the active shooter situation they found themselves.

Steve Gerido will detail the assets and resources of ATF toward the investigation. And Ed Reinhold will detail what he can of the Joint Terrorism Task Force-led investigation, the resources and personnel of the FBI and what they have dedicated to this.

At that point, we will answer any questions that you have if we can answer them. And I want to thank you in advance for understanding that we can't answer all questions and are prohibited from actually answering some.

[15:15:00]

First of all, I want to recognize Captain Jason Balzer with the United States Marine Corps.

CAPT. TY BALZER U.S. MARINE CORPS: Sir, thank you.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

The Marine Corps thanks the law enforcement and emergency personnel here in Chattanooga for their response yesterday and to the Chattanooga officials and community for their heartfelt support. We will continue to assist the federal and Chattanooga authorities in their investigation. Most importantly, our thoughts, prayers and support are with the

families of our four deceased Marines and with the wounded service men and police officer. We remain committed to being a part of the communities from which our Marines come and to ensuring balance between the safety of our Marines and remaining accessible to the nation. Thank you.

FRED FLETCHER, CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, POLICE CHIEF: My heart and the hearts of the Chattanooga Police Department go out to the U.S. Marine Corps and the families of their victims.

For myself and the Chattanooga Police Department, we offer our condolences and we say semper fi.

I have the distinct privilege to talk to you all about the bravery of police officers, the bravery of Chattanooga police officers today, so please indulge me.

Yesterday, Chattanooga police officers stood ready to place themselves between harm and the community, just like they do every day. When the call came out of a gunman, police officers immediately responded and began searching for this cowardly and brutal person.

Yesterday was a breathtaking example of that everyday courage, that everyday bravery that can all too often be taken for granted. Immediately after those reports of gunfire, officers began searching and located the gunman driving down the highway.

Chattanooga police officers immediately began following and chasing that vehicle between the first and second locations. Eventually, officers encountered the suspect at the second location. That suspect soon made his intent, his cowardly, homicidal intent, clear.

Officers of the Chattanooga Police Department did not hesitate. They engaged that person, that gunman immediately, aggressively, with the sole intent of making sure that he harmed as few community members as possible.

That assailant, that gunman struck one Chattanooga police officer with gunfire. As he went down, his teammates who were responding equally as aggressively came to his aid. They put their hands on him, dragged him from under the gunfire and bravely returned fire to ensure that he was safe and the gunman remained engaged. Officers continued to return fire and engage the suspect even as officers from around the city began responding. Members of my executive staff rushed out of police headquarters to the scene while the incident was unfolding.

Officers sitting at home threw on their uniforms, rushed out the door, came to the scene to aid their community and aid their fellow officers. As I have had a chance to talk to the officers as we debrief them, they recount their training, their mentorship, but, most importantly, their commitment to serve this community.

They are all thankful for each other and the privilege to serve this community. Officers stand willing to risk their own lives for others. They did the day before yesterday. They did yesterday with breathtaking clarity. And they do today and tomorrow.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Chattanooga police officers prevented loss of life yesterday. Chattanooga police officers proved themselves in every sense of the word heroes. They are my heroes. I have never been prouder to be a police officer than I was yesterday and today. I am extremely proud to be a Chattanooga police officer.

Today, as yesterday, Chattanooga police officers stand ready day and night to face down evil, to face down violence and to do it on behalf of their beloved Chattanooga.

On behalf of them, we thank you for the privilege to serve. Thank you.

STEVEN GERIDO, ATF: Good afternoon. On behalf of the men and women of ATF, I would like to express my sincere condolences too to the United States Marine Corps.

[15:20:03]

As regarding ATF, as pertains to what we have been doing along with our federal partners and CPD, ATF HAS conducted urgent firearms traces and The results have been relayed to the investigative team. ATF HAS provided investigative and intelligence resources to augment The investigation.

Several agents from our Birmingham office, from our Knoxville office, from our Nashville office have responded, as well as our intelligence research specialists are here and present and working in a collaborative effort with all of our partners here on the stage today. So, we are committed to work as a team and to be here.

And like United States attorney Killian said, we will spare no expense in making sure we bring this case to closure for the American people. Thank you.

ED REINHOLD, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Good afternoon. Welcome back.

First, on behalf of the FBI and director of the FBI and all the men and women who serve in the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, I too want to extend our deepest sympathies to not only the United States Marine Corps, but to the families of those lost -- who lost their loved ones in yesterday's horrific shootings.

It is difficult to find the words to express just how sorry we are at your loss.

Now I would like to provide you with a quick update since our last press conference late yesterday evening. This matter continues to be investigated as an act of terrorism by the FBI's Knoxville Joint Terrorism Task Force, along with the Chattanooga Police Department and our federal, state and local partners.

Because the investigation is still in its early stages, it would be premature to speculate on exactly why the shooter did what he did. However, we are conducting a thorough investigation to determine whether this person acted alone, was inspired or directed, and we will exhaust all efforts in determining how and why this horrible act happened.

