Reports of a shooting. We are told that staff in the capitol complex, again, are being told to shelter in place. These reports of gunshots being fired in the capitol Visitors Center. Now, the white house this these situations routinely put on lockdown immediately, as you can imagine. We also hear reports that the north lawn has also been cleared at the white house, and the pennsylvania avenue that runs right in front of the Capitol Building has been cleared as well as Lafayette Park all the way down to h street. We understand that now that there has been one Police Officer shot. Were just getting word on that. So, again, lockdown on capitol hill, the white house in lockdown as are people working inside the capitol complex, being told to shelter in place. At one point they thought maybe this was a drill but, apparently, this is no drill. Again, reports of one Police Officer being shot, other people saying there were injuries, and people are being taken to some sort of shelter. All of this reportedly beginning at the Visitors Center in the capitol hill complex. And we believe its contained to that area, at least thats what we believe. Apparently, the gunman in thel n captured, thats according to reuters. But, again, one Police Officer shot. This is information being cited from the congress sergeant at arms office. So the word went out just about five minutes ago, shots heard at the capitol. We believe that the Visitors Center, now theres word that a Police Officer has been shot. The north lawn has been cleared away, pennsylvania avenue hut down, and those inside shut down, and those inside the complex being told, essentially, do not go out, shelter in place which, of course, is Standard Operating Procedure in these situations. Again, hearing from the sergeant at arms office that, one we do not know the condition of that officer, but one Police Officer has been shot. Were also getting word that the gunman or if there is just the one gunman has been apprehended. Thats all we have at this point. Again, no Senate Session in progress right now. We did show you pictures of josh earnest giving his, you know, Daily White House brief to reporters and seemed completely unfazed by what was going on elsewhere in the capitol hill complex. But, again, the white house is in lockdown, people are being told to stay in place. Unfortunately, this is something thats become i wouldnt say common, but certainly not unheard of. Weve had people jumping over the fences to get into the white house. But again, weve not heard anything else other than many complete lockdown in complete lockdown. The north lawn of the building, of the white house is being cleared out as has pennsylvania avenue. Of course, authorities move very, very quickly in this situation, and people are well drilled, especially those who make their living and go to capitol hill every day. They are well aware of the dangers, and when theyre told to stop and shelter in place, thats exactly where they stay. And thats what we have right now, even for some of our own members who work for fox news and fox business say that they have been told, stay put, and the only information we have is that shots fired at the Visitors Center part of the capitol. We understand according to one report that a capitol Police Officer has been shot, but apparently not seriously and that the shooter themselves are in custody. Hopefully thats the case, but thats what weve heard to this point. Were also, dont forget, into the last hour of trading. The dow moving higher. Lets go down to adam shapiro at the New York Stock Exchange as we continue to follow what appears to be, lets hope, an isolated shooting at the capitol. Adam, what can you tell us from the market point of view . Reporter yeah, ashley, the report of shots fired calm in i came in at about telephone minutes til 3 00 ten minutes til 3 00. Then the reports that the injury to the officer was minor and that, as you reported citing, i believe, it was reuters that a gunman had been captured, you saw the market go back up. Were trading up 26 points. To give everyone a perspective of where this alleged shooting has taken place, youve got the capitol and the Supreme Court. The Visitors Center is actually underground in between the Supreme Court and the capitol. So this would have happened, if its accurate, at that facility. You go down some stauers if youre coming stairs if youre coming from outside to get to the Visitors Center. When the reports came out, stocks sod out, but then when the report came out it was a minor injury and a gunman had been ap rehemmedded, stocks started trading higher, and at this point the dow is up 27 points. Ashley thank you very much, adam. We are joined by dan bongino, former secret Service Agent joining us by phone. Dan, whats the standard protocol . This is not the first time weve had reports of shots at the capitol, but whats the protocol from Law Enforcements point of view . Well, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you shelter in place, that everybodys familiar with the shelter in place plan. You dont want a bunch of unnecessary people roaming through the hallways, reason being once you get people to shelter in place, stay in their office and close the doors, if, god forbid, the incident was a larger incident than this one appears to be and there was an active gunman, you can discriminate pretty quickly between, you know, your personnel and potential bad guys, for the lack of a better term. So that would be the first step, to shelter in place. Ashley and i would imagine this is a wellpatrolled, you know, area. Theres a lot of Police Officers. So i would imagine they can act pretty quickly in at least i dont want to say surrounding the situation or at least trying to get a hold on, you know, how to lock it down, so to speak. Yeah. Thats actually a good question because postcolumbine the entire response modus operandi for an active shooter changed completely. The old way of looking at this was cordon off the situation, make sure you could surround the threat and then try to either negotiate or tend to victims. Thats no longer the way Law Enforcement and Capitol Police or secret service would respond to a potential active shooter situation like this. The idea now is to directly confront the problem even if you have to bypass potential victims of a shooting to do so. So, yes, theyre very well trained at doing this. Theyve gone over this hundreds of times. Theyre very good at what they do. Yes, they are. I dont know how familiar you are with this. Its in the Visitors Center. How easy is it to get a gun into visitors or center . Wouldnt you have to go through some sort of metal detector or patdown before you got there . Yeah, im pretty familiar with the Visitors Center both as a former agent and as someone whos visited the capitol quite a bit. Its very difficult if not impossible, and being a little short on details as all of us are right now, my guess here is that someone this had to happen at the actual metal detech to have. This is a pretty typical security problem. Wherever your Access Control point is, in this case the metal detector, you continuously have to push these lines out farther and farther and farther because, i mean, you could technically show up at the metal detector with a gun, sadly start firing and clearly, i