Mass shooting survivor testifies before Congress

By Adrienne Vogt, Mike Hayes, Aditi Sangal, Clare Foran, Eric Levenson and Jason Hanna, CNN

Updated 4:16 p.m. ET, June 8, 2022
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10:55 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

Uvalde survivor says she doesn't feel safe at school and believes there will be another shooting

In a pre-recorded video, 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo was asked what she wants to be different after the massacre. She answered: "to have security."

Asked by an interviewer if she feels safe at school, she shook her head no. On why she doesn't feel safe, she said, "Because I don't want it to happen again."

When she was asked if she thinks it's going to happen again, she nodded yes.

10:41 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

Mother of Buffalo shooting survivor to anti-reform lawmakers: Come clean my son's wounds

From CNN's Clare Foran

Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Zaire Goodman, a victim of the Buffalo supermarket shooting who was treated and released from the hospital, called on lawmakers to act on gun violence during Wednesday’s hearing in emotional testimony.

“Lawmakers who continuously allow these mass shootings to continue by not passing stricter gun laws should be voted out,” she said. “To the lawmakers who feel that we do not need stricter gun laws let me paint a picture for you: My son Zaire has a hole in the right side of his neck, two on his back and another on his left leg caused by an exploding bullet from an AR-15. As I clean his wounds I can feel pieces of that bullet in his back. Shrapnel will be left inside of his body for the rest of his life. Now I want you to picture that exact scenario for one of your children. This should not be your story or mine. As an elected official it is your duty to draft legislation that protects Zaire and all of the children and citizens in this country.” 

“If after hearing from me and the other people testifying here today does not move you to act on gun laws, I invite you to my home to help me clean Zaire’s wounds so that you may see up close the damage that has been caused to my son and to my community,” she said.

10:23 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

The House committee hearing on gun violence has begun

A House committee hearing on gun violence, featuring several survivors and victims' families from recent shootings, began in Congress just after 10 a.m. ET Wednesday.

The hearing was convened by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, chaired by Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York. House Democrats are describing it as a hearing on "the urgent need to address the gun violence epidemic."

Maloney offered opening comments, followed by Rep. James Comer, Republican of Kentucky.

According to the committee's website, key witnesses include Miah Cerrillo, a fourth-grade student who survived the Uvalde school shooting; Felix and Kimberly Rubio, the parents of Lexi Rubio, a 10-year-old killed in the shooting; Zeneta Everhart, the mother of Zaire Goodman, who was wounded in the Buffalo supermarket shooting; and several law enforcement officials.

10:01 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

Uvalde 4th grader will testify via video at House hearing 

From CNN's Lauren Fox

The House Oversight Committee says that fourth grader Miah Cerrillo’s testimony will happen via video this morning. Her dad will introduce it. 

Here's the full statement from Chair Carolyn Maloney: 

“The Committee has been in close contact with Miah, her family, and her pediatrician and has been prioritizing her safety and comfort first and foremost. Her decision to record her story and share it with the American people is courageous – and I hope all Members open their hearts and minds to what she has to say. Miah, her family, and her pediatrician have made the decision to have her not appear in person, and she will be represented by her father who will introduce her recorded testimony.” 
9:53 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

A teacher and "hero" guard were among the 10 killed in the Buffalo shooting

From CNN's Alisha Ebrahimji, Dakin Andone and Amir Vera

A retired police lieutenant. A substitute teacher who was a "pillar of the community." A beloved grandmother of six. A dedicated community activist.

They were among the 10 people killed in a shooting at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket Saturday — a massacre authorities believe was racially motivated.

Thirteen people, ages 20 to 86, were shot. Eleven were Black and two were White, Buffalo police said. Authorities identified the victims:

  • Roberta A. Drury, 32, of Buffalo
  • Margus D. Morrison, 52, of Buffalo
  • Andre Mackniel, 53, of Auburn, New York
  • Aaron Salter, 55, of Lockport, New York
  • Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo
  • Celestine Chaney, 65, of Buffalo
  • Heyward Patterson, 67, of Buffalo
  • Katherine Massey, 72, of Buffalo
  • Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo
  • Ruth Whitfield, 86, of Buffalo
  • Zaire Goodman, 20, of Buffalo, was treated and released from hospital
  • Jennifer Warrington, 50, of Tonawanda, New York, was treated and released from hospital
  • Christopher Braden, 55, of Lackawanna, New York, had non-life-threatening injuries
9:45 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

Buffalo shooter showed signs of untreated violent behavior. Experts say youth like him need long-term support.

