Students describe Florida high school shooting scene

close

Video

Students describe Florida high school shooting scene

Eyewitnesses Meghan and Mackenzie Hill explain on 'Hannity' what happened when a gunman fired into a classroom.

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 14, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to HANNITY and this is a FOX News alert.

Seventeen people are dead, a horrific tragic mass shooting at a South Florida school. Now, we're waiting this hour news conference with Florida Governor Rick Scott. We'll bring it to you when it happens.

Law enforcement now detailing a 19-year-old suspect, Nikolas Cruz seen in the video, in maroon, in custody, and they're now working to determine a possible motive tonight. Authorities are saying the Cruz is a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and was previously expelled for disciplinary reasons.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson, he's offering up new details of the attack saying that the suspect wore a gas mask, had smoke grenades, and set off the fire alarms so that students would come out into the hallways. A teacher from the school telling 'The Miami Herald' tonight that the suspect has been identified as a possible threat to students in the past.

Our own Phil Keating, he is on the scene tonight in Parkland, Florida, with the latest details on this investigation -- Phil.

SCOTT ISRAEL, BROWARD COUNTY SHERIFF: This will be the last briefing of the evening. I'm here with Governor Scott. I'm here with our Rob Lasky, director of the staff of the FBI down to Miami field division… and county commissioners and Mr. Runcie.

I want to start out by saying to Broward County to the state of Florida and to this nation, another horrific day, a detestable day, absolutely sick to my stomach to see children who go to school on with backpacks and pencils lose their lives.

This nation, we need to see something and say something. If we see different behavior, aberrant behavior, we need to report it to local authorities. Since we've last briefed, we've identified 12 victims within this school.

We will not be releasing the names of any victims until every family and every parent is notified accordingly. As soon as that's been done, of course, we will release a list.

I want to thank you for allowing -- for getting the information to the folks we need. I'm going to bring up Mr. Runcie. Mr. Runcie is going to speak a little bit about some of the issues that the school board is incurring as superintendent, some of the decisions he's made. Then you'll hear from Governor Scott. We'll take any questions. And then we'll probably give you your next briefing tomorrow. Thank you.

Mr. Runcie?

ROBERT RUNCIE, FLORIDA SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: This evening, our district is in a tremendous state of grief, sorrow. We're heartbroken over this unspeakable tragedy that has occurred here in Parkland, Florida. Words cannot express the sorrow that we feel. The victims, the victims and their families, our thoughts and prayers go out to them.

No parent should ever have to send their kids to school and have them not return. That should not happen in Parkland. It shouldn't happen anywhere in this country. And this -- we've got to find a way for this to stop.

As a district, we will continue to work with law enforcement. We are focusing on providing all of the support that our students, our families, and employees need to cope with this devastating tragedy. It's going to take us some time to go through this, to heal, to figure out how to move on.

Some updates on Marjory Stoneman Douglas. As for activities in school will be closed for the remainder of this week. All activities will be canceled as well.

We are going to provide grief counselors. They will be available to Marjory Stoneman Douglas students and families at the Pines Trails Park Recreation Center and Amphitheater located at 10555 Trails End, Parkland, Florida, beginning at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Again, that's grief counselors for parents and families at Pines Trails Park Recreation Center in Parkland.

We will also have grief counselors available for staff members at the Parkland Library at 6620 North University Drive in Parkland. Again, for the staff members, we will have grief counselors available at the Parkland Library at 6620 North University.

The grief counselors will also be available at West Glades Middle School which is right adjacent to this high school as well. And what I can tell you about today's shooter, today's shooter was a former Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school student and was currently enrolled in Broward County Public Schools.

Because of federal laws around FERPA and student privacy, I can't provide you any additional information about the student at this time. Again, we are tremendously heartbroken, saddened. Our prayers, thoughts go out to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas families and the victims.

We're going to pull through this together as a community. This has been a day we've seen the worst in humanity. Tomorrow is going to bring out the best in humanity as we come together to move forward from this unspeakable tragedy.

I would like to thank Sheriff Israel and all the law enforcement agencies. It's been unbelievable, the courage, the support. Almost every municipality in Broward County has been here, they've been coordinated, they've been working nonstop. The governor, his office, the state, everyone has just been outstanding in terms of their support and their efforts. It's been heartwarming to see that.