mean, if you created a secure environment maybe on one side, but on the other side you have people with guns. So thats the problem with these, they have to be pushed out farther and farther and farther. Thats why we have magnetometers nowhere close to the airports actual entrance to the airplane. You have to walk down terminals and things like that. Ashley right. We all complain about the invehicles, but its moments like this we realize its very important. Yeah, of course. I mean, you cant have, you cant have this kind of thing happen outside of a congressman or senators office, god forbid. And although this situation seems to at point, again, a little short on details, we all are, but it seems under control now. Youd rather this happen at an entry point, at an Access Control point than happen inside a critical area in the building where people could start taking hostages, and then you have a whole different level. You have a defcon one crisis there. So thats totally different. Ashley dan, hang on, if you could. Were going to have rod wheeler joining us too. Rod, im sorry, they havent told me who youre with, but how can you, what can you provide to us as we look at these scenes . And as i say, theyre all too familiar these days. Police officers surrounding the capitol complex, the white house. Everybodys on lockdown. I would imagine thanks to drills and previous occasions that weve seen shootings theyve got this down to a fine art, right . Absolutely, youre absolutely correct. I was formerly with d. C. Homicide branch, and i was just downtown this morning. Let me just kind of share with you and the viewers exactly how we staff the Police Officers around the capitol. Now, where that Visitors Center is located is a major entryway into the Capitol Building, and there are about 4050 Police Officers, mainly u. S. Capitol Police Officers, that surround the entire Capitol Building. And theyre all armed. Now, we also have officered on the rooftops around the capitol. Believe it or not, all the time, 24 hours a day. So where it appears as though this shooting took place, from what i hear and from what my sources are telling me, is that it was right just before you get inside the Visitors Center. Now, that hasnt been confirmed, but i do have some officers on the scene down there thats feeding me information. And im also being told that they also was able to subdue the shooter. So they do have the, a person in custody, and they still have the area on lockdown. Just so that the viewers also know, there are several other buildings right around the capitol where, obviously, a lot of our congressmen and senators offices are. Those buildings are on lockdown as well. As a matter of fact, many of the employees that work in those buildings were told to shelter in place, do not go out until the situation is under control. The lead agency for this investigation right now will be the Capitol Hill Police department right now, but the d. C. Police will come in because there was a shooting. And typically what we do, we do have jurisdiction over that area as well in the event of a major situation like we see going on right now. Ashley rod, very quickly, do you have any sense of who the gunman was . Did they tell you, your officers on the scene, what this person was, what he appeared to be . No. Actually, you know what . Theyre still calling, im to getting more information, and ill pass it on to you, but you dont want to speculate because, see, the police arent exactly sure if theres no one else thats involved with this. They do have the one person in custody, but now right now our responsibility is to make sure theres no one else, theres no backup, you know, individuals in that area thats trying to cause harm. As soon as i get more information, ill let you know, but they are about to have a press conference in a few minutes. Ashley okay, very good. The area, you pointed this out, he would have tried to take the gun into the Visitors Center, and he would have been stopped just short, am i correct . Youre exactly right. Ashley through metal detector or patdown, so thats the moment that he probably pulled the gun out. Well, thats what ive been told. In addition to that, there are metal detectors there, and theres a number of Police Officers, uniform Police Officers by the way, that stands right there at that visitor entrance. So that area is very heavily guarded. You have officers outside in vehicles, you also, we also use police dogs in that area there where the Visitors Center is and, obviously, these are sniffer dogs sniffing for bombs and things like that. Just so you know, thats one of the most secure areas in our Nations Capital. Ashley i would imagine shelter in place is the rule right now. Theres a lot of space to check to make sure theres no one out there with a gun, so this can take quite a long time, cant it . Well, it will take a long time, but again, as weve learned with all of these shootings, we just had one a year or two ago at the navy yard. Every Police Department down there in that area, the Capitol Police, the fbi police are involved now, secret service police, they all have a responsibility. And this came as a result of our training from that navy yard incident. So everyone down there has a responsibility, theyre in various buildings down there, and theyre just checking to make sure that theres no other threat that exists. Ashley ive still got dan bongino on the line, former secret Service Agent. Of dan, you know, this is the problem. Okay, they have a shooter in custody, we have that word, but we dont know, there could be others out there that could be in different areas of the capitol. Yeah, and thats always an issue in the curt and Law Enforcement arena security and Law Enforcement arena is, is the first attack a distraction to open up other avenues of attack . The secret service used to train on over and over using the malcolm x model. These are the kinds of things that the casual civilian, luckily, doesnt have to think about. But Law Enforcement, these are the things on their mind right now with this, hopefully, just an isolated incident. And we saw this, by the way, remember in the paris attacks where the initial explosion was at a stadium with subsequent layers of attacks happening later on. Again, we dont know thats the case, we all hope its not, but thats not the luxury we have in Law Enforcement. Hope isnt a plan. Ashley also, dan, its kind of interesting because congress is on recess, the lawmakers are all back in their districts. For washington, its fairly quiet and empty right now. So if someone was trying to make maximum impact, this would be a strange time to do it. Yeah, youre right. Thats a good point to make. But remember, some of this is more symbolism than necessarily, you know, impact in the sense that you could actually wound a congressman or United States senator or some member of government at that level. The symbolism matters more than anything, and a little bit of maybe reverse psychology. Hey, you know, theyll never think were going to attack when congress is out of session, so maybe securitys at a lower profile. You know, you never really know what terrorists are thinking. Ashley right. Body counts and things like that, they get someone in the process, theyre perversely thinking that may be just an added, sick bonus