families. a bomb squad was also going room to room after bomb sniffing dogs indicated that they detected the presence of explosives. also a linked fire at the gunman s home. authorities are investigating whether the gunman set his house on fire and if so why and how dangerous is that scene now. multiple guns used in the shooting. the shooter is 57-year-old man named samuel cassidy, an
carried out these shootings today. one other thing to note, the home where cassidy apparently lived, there was also a fire that people are firefighters responded to minutes after, after i want to emphasize, the first calls, the first 911 calls about the shooting came in. so that may speak to a slow fuse in that building or perhaps some sort of device on a timer. that in itself speaks to what we heard about in this press conference, that they are concerned about the potential for explosive devices on the property of the vta. the bomb squad is there right now. apparently a bomb sniffing dog alerted twice to the scent of explosives. that s what gave them the alert. that s why the bomb squad was sent in and why the sheriff says this will be a long investigation.
incident when they first responded. now erin mclaughlin is near the scene of the incident and can add more to what we heard at the press conference. erin? reporter: a device of sorts was found on the suspect s body, believed to be a hoax device at this point, and that presumably is the reason why they believe this was a terror-related incident. certainly treating it as much from the get-go. just an hour ago, really saw an overwhelming police response as they tried to clear this area. it remains cordoned off. we saw specialized police units with bomb sniffing dogs combing this entire area. the buildings you see behind me remain evacuated. you can see police cordon still in place. beyond that a number of police
[cheers] todd: nyc celebrating like only it can with the biggest of party here in times square. hundreds of officers, bomb sniffing dogs keeping safe the thousands upon thousands packed like sardines. as for other celebrations check out dallas. great fireworks display in the lone star state. las vegas with its own fireworks display over iconic vegas strip. seattle, getting in on the fireworks action, lighting up the night sky over the space needle. and finally the city of lights. paris ringing in the new year with a gorgeous display of its own. now, you just saw in the beginning of my live shot there, a big hydraulic system come into the shot. that s because they are still cleaning up. i spoke with the producer of this entire times square event is he still up and working and making sure everything gets broken down and put away.
my wish is health more important thing. if you want to be someone important, you have to be lucky. and you have to be very smart. to get better at soccer. we have come a long ways since the first new year s eve ball was dropped. it made up of iron and wood 500 pounds. covered by 25 watt light bulbs, 100 ever them to light up that ball. like you would use on a table lamp. we have come a long ways since then. in terms of security there is plenty out here tonight. thousands of officers are deployed all around the city. for the first time, also, nypd is using drones to back up its network of more than 1200 security cameras. so no part of times square will be out of view. sniper teams are stationed on rooftops and bomb sniffing dogs are everywhere. it s allowing rehearsals to go smoothly. organizers want everything to go off without a hitch tonight.