So, as a community, as a state, I'm sure we'll be able to recover from this.

Governor Scott, thank you.

GOV. RICK SCOTT, R, FLORIDA: Thank you.

So as soon as you hear something like this is happening, the first thing, you start thinking about the families. You think about your own family. As a grandparent, and a parent, the first thing you think about is, you know, God, I hope this never happens to my family.

Then you think about -- you're furious, how could this ever happen in this country, how could this happen in this state? This is a state that is focused on keeping all of our children safe. You come to the conclusion this is just absolutely pure evil.

This state does not tolerate violence. We have law enforcement that will always show up to defend our safety. As soon as this happened, I started having updates from Sheriff Israel. I've talked to President Trump, the secretary of homeland security, Kirstjen Nielsen, Superintendent Runcie, the commissioner of law enforcement for the department of law enforcement, Rick Swearingen.

I know everybody has worked tirelessly to keep everything safe and have a thorough investigation. My prayers are with everybody impacted. I can't imagine what families who are sitting there wondering if they've lost a family member, they don't know yet. Those who do know they've lost a family member, I just can't imagine how their lives have been changed.

Like all of us, we'll be praying for each of those, everybody in the hospital, I pray for their full recovery. All the individuals that unfortunately had to go through this experience, I know that there's going to be grief counselors, and I'm sure it's going to be very, very difficult as they think about what happened and replay in their mind what happened. I just can't imagine going through that.

After this press conference, I'm going to be going to the hospital to do everything I can with those families. I'm going to continue to let local law enforcement, the school district, everybody involved know, whatever state resources are necessary, we will provide whatever resources are need to do whatever we can, whether it's to help in the investigation or to help any family member that's impacted.

Again, I just -- this is just pure evil. I will be staying here in Broward County and do everything I can to be helpful.

ISRAEL: Basically minutes after this event happened, I got a call from our attorney general, Pam Bondi. Hours later, she's here. She sadly, when I was speaking to her privately, she knows all too well about these tragedies. She was in Orlando in the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub, and she's here to help families of those who lost loved ones.

So, I'm going to bring her up here to talk about some things the attorney general will do for our families.

PAM BONDI, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you, Sheriff. Sheriff, I cannot thank you, the governor, the FBI, how you've handled this. You've been incredible. Superintendent, FDLE, all of the agencies working together.

It's a horrible tragedy and sadly we've been through this before. I was out in Nevada for the mass shooting. In fact one of the victims called me on the way here from the Nevada shooting and said, I can't believe this is happening again. She still has PTSD, and she was a survivor.

The office, my office functions in a way, this is what we're going to be doing. I have five advocates headed in right now. I will have at least 10 more tomorrow, driving in from all over the state. We will pay for the funeral expenses of these poor victims and do everything we can to help the families.

The state of Florida, we will pay for counseling for the surviving victims. We will pay for students who need counseling. We will have the forms. It's paperwork, a page that must be filled out. We bring it to the victims' families so they can get it done right now, don't have to worry about the expenses. We will take care of it.

GoFundMe reached out to me already tonight. They've been pulling off anyone, if you think you're going to scam people during this tragedy, you're not. GoFundMe, they're monitoring every site that's popping up. And no money will be disbursed under GoFundMe until they know it's legitimate. So, if you are donating to a crowdfunding site, GoFundMe is making sure that those funds will go to true victims and their families.

We've also reached out to the funeral homes, the directors in Florida, who have been great partners through Pulse. We will not let funeral homes gouge us. The funeral home industry, they're sending down people tomorrow to help with the cost of the burial expenses for these victims. Sadly, we've all become a club that we never wanted to be a part of.

Partnering with the FBI, and now this is our third time dealing with such a mass tragedy. But we will continue to work together as a team, as a family, and love and take care of all of these victims and their family members. That's why we're all here.

Governor, thank you for everything you've done and always do for our state.

SCOTT: Yes, one thing the attorney general's office does is they bring in victims' advocates. She and her team will go through and help each family that is impacted. So, the best way to reach out to the attorney general's office.

BONDI: We'll find our victims, that's right.