for them. Ashley all right. Lets bring in a former nypd police detective. Pat, thank you for joining us. Weve heard from rod and dan telling us, look, there is protocol when events like this unfold. Everyone goes into that mode, they know what theyre doing. Are we especially on alert given that every, on the evening news every day we see whats been going on in belgium, the continued raids and arrests . We are on high alert, are we not . No question about it. Weve been on high alert for a while, but the events in San Bernardino and the events in paris and now most recently brussels, i would say, have ratcheted up our concerns relating to small arms tactical assaults as well as terroristic events and active shooters which, by the way, we havent defined with clarity yet whats unfolding here at the capitol. Its safe to say its one of the three. So the answer is a decided and resounding yes. Much, much so. Ashley and, pat, you know, its impossible to stop someone from doing this. I guess the key is to try and stop them from doing, you know, the least amount of damage because if someone turns up to the white house with a gun and it appears that this gun came out just as he was getting close to the checking area, if you like, to get into the Visitors Center. Not a whole lot you can do, but the quickest thing to do is to contain the situation. Unquestionably. Unquestionably. The fact is, and its sad, but youre spot on. It is 1,000 impossible to protect when someones going to pull out a weapon. If theyre under surveillance because of various affiliations and theyre part of developing intelligence, which we have no indication thats the fact pattern here, thats a different animal entirely. But a random act of shooting incident, its not even a needle in a pile of needles, its a needle in a mountain of needles. The answer is to minimize casualties, minimize risk and what that comes down to is, as you pointed out, oi say, i advise regularly if you can, run. Run, run, run. Run as fast and as far as you can. Youre not trained to fight with these individuals. Ashley yeah. Unless youre armed and trained, any heroic atechs are likely to be attacks are likely to be suicidal. Its sad that i have to write them, to be very frank with you, and the reality is that, you know, everyone deeply concerned about this, and its a sad reality of 2016 america. Because if you cant run, i know its interesting because back on september 11th Rudy Giuliani told everyone not to run, but to walk as quickly as you can and to walk north, the Million People that were stuck when the towers went down. What i say is dont walk, run. If you cant run, if you cant run, shelter in place. Find a hiding spot, take some cover. Think pragmatically. Ashley very good stuff. Sad but true, my friend. Ashley the reality of life today. Let me bring in chad pilgrim, fox news producer down in d. C. What have you heard . Are you still sheltering in place . No, i was outside the building which is where i am right now, and i am standing right now on constitution avenue and new jersey which is just to the southwest of the u. S. Capitol. Im right on the edge of the capitol complex here. I was outside when this all went down, and they have at least given a little more leeway. Im looking at a couple of quickly unfurled stretches of police tape here, and they wont let people all the way up constitution avenue which is the main thoroughfare right between the capitol and Senate Office building. There was some confusion initially because there was a drill this morning in the u. S. Capitol for an active shooter situation. And initially, and they were very specific to this, the capitol and not the capitol Visitors Center. This is the underground, attached area directly in front of the capitol between the library of congress and the Supreme Court and the u. S. Capitol on the east side. And they were specific. The drill was the capitol. The cvc, the capitol Visitors Center was not affected, here we are now, its the capitol visitors section. You can imagine the panoply of people up here for the Cherry Blossom festival. When i was cutting through a few minutes ago, it was astonishing how many people were in there. But they are still telling folks to shelter in place inside the house and Senate Office building. No one will be allowed to enter or exit the building. If youre outside, seek cover. Now, they have, like i said, im up here pretty far. You can get further up the hill on the senate side because i initially tried to get up on the house side, and they had blocked off independence avenue on that side, so this is going to be somewhere around the center of the building on the east side of the capitol, and i cant progress up there because theyve shut this down tighter than a drum. Ashley right. Which is what you would expect, chad. We understand that the latest report has the shooter is, quote, down and on the way to the hospital. One individual was hit by shrapnel, we believe thats the Police Officer at the Visitors Center. Hes taken to the hospital, expected to be okay. It happened in the north visiting Center Screening area. But as you mentioned, chad, everything is shut down extremely tight. They are expecting some sort of News Conference from capitol hill on the latest. We know pennsylvania avenue was shut down, the north lawn was cleared out. Didnt we have the easter egg roll this morning . We did, and the house and senate are out right now, so theres not many members of congress here. Skeletal staff. In fact, ive struggled to get information confirmed because the usual people are off on vacation. This is, you know, a two week break here for the easter or recess here on capitol hill, and a lot of the folks i go to quickly, in fact, one got back with me thats a pretty good source and is away. Im trying to get it too. So thats the frustration trying to confirm something. Ashley we understand that the north lawn has now been opened up, which is an encouraging sign. It was locked down as we mentioned, also pennsylvania avenue, everyone else being told to shelter in place if theyre inside. But we have just learned that the north lawn has been reopened. So well continue to follow that. And, of course, we are waiting to get some sort of official word maybe through a News Conference from officials at, on capitol hill. But, again, reports say a single shooter just before entering on the north Visitors Center screening area of the capitol complex, and thats when, apparently, a gun came out, shots were heard. One Police Officer apparently was injured by shrapnel. He is expected to be okay. The shooters in custody and is, quote, down and on the way to the hospital. And were now getting word that the situation is, quote, under control. There were concerns always in situations like this that its more than one shooter, a coordinated attack of some sort. You never know. But it appears it was one gunman when is in custody, down and on the way to the hospital was the way it was put to us. And, again, the Police Officer at the capitol there at that visiting center area was hit by shrapnel, is expected to be okay. The white house is in lockdown, congress is in lockdown. We should point out that congress is in recess right now. Lawmakers are all back in their own districts meeting with their constituents, so it is rather quieter