From CNN's Emma Tucker

Investigators stand outside on May 21 during a moment of silence for the victims of the Buffalo supermarket shooting.
Investigators stand outside on May 21 during a moment of silence for the victims of the Buffalo supermarket shooting. (Joshua Bessex/AP)

The 18-year-old White man who opened fire at a Buffalo supermarket, killing 10 and injuring three, was first known to authorities in 2021 after making a generalized threat while attending his high school, according to Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.

New York State Police took the suspect to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after he made a threat and worked on a school project that mentioned murder-suicides. But authorities released him after a day-and-a-half after determining that his threat was not specific enough to warrant further action, investigators have previously said. This allowed him to legally purchase the AR-15-style weapon he used in the attack.

The case of the Buffalo suspect – who pleaded not guilty to the 25-count indictment against him – exemplifies how high-risk adolescents, left untreated and unmonitored, can fall through the cracks of the system that aims to disrupt potentially violent behaviors, which allows those young people to carry out deadly acts of violence, several experts tell CNN.

Experts researching and developing approaches for long-term treatment to troubled teenagers say that they demand intensive services over a long period of time across agencies in mental health, community and law enforcement.

High-risk adolescents are characterized by antisocial disorders, social withdrawal, depressed mood and a lack of empathy or remorse, according to a National Policing Institute report released earlier this year on managing high-risk adolescents in community contexts. Those who become radicalized by extremist groups or harbor dangerous, racist views, experts say, require a more complex treatment plan that seeks to address the underlying causes of their ideology and reframe their mindset entirely.

The role of police in dealing with high-risk adolescents is to respond to an articulated or imminent threat of danger, an arrest, or transportation to a psychiatric or crisis center for an evaluation, according to Frank Straub, director of the National Policing Institute’s (NPI) Center for Targeted Violence Prevention.

Keep reading here.

9:28 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

Uvalde school district police chief declined to answer CNN questions

From CNN's Aaron Cooper, Shimon Prokupecz and Eric Levenson

Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, left, talks to CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz last week.
Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, left, talks to CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz last week.

Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the embattled Uvalde school police chief who led the flawed law enforcement response to last month’s school shooting and has remained out of the public eye since, spoke exclusively to CNN last week and declined to answer substantive questions about the massacre.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), Arredondo has not responded to a request for a follow-up interview with the Texas Rangers, who are investigating the shooting at Robb Elementary.

Yet outside his home, Arredondo told CNN’s Aaron Cooper, “I am in contact with DPS everyday.”

And outside his office minutes later, he told CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz that he’s not going to release any further information while funerals are ongoing.

“We’re going to be respectful to the family,” he said. “We’re going to do that eventually. Whenever this is done and the families quit grieving, then we’ll do that obviously.”

It was the first time Arredondo has commented since two brief press statements on the day of the attack, in which he said the gunman was dead but provided little information on the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. He took no questions at the time and has not appeared in a public forum since.

9:17 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

New York lawmakers pass bills to tighten state gun laws after Buffalo mass shooting

From CNN's Rob Frehse and Kiely Westhoff

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul holds up signed legislation as she is surrounded by lawmakers on Monday.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul holds up signed legislation as she is surrounded by lawmakers on Monday. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

New York state lawmakers passed several bills last week to tighten state gun laws, including a bill that raises the minimum age to 21 to buy a semiautomatic rifle.

Lawmakers also passed a bill that would ban civilians from purchasing bullet-resistant vests, unless the individuals worked in law enforcement or other, specific professions. Another bill passed by lawmakers would broaden the “red flag” law, expanding the list of people who can file for extreme risk protection orders, which allow courts to temporarily seize firearms from anyone believed to be a danger to themselves or others.

The measures were expected to pass in the Democratic-controlled state Senate and Assembly after they were announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul last week.