ISRAEL: In conclusion, this beautiful town of Parkland, where I've lived up until a year ago, I've lived here with my family and raised our kids here for 10 years, we lost a football coach from Stoneman Douglas High School tonight. My triplets graduated from this very school. We had -- I won't be releasing the name, but we had a deputy sheriff whose son was shot tonight, shot in the arm. He's at one of the local area hospitals.

I'm being told he's being treated with non-life-threatening injuries, thank God. If you are on a Website and you know something, you've seen something, you see a person with rifles and weaponry and you see something that's not right, you owe it to your family, you owe it to your community, and you owe it to law enforcement to make this a safer nation by calling up someone tonight. Call up the FBI, call up the Broward Sheriff's Office. Call up someone tonight and let them know that you have information that something's not right. You can prevent a major tragedy like this devastation that happened in Parkland tonight.

Any questions?

REPORTER: Sheriff, Phil Keating, Fox News, can you provide more insight, the 17 fatalities, ages, how many students, how many teachers, whether all of the parents have been in fact notified at this point, if in fact they do have a deceased son or daughter and also motive?

ISRAEL: No. I'll repeat what I said earlier. 12 of the victims have been identified. Their parents are in the process of being notified. We're looking to ID some of these children, they had no ID, they left their backpacks, they had no cells that we could trace back.

So, we're in the process of identifying these children and adults. So their families can be notified. So I can't elaborate any more than that.

REPORTER: Governor, have you identified all students? Is there anyone still missing?

ISRAEL: We have only identified 12 of the 17 that have lost their lives.

REPORTER: Do you know of anyone missing?

ISRAEL: No, everybody's accounted for, but we're identifying the victims. We don't know the names of the victims.

REPORTER: But you've accounted for all the students?

ISRAEL: Yes.

REPORTER: Governor Scott, a question for you. Today, it's Parkland, with Columbine and everything in between, we are all at society, politicians like you included, implicit when critics (INAUDIBLE) in this country, we're a nation of Washington where people like you are very pro-gun, (INAUDIBLE) when do you take a stand or are you willing to take one now because this happened in the backyard of your own state, mental health, (INAUDIBLE) and on gun control? What is your response?

SCOTT: You know, my heart goes out to everybody impacted today. All of us can internalize this, if it would happen to their family. You know, all of us want to live and have everybody live in a safe community. And there's a time to continue to have these conversations about how through law enforcement, how through mental illness funding we make sure people are safe. We'll continue to do that.

(CROSSTALK)

REPORTER: Governor, what business does a 19-year-old have in having an AR- 15? Specifically, just your thoughts.

SCOTT: We're finding all the facts. You know, there's a thorough investigation going on. The sheriff's department will release exactly what happened, how they got a gun, things like that, we'll learn those things and then we can determine the future, you know, how we continue to make this place safe.

REPORTER: What was your conversation with the president, armed guards in the schools to prevent this type of tragedy, do you agree that we should have armed guards in the school system?

SCOTT: You want to answer it?

ISRAEL: If a person -- I've said this over and over and over again, if a person is predisposed to commit such a horrific event like go into a school and shoot people, if a person is going to drive a truck into a crowded area, if a person is committed to committing great carnage, there's not anybody or not a lot law enforcement can do about it or any entity can do about it.

The only things we can do are train very hard. We have to train rigorously and we do. We have to be able to mitigate. We have to be able to respond quickly so we can lessen the loss of lives. Certainly more money should go to mental health.

I've said this time and time again. You know, if we tear a knee up, we go to an orthopedic surgeon. If we have mental health issues, we need to be treated. But while people who are the victim of mental health illnesses in this country are being treated, in the opinion of this sheriff, they should not be able to buy, surround themselves, purchase, or carry a handgun. Those two things don't mix.

So thank you for coming out here. I think we've answered all the appropriate questions. And tomorrow, we'll update you again.

And again, the most important thing is, we need to pray tonight for these families. We need to pray for the victims. We need to pray for our communities. And we need to report anything we see that is different, that doesn't make sense, that's an aberration, that can help us prevent these mass tragedies. Thank you all, appreciate it.

KEATING: All right. Sean, that was Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel who has led the investigation all day. Attorney General Bondi right there, big contingent of elected leaders here tonight. Attorney General Pam Bondi, as well as Governor Rick Scott flew in from Tallahassee.