than normal in the area. Again, we had the easter egg roll this morning on the white house lawn which is the annual event for the kids to come out for that. But thankfully, this is happening way after that. But it appears, as we have been told, that the situation is now under control. But as you can imagine, the response is fast, its quick, everything is locked down. Warnings go out immediately, and thats what we saw here. It appears to be contained to that area at the north screening area of the Capitol Building. Lets bring back in rod wheeler who gave us some great information earlier. Rod, what are you hearing . The only thing i can add right now from what im hearing from my sources is about 2 00 this afternoon there was a tour boat right along the potomac basin which runs on the back side of the Capitol Building, and it overturned around 2 00. So that was kind of interesting earlier. So we had a number of officers in that area anyway. And these, the Fire Department actually rescued a number of people that had turned over in that tour boat. So initially, the police here with this situation was trying to make sure that there was no connection between the two incidents. Because how ironic was it that that boat turned over just in the middle of the water right behind the capitol there, the potomac basin, and then we have this shooter that walks up to the area here. Now, the Police Officers, as i indicated earlier, right there at the area where the guy came in with the weapons, they were all armed Police Officers, and there was a number of officers on the outside of the area patrolling as well. So the Police Response was less than ten seconds, literally. They took this guy out. And from what im also being told, im not sure if you reported this yet, is that the Police Officer that was hit was hit by shrapnel. And hes going to be okay. Now, theyre transporting him, just so you know this is new information, to gw hospital. As a matter of fact, hes there now. Hes already arrived at the hospital. And the shooter was taken down, he was injured, but he was not shot from what im being told. Ashley okay. Again, information is still coming out. Ashley so, rod, lets kind of review very quickly. We were told by a fox news senior producer chad pilgrim that there was some sort of drill this morning thats right. Ashley in the capitol complex dealing with an active shooter situation. Then we have a tour boat overturning around 2 00 this afternoon on the backside of the complex, on the potomac area, and then we have a real shooter. A lot of confusion, you can imagine, for people there. Theyre trying to figure out, you know, i know a boat overturning isnt relevant, but it required emergency service, and then you have this is it a drill or isnt it a drillsome. Exactly right. Law enforcement wasnt sure exactly what was related to what. In other words, when you had this boat that turned over right around 2 00 this afternoon, that was a little we peculiar because that normally doesnt happen. But then we had the drill this morning. Just so that you know, we always are these drills at least once a month down there if not in the Capitol Building, one of, you know, the government buildings around the Capitol Building. Every month we have these active shooter drills, so our response is really pristine when it comes to the Police Response. And even when it comes to the employees that work in those buildings, i mean, they know exactly what to do. So the police sent out, the Capitol Police sent out a text message this afternoon telling everyone to helder in place, that shelter in place, that there was a Critical Incident taking place, and thats when this whole thing started. Thats when everything went into a hockdown, and as you just lockdown, and as you just earlier reported, the lockdown is actually being lifted now for most of the buildings. Ashley and, rod, stay right there. A source confirming to fox news that shots were fired at the capitol Visitors Center this afternoon on the north side. Were told the situation now is under control. There is no longer a threat. Thats what we are told. Were told there was a single shooter who was shot by Law Enforcement, but no word on his status other than hes on the way to the hospital. We also believe that a Police Officer at the Visitors Center was hit by shrapnel, expected to be okay, but, obviously, being taken to the hospital to be taken care of as well. So that appears, and also were told that there does not appear to be any other threat to any other parts of the city although we do have the white house still, i guess, in lockdown although now were being told its under control, that soon be released, im sure. But all things considered, a quick response, rod, and one that had what appears to be a good outcome. Thats right. And the white house, from what im being told, is no longer on lockdown. I havent confirmed that, but im being told its no longer on lockdown although the security measures that are in place right now are at their highest level. And you know what . Especially because of everything thats been going on around the world with brussels, we have to take extra precautions. We, meaning Law Enforcement. Especially in our Nations Capital and cities like new york city. We have to take extra precautions because we never know if this is a precursor or to manager else thats a now, what are the investigators doing right now . I can tell you that ashley yeah. Theyre trying to identify exactly who said guy was who came in there with the weapon. What was his situation . And whether or not he was affiliated or associated with any terrorist groups because we have to rule those things out. Now, the joint Terrorism Task force has been notified. As a matter of fact, theyre on the scene. Im looking added some of your shots on the screen now. Ashley yeah. And i can see some of those guys i know. So theyre down there, and theyre working this case right now just to make sure that this guy hasnt placed any bombs in vehicles or anything like that around. So the situation even though its under control for the actual entryway to the Visitor Center, its not necessarily under control for the police until we can rule all of these out. Because right now is a critical point in the investigation. Ashley yeah, and, rod, you know, we talk about intelligence, theres wen lots of break down in intelligence gathering in belgium dealing with the terrorist attacks there. But in a situation like this, you cant really stop anyone. I mentioned this earlier. They have a gun, walking up to the white house and started firing. In this case getting to the Visitor Center. Before they get to that checkpoint, getting a gun out. Its just something we live in. Its a society we have. Its a free society, and its just something we have to live with, but its very difficult to prevent. It is very difficult to prevent. But im going to say this. In support of police and Law Enforcement, we actually train for that type of situation. Just a few years ago we had over at the museum. He opened fire. Do you remember that. Ashley yes. And there are going to be these individuals that we know nothing about that could walk up to our major buildings and entities that open fire. So we have officers that are trained now to do immediate response, which means any time Something