Because this is an ongoing investigation, we are somewhat limited what we can discuss. But I can tell you that, as I speak right now, personnel from the FBI, ATF, HSI, troopers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Chattanooga police officers, and Hamilton County sheriff's deputies, along with other law enforcement throughout the state of Tennessee and this nation are covering leads that are coming into our command center.

Some of those agents are part of our evidence response teams, who are highly trained in crime scene processing. They continue to meticulously document evidence located at the crime scenes. Teams from Knoxville, Memphis, Atlanta, along with trajectory experts from the FBI laboratory, are working on both scenes.

FBI agents are partnering with state and locals to run down every lead that we have received. Thus far, we have covered approximately 70 leads, and as our team continues to develop additional information, you may see or hear about FBI activity in other areas of the state and nation.

Victim witness specialists from the United States attorney's office and the FBI are assisting the families of the victims. If you have any information about the alleged shooter, Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez, and you haven't spoken -- and we haven't spoken to you, please call 865-602-7582.

No amount of information is too small or insignificant. At this time, we will open the floor to questions. Please state your question loudly. I ask that you please tell me what -- where you're coming from, which news agency, and lastly, if your question is not for me, please indicate who the question is for.

We will start right over here.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

REINHOLD: OK. I'm not going to go into specifics about what type of weapons he had. I will tell you that he did have at least two long guns, which would be considered rifles or shotguns. And he did have -- and one handgun that we're aware of.

Yes, sir?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Drew Griffin with CNN. Were the guns purchased legally? Have you been able to determine (OFF-MIKE)

REINHOLD: Again, we are continuing to explore those possibilities. Some of the weapons were purchased legally and some of them may not have been. We will examine that.

Yes, ma'am?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

REINHOLD: OK. Let me clarify your statement.

And the question -- and I need to probably repeat the questions, so that everyone can hear. I think the question is, since it's been classified as an act of terrorism, is there any concern for others in this community?

[15:25:04]

REINHOLD: First off, we have not classified it as an act of terrorism. Let me be perfectly clear.

What we have decided or what we have determined is that we will treat it as an act of terrorism until it is determined one way or the other as to whether it was an act of terrorism or some other type of criminal event. At this time, we don't believe that anyone else is in danger in the Chattanooga community.

Again, we continue to explore all options as far as other individuals who may or may not be involved. However, at this point, we do not believe there's an imminent threat to anyone in the Chattanooga area.

Yes, sir?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

KILLIAN: Well, let me address that first.

I think I also said yesterday don't get caught up in monikers. This is an investigation of terrorism, that investigations of terrorism are at an intense and higher level than a normal criminal investigation. And, so, if you investigate it as terrorism and it ends up being a simple criminal act, then you have done more extensive investigation than you needed to.

If you investigate it as a criminal act and it becomes terrorism, you may have neglected to perform some investigation. We're investigating it at the highest level of investigation. And I wouldn't get caught up in monikers about whether it's domestic, international, this, that. It's a terrorism investigation.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) second location. And can you give us any more information, not about motive or anything like that, but about what happened there? Did he -- where was he confronted? When was he confronted? Had he already shot people before he was confronted? Those type of details.

REINHOLD: We are still trying to figure all of that out, to be honest with you. We are just beginning to process that scene. We brought in a lot of special equipment in order to process it thoroughly.

We have to look at trajectory. We have to look at shell casings. We have to look at impact of where the rounds went. So, it is our belief that shortly after he arrived he was engaged by Chattanooga police officers. So -- but he was a moving target. And he was able to obviously kill these four Marines and wound the one sailor.

Yes, sir?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Following up on Jim's question, where was the suspect finally cornered and where was -- where was the suspect finally cornered? In the park outside that building? And where exactly were the Marines slain? Inside the facility? In the parking lot outside? You see the car rammed into a green fence. Can you help us in that, please?

REINHOLD: The subject never left the confines of the military reserve. So he never went outside the fence once he gained entry into the facility. He was killed inside of the fence area. All the Marines were killed within inside the fence as well.

And I'm not going to go further into detail as to exactly where they were located because that becomes part of the evidence that we may or may not use in trial.

Yes, sir?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) What can you tell us about the suspect's foreign travel and how significant that was (OFF-MIKE)

REINHOLD: Well, obviously, we are looking at any foreign travel that he may have performed. We do know that he has traveled outside of the United States.

We have -- we are exploring all travel that he's done, and we have asked our intelligence partners throughout the world to provide us with any information they may have concerning his travel and/or activities while overseas.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

REINHOLD: I'm not going to go into great detail as to exactly where he's traveled, in an attempt not to hinder our partners overseas from being able to conduct their portion of the investigation.

Yes, ma'am?

QUESTION: Did police kill the suspect? Did he kill himself or how that was done?

REINHOLD: We have no indication -- the question was, if you didn't hear, was, did the police kill the subject or did he kill himself?

All indications are that he was killed by fire from the Chattanooga police officers. We have no indication that there was any self- inflicted wounds. However, we will examine that to ensure that that's the case.