They have met with all of the investigatory leaders behind me at the high school to get the latest on the scene, as we did just hear, Sean, of the 17 fatalities, only 12 have been absolutely confirmed, as far as their identities, but all students and teachers have been accounted for. They're just now trying to further identify some of these victims who had left identification behind as they were running for their lives, trying to escape what happened here at about 2:30 this afternoon when according to the sheriff, the accused suspect whom he is convinced as the lone gunman, a 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, a former student of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which is a quarter mile behind me, expelled last year further details about where that student was in enrolled this year, they cannot expand on per the Broward County schools superintendent.

But clearly, according to the sheriff, he was armed to the gills with magazines full of bullets an AR-15 assault rifle and went to the school today, according to Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who talked with law enforcement investigators, pulled the fire alarm in the afternoon getting all of the students and teachers to suddenly flood the hallways and flee the classrooms and then proceeded to one by one start opening fire.

We have 17 confirmed fatalities, 15 others were wounded and have been treated or are still being treated at Broward County, Florida hospitals that would speak the suspected gunman, Cruz, did get treatment at Broward County North. He has since been released.

We don't know how the gunman may have been injured, what those injuries were, but the gunman is alive and appears to be fine and is now being processed in custody at the Broward County jail and in the next day or two will face a long list of very serious charges here, 19 years old. That certainly entitles this defendant upon conviction of guilt to be going to life in prison for the rest of his life or perhaps to death row, which Governor Rick Scott here has presided over the most executions in his two terms than any other sitting governor of the state of Florida.

No more details regarding motive, but according to social media, investigations as well as other reports from other students, this was a student who seemed to try to enjoy being perceived as strange and weird, had a fascination with guns and bombs. And according to investigators was wearing a gas mask, had gas grenades or smoke grenades on his person when he pulled the fire alarms triggering the exodus of people who at first thought they heard pops.

That is the latest. This is just getting started here as far as the investigation, Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Phil, 17 families tonight having a deal with losing loved ones. Unbelievable.

A lot of kudos. We just heard from the local sheriff, Scott Israel, the school superintendent and, of course, the governor, the attorney general of the state of Florida, Pam Bondi, Rick Scott, and first responders, FBI, law enforcement, police sheriff and literally the superintendent, everybody all hands on deck today and what is an unbelievable tragedy in shooting and obviously premeditated murder.

Joining us now at the very latest what do we know about this gunman? Our own Trace Gallagher has the new information -- Trace.

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sean, when you look at the death toll and the attack itself, it does appear the shooter had planned this out meticulously. Remember, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz was enrolled at Stoneman Douglas High just a few months ago before he was expelled for disciplinary reasons.

So at 2:00 in the afternoon, he knew that his former classmates would be up on the third floor of the school building and he knew that by pulling the fire alarm as many students say he did that it would draw students into the hall and toward the gunfire. Last year, many of the suspect’s classmates jokingly predicted that if there was a school shooting, he would be the attacker. One classmate recalls Cruz showing him pictures of guns on his cell phone, saying that he planned to use them because shooting weapons gave him, quote, an exhilarating feeling.

One of the teachers at Stoneman Douglas told 'The Miami Herald' that Cruz made threats against students last year, and because of that was listed as a security threat. The teacher claims the faculty was warned that Cruz was not to be allowed on campus with a backpack.

And now, 'BuzzFeed' is reporting that last year Nikolas Cruz complained to them that he was being bullied and that he was tired of it. Tonight, the Broward County sheriff said the suspect’s social media footprint was disturbing and the social media accounts that we have pulled up certainly reflect that.

On Instagram, Nikolas Cruz followed several gun groups, posted pictures of himself brandishing knives and guns, and even followed Middle Eastern groups like Syrian Resistance Fighters and Iraqi fighters, and he recently posted a picture online of a bull's-eye riddled with bullets and a caption that reads, group therapy, you should try it.

A short time ago, the Broward County sheriff confirmed the 19-year-old suspect used an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle countless magazines intimating the attack could have lasted much longer Sean.