Like that happens or that threat prevents itself, they know how to take immediate action to take that threat away. Ashley rod, you have been terrific with the information you provided and your expertise. We appreciate it. And im sure well be checking back in with with you. But, again, rod wheeler, thank you very much. Lets go now to andrew peek, former u. S. Army intelligence officer. Andrew, this is a situation weve become aware of, and i would say used to, but were aware of the dangers as we watch whats happening in europe on a daily basis. But it appears this situation was taken care of quickly. And very efficiently, would you not say . Absolutely. You know, i think the surprising thing about the gunman is that the shooting is that it took place in the Visitor Center; right . Ashley uhhuh. Where the security is actually much tighter than in many of the senate and house office buildings. Theres actually airportlevel security in the Visitor Center. So were just fortunate that the incident took place there and not in, like, the russell building or dirksen building which would have potentially resulted in many casualties. Ashley makes you wonder the motivate here. Of course we dont know the identity of the shooter. What may have precipitated this. But congress is on recess. Lawmakers are all across the country at home with their constituents. Its pretty quiet right now on capitol hill, other than the staffers of course and all the media. It would be a strange time for someone if they wanted to make a maximum statement. Absolutely. It would be a really strange time. You know, recess is a point where not only the members go back to their districts but mostly the staff are only allowed to take vacation during this during those weeks. Theyre not only are there no members, but there arent many targets of any kind. Which really leads you to think that its of course not a very well organized potentially mentally unstable individual. Ashley you know, its interesting, andrew, as i mentioned what we see in europe going on every day. I would imagine were very much were always on high alert. Theres no doubt about that. But what weve seen in brussels, we must be on with extra high alert. Would you agree . Absolutely. Without a question. You know, it reminds me of the l. A. Scare about a month or two ago where there was a potential threat email or sent to the l. A. School system. So in the interest of public safety, it wasnt too long after San Bernardino attacks, they shut down the School System for a day. And even though it was a false alarm and probably, you know, in the grand scheme of things they didnt need to do that, it is definitely the smartest thing to do. Ashley it is. And, you know, when we hear of when we first get word reported gunfire at the capital, its such an iconic of course symbol of what is america, that and of course new york city is always, you know, a target. But when you hear things like this, and it involves washington d. C. You cant help but first think of terrorism. Absolutely. And you remember the flight 93 that went down in pennsylvania during 9 11. Ashley yes. Was supposed to hit the capital. Because it is a symbol. And dc is symbol. The pentagon, the white house, but particularly the tallest building in town. The capital. Ashley andrew, where are you . Are you in the capital complex area . No. Im actually in new york on a business trip. But i was just talking to a senior staffer who is currently on lock down on the senate side. Ashley yeah. And he said to me, riley that apparently the gun is mightier than the pen. So, you know, im glad to see that theyre taking it with a little bit of humor there. Ashley all right. Andrew peek, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it very much. Just a recap, again. A shooting this afternoon at the capitol hill complex at the Visitor Center on the north side. A loan gunman it appears took out a weapon, he has been caught. A Police Officer was injured. Receiving shrapnel injuries we understand. The shooter is on his way to the hospital. Were not sure what the injuries are. But hes in custody. Were told that the threat is over. The lock down or the area around the north lawn which has been shut down is now reopened and the threat is over. The Police Officer that was hit with the shrapnel is reportedly going to be okay. This all happened as you can see the u. S. Capital building. The Visitor Center area which has the most security guards in that area. But, again, congress is on recess right now. Theres no lawmakers around. Many of the aids are there too. So its rather quiet at this time of the year. But, again, the Police Officers expected to be okay. The gunman we believe is one person responsible is in custody and on the way to the hospital. Probably at the hospital already. And thats what we know that the threat is over. Lets bring in Lieutenant Colonel allen west. Colonel, thank you for joining us. You know, we look at these scenes, and we see all the officers surrounding the Capital Building. And made this point several times. Its very difficult to prevent Something Like this. This was a person who hadnt gone through the first checkpoint yet at the Visitor Center. They were getting to that point, pull out a gun for whatever reason. Its not something that you can stop, but it appears the response was very quick and very effective. Yes, ashley, its great to be with you. And hats off and kudos to the Capitol Hill Police. I know many of them. And they do a fantastic job. And the great thing was that there was no injury to any of the civilians that the that were there at the Visitor Center. But, again, we have to understand that dc has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation. So, you know, gun laws do not prevent criminals from taking criminal activities or actions. Lawabiding citizens will abide with it. Now, when you look at what has happened of course last week in brussels and this incredible, you know, terrorist environment that we live in, were just going to have to be more vigilant when it comes to our security protocol. Ashley Lieutenant Colonel, just stay there for two seconds. I want to bring viewers this news. We understand that the nypd, new york Police Department responding to a suspicious package now near the marriott marquee right in time square. Thats a picture of time square where the world meets. Just around the corner from the studio here. The marriott marquee, 1,500 block of broadway. Bomb squad we understand on the scene. The area is being secured. No easy task as you can see from this picture to secure an area in time square. It is obviously an area that many, many tourists come to, to this great city. And one of the areas they want to visit, a lot of it is pedestrians friendly now. But we understand a suspicious package at the marriott marquee right there in time square. The bomb squad with the nypd is now on the scene figuring out what may have if anything. Of course well keep you up to speed on that. Let me bring you back in, Lieutenant Colonel allen west. You know, we live in a free society. Its difficult stopping anyone from Walking Around walked up to whether its the Capital Building or whatever and opening fire. Thats the price we pay i guess for the kind of society that we want and cherish so much. Based on what weve seen going on in