On Monday, Hochul signed a package to tighten state gun laws and called for a federal response to the gun violence "disease that is tearing our nation apart." 

The bills’ passage come nearly three weeks after 10 people were killed in a racially motivated shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo and as the nation grapples with a string of mass shootings since that has amplified calls for stricter gun laws.

Another bill passed by lawmakers broadens the Red Flag law, expanding the list of people who can file for Extreme Risk Protection Orders, which allow courts to temporarily seize firearms from anyone believed to be a danger to themselves or others. 

“Just too many families have been destroyed, shattered because of targeted gun violence but also the random gun violence that occurs on our streets every single day. It just keeps happening over and over and over,” Hochul at Monday’s bill signing. “And I have to ask, when did we become a nation that reveres the right to have the ability to possess a gun over the right of a child to stay alive? When did that happen?”  

Lawmakers including Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James said they hope this package can be a call to action for others legislators around the country.

“Action in New York is not enough because guns and criminals don’t respect borders,” James said. “We need our colleagues around the country to step up and I urge others with a backbone to follow.”  

The bloodshed comes as the nation grieves a spate of mass shootings in the past month, including a massacre at an elementary school in Texas; a deadly assault at a medical facility in Oklahoma; a racist rampage at a supermarket in New York; and an attack on a Taiwanese church service in California. 

This past weekend alone, more than a dozen people were killed and more than 70 injured in at least 13 mass shootings this weekend in the United States.

CNN's Chris Boyette and Holly Yan contributed reported to this post.

Read more about this here.

9:04 a.m. ET, June 8, 2022

Experts: Police inaction allowed for Uvalde massacre to continue and led to catastrophic consequences

From CNN's Emma Tucker

Texas Department of Public Safety Col. Steven McCraw acknowledged errors in the police response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last month.
Texas Department of Public Safety Col. Steven McCraw acknowledged errors in the police response to the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, last month. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

The decision by police to wait before confronting the gunman at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde was a failure with catastrophic consequences, experts say. When it was all over 19 students and two teachers were dead.

While 18-year-old Salvador Ramos was inside adjoining classrooms, a group of 19 law enforcement officers stood outside the classroom in the school for roughly 50 minutes as they waited for room keys and tactical equipment, CNN has reported. Meanwhile, children inside the classroom repeatedly called 911 and pleaded for help, Texas officials said.

Texas Department of Public Safety Col. Steven McCraw acknowledged errors in the police response to the mass shooting. The on-scene commander, who is also the Uvalde school district police chief, “believed that it had transitioned from an active shooter to a barricaded subject,” McCraw said.

“It was the wrong decision. Period. There’s no excuse for that,” McCraw said of the supervisor’s call not to confront the shooter.

Thor Eells, executive director of the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA), said the commander’s determination was “100% flawed.” A barricade calls for officers to slow down their response, analyze whether the subject is alone and negotiate, he said.

“If you’re in a classroom with innocent victims and I know that shots have been fired, I need to engage you. Even if you stopped firing, I’m going to make entry into the room so we can begin to administer life-saving aid to any potential victims,” Eells said.

Eells pointed to a 2013 shooting at a Colorado high school that shows how a rapid response by police can lead to vastly different results. The shooting transpired within two minutes, during which a male high school student ignited a Molotov cocktail and fired his pump-action shotgun in the school, fatally shooting a 17-year-old girl.

But the attack might have resulted in many more casualties had it not been for the quick response of a deputy sheriff who was working as a school resource officer at the school, CNN previously reported. Upon learning of the threat, the deputy ran to the shooter, identified himself as a county deputy sheriff and told people to get down. While he was containing the scene, the shooter took his own life.

Ramos was not confronted by police before he entered the school, DPS Regional Director Victor Escalon said on Thursday.

While active shooter protocols are widely recognized among the 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the country, the fundamental issue is the decentralized nature of police standards at the local, state and federal level, according to Maria Haberfeld, a professor of police science at John Jay College.

“The way the Uvalde officers responded aligned with the fact that they likely did not have proper training,” Haberfeld said. Local police agencies typically rely more heavily on specialized tactical units, she said.

Read more here.