HANNITY: All right, Tracy. Look at it we keep going back every time these shootings occur we've got as you call the social media footprint and one has to wonder why there's not a stronger presence, why oh -- you know, when you have one kid saying today everyone predicted it about this student or the student wasn't allowed to bring a backpack to school and the student was expelled -- you know, I don't want to politicize this as others have already tonight. But if one wonders, can we have retired military, retired policemen, you know, in our schools of first line of defense?

It doesn't mean it's going to work every time, but it certainly -- I think if everybody asks themselves a question, if they have traced an active shooter in an administrative building of any kind, would they rather have military -- retired military, retired police there, I think we owe it to our students because I don't think you can take evil out of people's hearts.

GALLAGHER: And there's a big debate across the country, Sean, about whether or not you have armed police officers on campus. I mean, this school did have a police presence at all times, but the question remains, do you have armed police officers?

As far as the social media aspect of it, it goes on every campus across the country. There are intimidating, there are pictures that should be investigated but there are also privacy laws that protect a lot of these kids. The problem becomes as the sheriff said tonight, if you see something, you say something. Every one of these kids that spoke out today said, look, we knew last year, we jokingly said if there was a school shooting, this would be the guy who did it. But the question is, did they tell the teachers?

The one teacher that said today to 'The Miami Herald' that this kid was a threat, that he was deemed a security threat and if he brought a backpack on campus that teacher should notify the school administration and that same question was asked to the school superintendent and the superintendent says there was no security threat or any kind of intimidation that we know of. So, it seems like everybody's not on the same page.

HANNITY: If a kid gets thrown on a school and I'm not casting aspersions or blame on anybody, always blame the person responsible. But if you're going to throw a kid out of school for disciplinary reasons, it might be a wise thing to at least maybe offer counseling first off and then second off, maybe look at the social media aspect of what this person, what might be going through their mind.

Trace, stay with us. We're going to get back to you in a second.

We go back to Parkland. Phil Keating now has as a guest, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi who we just heard from in that press conference.

Phil, I don't think the attorney general can hear me. If she could go into this whole aspect of a social media imprint, what some of these shooters are saying online? Are we capturing enough of this? Are we paying enough attention to that?

KEATING: All right. Sean, the first thing, he wants to be asked you before we get to what you said with President Trump today is social media and what some of these killers and accused killers in these mass murders and shooting sprees are posting or hinting at or alluding to, what can we do about that from a law enforcement perspective?

BONDI: Well, first of all, any -- you know, when they're posting in on social media, they have followers. So kids who are out there, parents, you've got to monitor this stuff and if you see it, take everything seriously, take every threat seriously, and report it to law enforcement. We would rather you do that and be wrong 99 percent of the time than have anything happen in this world and these teens now are vocal on social media.

They don't just pop up from anywhere, there are warning signs, and if you see warning signs with your child, if you know some of your kids friends who you feel -- you need to report it. You need to go to school counselors. You need to let people know that that something isn't right.

KEATING: Last summer, you said so much time up in Orlando for the Pulse Nightclub shooting. How sickened were you today when suddenly you got the call, it's happened to you again at another school here in your state?

BONDI: It was heartbreaking and, in fact, when I was immediately I came down here, but on my way down, I also went to Las Vegas, when they had the mass shooting at the concert out there and one of the victims that I still keep in touch with, she has a bullet lodged in her spine. She contacted me on my way down and was still so traumatized, crying, saying that she's still praying for the victims here.

So, this is really the third time and we've partnered with the great men and women of the FBI who are victims’ advocates with mine, and we're working just to get these families through this, to get them the counseling, the help they need, and to not be taken advantage of, believe it or not, by bad people during this time.

HANNITY: Phil --

KEATING: And, Sean, you have one more thing more thing you want to ask her?

HANNITY: I have a question for the attorney general.

Attorney General Bondi has been known for a really tough law and order attorney general in the state of Florida. My question is, if we can't monitor evil that's in people's hearts, is it time -- what about retired military, retired police in every school, at least have some front line of defense to give some capacity to stop carnage when it starts like this?

KEATING: As an aggressive law enforcer and the chief law enforcement officer in the state of Florida, the fourth most populous of state in the country --

BONDI: Third.