europe and perhaps the depth and the, you know, the how widespread the Terror Network appears to be there, how concerned are you about that in this country . Well, im very concerned. Because if you look at what is up there in Northern Virginia within the last three months, youve had five individuals that have been arrested on isisrelated terrorist activities. That is the exact same place washington d. C. Virginia area that. The strategic memorial day o memorandum was found in a 2004 raid, written back in 1991. So we have these enclaves in america. Ight for isis. Paul, many so we need to be as vigilant. I dont want to see us flave police state. But we have to move away from this whole Political Correctness and worry about, quote, unquote, profiling and have to use trend analysis. Because that is the only way that youre going to be able to piece together the puzzle so that we can start to dry up the sanctuaries not just overseas but also here domestically. Ashley being vigilant. What do you mean by that . Just if you see something suspicious or someone acting suspicious, you should immediately contact someone. Many people are afraid to get involved. Well, thats the sad thing, ashley. Because when you look at what happened in San Bernardino. The home of syed farook and Tashfeen Malik number one, she should not have been admitted to the country because she gave false information on her fiance visa. Her residents information. And the second thing, we had neighbors that were witnessing, you know, see something say something, they decided not to say anything because we have created a culture in america and probably in western civilization that we denigrate. So instead of saying something about syed farooks house, people did not want to be told that theyre a islam phobe or racist. They kept their mouth shut. Just the same in belgium when you saw the people with the one glove on their left hand. We have to start teaching people to pick up on these trends and see these things, you know . There are many things that we learned over in the combat zone in iraq and afghanistan. How do determine if a male was wearing a birka instead of a female . Because those things leave to lifesaving events. Ashley well put. Let me put things up to speed again. Capitol hill shots fired this afternoon at the Visitor Center. The white house. The main complex on capitol hill all put on lock down. People told to shelter in place that there was an active shooter situation. That shooter is now in custody. Was injured. Maybe shot but not lifethreatening. Were not sure on that. But is being taken to the hospital. A Police Officer also hit by shrapnel in this confrontation. The officer expected to be okay. Also on the way to the hospital. Were told that that subdivisiosituation has now been resolved. We also have word that the new york city Police Department is on the scene looking at a suspicious package left at the marriott marquee right in the middle of time square. The bomb squad is on the scene. This is time square i mean it is crazy busy any time of the day or night. And this is what it looks like on a monday afternoon. So they are checking that out. Theyre trying to secure the area. Were continuing to keep an eye on that. No easy job securing an area time square 3 41 in the afternoon in new york city. But well continue to keep an eye on that. All right. We have someone else on the phone. John cardilo joins us. Former nypd officer. John, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it. Let me ask you really quickly about the bomb threat. Based on how heightened we are in this day and age, is it unusual to have a suspicious package in new york . I would say not. But are we on high alert and is that why were giving this particular situation more attention . Yeah. I think thats probably the case here. Weve been on high alert in new york city since september 11, 2001. And the bomb squad responds to suspicious package calls quite often. Ashley yeah. On the heels of brussels and paris, it doesnt surprise me that they reacted as they did on this one. Its quite sound security protocols actually. Ashley you know, john, much criticism has been pointed at the belgium authorities for just not seeming to get a handle and then their ability to take in intelligence information and actually share it with others. I would imagine that the new york city Police Department is very, very well trained and very, very up to speed on all the latest techniques. But can we ever be fully prepared . Well, youre 100 right, ashley, and the nypd i would have to put up there with the fbi and even the cia with their intelligence gathering and the ability to act on intelligence. But, no, theres never zero tolerance ever in Law Enforcement. And you can never lull yourself into that false sense of security to think that theres ever going to be. Its a very low tech attacks like brussels, like paris, that keep us awake at night. This of us who analyze this who work in this world. So the nypd, they cant stop them all, they do an outstanding job with what they can stop. Ashley and how what about the relationship with the public . How attuned do you think we are . We all in being the eyes and ears for the Police Department and and all the counterterrorism folks because ultimately if you see something suspicious, you should report it. But there are many people out there as we saw in San Bernardino that are reluctant to do that. Yeah. Absolutely, and i heard Lieutenant Colonel. Ashley yeah. Who came on prior to me. Hes 100 right. We tell people if you see something, say something. But when they do, the progressivesville vie them for being islam phobic so you dont have it both ways. And i would urge people to go with their gut. You know their neighbors. If you see something, say something. Dont worry about what youre going to be labeled. Worry about national security. Ashley all right, john, stay right there if you would. I really appreciate it. Lets bring in bowe daedal, former nypd detective. Hes seen it all on the streets. Bowe, youve been a proponent of lets put aside Political Correctness. Lets keep our eyes and ears open and call it as it is. We have a suspicious package in time square right now. Weve had a single shooter incident at the capital which appears to be resolved and the threat is over. These are different times, arent they . Weve seen whats happened in belgium. We have to be on alert all the time. Well, theres one good thing. Someone reported that package. And these bomb threats occurring quite often in new york. And its just a good autopsy sign that people are reporting a bag thats left behind. Because it will probably turn out to be nothing but then again you can never be 100 . Again, my good prayers go out to this officer that got shot over there in washington or hit with shrapnel or however he got wounded, i just hope that his recovery is speedy. But we have to realize one thing. Were facing this threat. Complacency cant be set in here. We have to be on guard all the time. And the capital is a target the same as new york city is. And part of my thing about Political Correctness is, look, weve got very, very fine muslim people that live in neighborhoods that have great families and the most important thing in life is to take care of their families and the safety of their family. You know, when i talk about i dont talk about going into muslim neighborhoods and putting a presence there like storm troopers. What i talk about is having a lot more muslim Police Officers. Uniform and plainclothes, which can speak out. They can talk to people. You know, whats going on . You see something suspicious . I drive by, you call me over, let me know. We have to have that communication back and forth. Thats the most important thing is intelligence. Bill bratton and john miller are doing a great job. Prevent machine guns on our streets and all of that. But what we want to do is stop the attack from happening before it happens. Ashley right . And we all have to be together. And we all have to be present and have also opinions there. You know, Political Correctness is very good. But if im searching for a gangs up in east harlem robbing people all over the place. Im going to use under covers that are spanish or black other whatever. So lets be real about it. If youre looking for muslim terrorist hiding in muslim neighborhoods, youve got to bring muslim people in there. Ashley right . People that can speak arabic. People that can blend in. And theres so many Good American muslim people. So i dont think that its a bad thing. Because certainly theyll want these people to be taken out and eradicated out of their neighborhoods so they dont have to have the threat of being blown up with some bomb. Ashley bowe stay right there. Let me bring in gerri willis in, shes been following all of these events. Gerri, what do you got . Well, i was looking into the capital Visitor Center complex, which is much bigger than you probably presume. Theres some 580,000 square feet of space. Three floors underground. So this is a massive area. It can hold as many as 4,000 visitors. And all kinds of spaces for conferences, for meetings, theres an auditorium, this was open back in 2008 about eight years ago. So if its been a while since youve been to the capital, all of this has changed and changed dramatically. Its really a vast space at the Visitor Center complex there. 580,000 square feet. Hold 4,000 visitors. Really elaborate to hold the many, many visitors who come to washington each and every year and want to see the capital as the centerpiece of our democracy. And of course youve got to think as this kind of thing goes on, there are moms and dads all over the country thinking about should we go . Should we visit given the events that are unfolding right in front of us. Ashley all right, gerri, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Youre welcome. Ashley yeah, that Visitor Center much bigger as you may realize. And also heavy presence there of Police Officers. So when this loan gunman it happens pulled out a weapon, there was a number of people there to respond to that. Again, the gunman in custody in washington d. C. Injured on the way to hospital a Police Officer hit with shrapnel on the way to the hospital but apparently will be okay. And were continuing to see the lock downs will be lifted. We understand that the house senate and library of congress buildings now open for routine business. Were told the threat is over. So a loan gunman situation. So thats the good news. And, again, washington d. C. Pretty quiet this time of year. Congress is in recess. Lawmakers back home with their constituents doing their home business. And many of their staff also take a break at this time. So not as many people on capitol hill as you would normally see. But, again, this happened at the Visitor Center. Mike former nyc homeland security. With former nyc homeland security. Mike, thank you for joining us. We are obviously on high alert. But as we see whats going on in belgium and elsewhere, we always ask the question can it happen here . I would imagine that all the the as we informs washington d. C. And weve seen a bomb scare response in time square, were very much on high alert and very well trained. One of the things that has changed obviously whenever you have these types of incidents is that the circumstances always come back to what would we do . What are the vulnerabilities we have here . And certainly a place Like Washington d. C. A loan gunman would be in the Visitor Center. We dont know what the motivation is but something that Security Forces are always concerned about. Particularly after things happen around the world. Whether it was the attacks or obviously San Bernardino. Always something that everyone is on high alert for. And the problem of course is theyre random. There is no warning. And so theres a factor that sets in. But theres been enormous resource of major things like new york, l. A. Washington d. C. And we just have to continue to provide that kind of resource and vigilance. Ashley mike, hang on two seconds. Just more news. Fox news reporting that the Police Officer wasnt hit. Two officers did Exchange Gunfire with the gunman. We understand that a bystander was the one who was hit by some of that shrapnel and taken to the hospital. Obviously always a lot of confusion and news is always very flued around these situations. But we understand now according to fox news that no officer was hit. But a bystander was in addition to the gunman themself who was taken with some injuries to the hospital and the shelter in place has always been lifted for this folks inside the Capital Buildings in that complex. So the situation has resolved itself. Were trying to get a handle now on exactly what happened. Mike, just back to you very quickly. Do you think the people of this country fully appreciate the threat we face . Its always somewhere else. I know weve seen incidents here. Weve seen San Bernardino, weve seen other incidents. But are we fully prepared for what could come when we look at the events in brussels . So after 9 11 what ive noticed is that there were circles of concern. In new york city the communities, Terrorism Community play a large part of your psyche ten years, 20 years, it will be there. You have less of an awareness. Less of a concern. But nonetheless, its something even in new york you dont always appreciate the efforts that are made on a daily basis. And so thats just the way it is. And thats okay because in a democracy and were supposed to live our ways the way we want to live them with security. Ashley john, let me bring you back in and let you in on that. Its hard to think whats not going on in your backyard. I would hope the people are very aware with the threat thats posed. Well, i would have to agree with my colleague. The further you are moved from an incident and the further away from n time we are from an incident, we tend to become desensitized, less critical. But, look, the federal bureau of prisons is now restoring privileges to american taliban john walker lynne. To me, thats ridiculous. But as we move further away of him being captured, taking up arms against americans on the battlefield, he becomes less of a perceived threat. Hes certainly not. So we do need to become more vigilant. It would take another attack here. God forbid it would happen. But we need to be more complacent. Ashley bowe, what are your thoughts on that . Yeah. I think the real tragedy is with the federal government stopping the funding to new york by 50 million plus they should be increasing it because new york is the target, happen, and always will be. 9 11 i was down there when that occurred. And then the whole world i mean you could have kept anybodys phone. The patriot act, everything. But then all of a sudden complacency sets in. My biggest problem here is people have to be aware. And also the cops, the security personnel, hey, were in a war. Youve got to always be aware. You cant let your guard down. And you see somebody that looks suspicious, youve got to go there. And that was one of the things that i got really upset about them taking the stop. Because they were taking a lot of guns off the street. And then all of a sudden peoples rights were infringed. Not the person carrying the gun but theyre rights because of you searching them. Ive got a lot of problems with that. I want to make sure we have less guns on the street and certainly we have is our biggest fear the terrorist attack hitting new york and or washington. And we are targets of new york. And washington also. And washington this time of year is the Cherry Blossom time. The most beautiful time of the year. And people should go to washington and look at those beautiful Cherry Blossoms. Dont let terrorism or a nut like this with a gun take that privilege away from enjoying beautiful washington d. C. Ashley thats nicely put. But let me bring back Lieutenant Colonel allen west. Lieutenant colonel, thank you for sticking around with us as we try to make sense of what are has going on this afternoon. It has been resolved and also no bomb threat in time square. Thats been resolved as well. So thats good news. But it does put your nerves on edge just a little bit. And i would imagine that this is something were just going to have to get used to. Well, its sad to say that. But in this new 24th century battlefield, there are no borders or boundaries, ashley. And one of the things we also have to come to understand is that sometimes these things happen. And they are theyre probing attacks. They are opportunities for people to see a response time. How you do respond. I mean we saw that in iraq and afghanistan how, you know, these complicated ied attacks went from just the attack itself to being able to attack the responding column or, you know, the medical support that comes along with it. So youre right. We just have to be incredibly intune to the new environment because the if that field is everywhere. Ashley it certainly is. And we see that on the news every day. Catherine herridge joins us now with fox news. Kathryn, where are you . And what can you tell us . Well, im here in washington. And i got a phone call very early in this whole incident from a contact who is staffer on capitol hill. And was working out of the ford office building. People who know the capital complex, this is one of the offices thats furthers away from the Capital Building itself. Probably about a 15 to 20 minute walk. And they were leaving the building. And as they were trying to leave the building, the Capitol Hill Police came rushing toward the doors telling them that they needed to get inside and shelter in place and stay away from the windows. And my contact said they were not acting as if it was a drill. And there was some confusion because earlier today there was some kind of drill on capitol hill. But in any event, this seemed like it was the real deal. Also because there was no usually theres, like, an overhead in advance that a drill is coming; right . Ashley right . This was not the case here. D then overa period of about 15 minutes, they were getting steady updates. And the most concrete update they had is that the shooting took place at one of the screening checkpoints at the capital Visitors Center. This is the area between the Capital Building and the Supreme Court. This is on the north side if you will of the complex. And it was at a screening checkpoint, and it said there was an injury with shrapnel. Im not sure what to make of that choice of words at this point. But there was an injury with shrapnel and that the shooter was down, and its not clear to me whether the shooter is injured or whether the shooter was taken out. Now, Law Enforcement at least for now, is not saying who is individual is or what their motivation was. But i think it goes without saying that people are a little keyed up right now, given whats happen in the last week. But we cant really jump to conclusions except we did have a shooting situation on the hill. It appears the injuries were limited maybe even to just the shooter itself. Ashley yeah, it seems like the situation resolved itself. And thankfully probably in the best situation it could other than we do know that there were some injuries, some shrapnel injuries. Catherine herridge, thank you so much for taking the time to bring us up to speed. Yeah, really appreciate it. Lets go back to Lieutenant Colonel allen west. We understand there are reports of this particular individual who started all of this. Set off a metal detector as he went through in towards the Visitor Center. Of course that detector goes off. He pulls out a gun at which point police start to engage in some sort of confrontation with guns. I mean it seems to me if you have a gun and youre going through a metal detector and it goes off and you immediately pull it out, it seems to me youre ready to do just that. To start firing. Yeah. Youre absolutely right. Obviously this individual, their goal and object was to get into the capital Visitor Center and fire off fire off as many rounds as they could before they were, you know, brought down into submission or killed. So this was definitely something a planned attack. But, again, if you have not been up and around the capitol hill area, the Police Officers there many of them former military are some of the best that you can find. Ashley yeah. Theyre very attentive to, you know, the actions and people in and around the area. And they still allow people to enjoy the capital. I mean i used to get up at 5 30, 6 00 in the morning to go run past the capital. And, you know, theyre there. Theyre there checking buses. Theyre there checking, you know, people to make sure that nothing is happening. And they keep an eye out. So its just once again, hats off just the same as, unfortunately, had the lady who tried to run through the barrier with a car. They were able to stop her from doing that. Ashley thank you so much, Lieutenant Colonel allen west for joining us. Very much appreciate your time and everyone else. Shooting situation resolved at washington d. C. A bomb scare not a scare now in new york city. And, oh, yes, the markets finishing higher. Melissa and david will take it away as we sound the closing bell on wall street on this monday. All right. As ashley just mentioned, stocks ending the day up a bit today. But the big news is not in the market. Im david asmand. And im melissa francis. This is after the bell brandnew at this hour. Washington d. C. Law enforcement now looking into the identity and motivate for a gunman at the capitals Visitor Center. The shooter now in custody was shot. He is on his way to the hospital. A Police Officer also injured by shrapnel with minor injuries. Although weve seen conflictive reports on that front. We will keep you up to date. Lock down on capitol hill are being lifted on several government buildings
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