KEATING: Third, actually past New York. So, is it feasible and is it plausible and should we do it start having armed guards at every single school and if not armed guards, you have perhaps retired military, retired law enforcement to provide a beefier scenario in and around schools as a form of deterrent?

BONDI: Yes. Well, as a career prosecutor I firmly agree with that. Yes, that's why we have school resource officers -- do they need more help? Yes. Do I see if -- of course, if we have the funding for it? I think we do, I think we need that now. That's what we're seeing around this world and we have to protect our kids from these monsters.

You know, President Trump called me tonight and we talked at length he is heartbroken. He is praying for all these families. All he wanted to ask me, how are the families, how are the families, how are the families?

And that's where I'm headed now, to do my job as attorney general and with my advocates provide counseling, funeral expenses and mental health counseling for all these traumatized victims as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump is scheduled to be in Orlando on Friday afternoon and make his way to Mar-a-Lago for the weekend in light of this. Did he indicate whether he would also be making a visit down here?

BONDI: All we talked about, his only concern tonight is the victims, as it should be. All he asked about were, 'how are the victims? Are they OK? How are the families?' He was so worried about the families and the victims, you know he is a father, he is a grandfather and he deeply, deeply cares about what is happening down here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And granted, we are very early into the prosecution of this case. But clearly he is 19 years old. He is eligible for the death penalty, eligible for full convictions on murder, multiple counts and life in prison. Any personal feeling as to what you would like to see your district attorney pursue.

BONDI: Well, you're talking to a career prosecutor who has prosecuted death penalty cases. Again we don't know the aggravators and the mediators, we don't know the mental health now, but when you kill that amount of people, surely this would be a death penalty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was so pretty plan and pre design with pulling of the fire alarm.

BONDI: And I can't talk about the facts now, but given what I know, I would firmly believe it would be a death penalty case, of course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attorney General Pam Bondi, thank you very much for joining us here. He said, as a grandparent, a parent, you see this on the news and wonder could this happen to me? You see it happen again. Your heart sinks. His conclusion was, this man, this suspect is nothing but pure evil.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Thank you. And the Attorney General thank you. The President did say no child, teacher, or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school. I just think that once they put -- I don't think you're going to change anybody's mind on the gun debate. I don't think that is going to happen. But can we have former military, former police inside the schools, defending against people that want to get in that shouldn't be in there, that you can lock the doors, have one, two, three entrances? We've got to answer these questions sooner than later. Anyway, earlier today, one of the students inside the school when the shooting actually started. Her name is Meghan Hill. Listen to her describe this harrowing scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGHAN HILL, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I was sitting in class, the bottom floor of the freshman building. And all we heard was gunshots, there about 15 rounds, we all dove to the side where the windows were. Our teacher told us to get to the side closest to the door. So we all ran behind the desk. Good thing the door was locked. The shooter shot through the door, shot a couple of people next to me, I was sitting right behind the cabinet and the bullet passed my ear got a girl next to me. We could help anybody, we are trying to stay quiet. 911 wasn't working on my phone. Apparently the guy got out there, there was dead bodies in the hallway. People were killed in the hallway. My sister was running. She ran from him and got luckily into a room that she found open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: On the phone right now is that student that you just heard from, Meghan Hill. Megan, thank you for taking the time to join us. You're a junior, as I understand it. You're in a room. This door is locked. This guy is shooting. Take it from there. What happened from there, Meghan?

MEGHAN HILL: As the shooter was in the hallway, I'm not sure if I was the first room. He shot through the glass window, did not open our door. And he turned the gun toward the side of the wall where the student was sitting. He shot four people. One was dead. There were three other injured. A girl was shot in her ribs. I was told to stay calm. All I wanted to do was help. After ten minutes, I finally couldn't stand it anymore. I took off my jean jacket. I threw it over the desk and tried to help someone in front of me. Everyone was trying to stay calm. I finally got a hold of my sister Mackenzie. She was in the second floor bathroom, got into a door safely. And the teacher -- they're not allowed to open the doors for a policy on code red. But he luckily did and he saved her. She was put into a room and survived. It's just very traumatizing. We were told to leave the building. Heads down and run. There were bodies on the floor, I'm not sure dead or not. We were just told to run. And here's my sister Mackenzie.

MACKENZIE HILL, SHOOTING SURVIVOR: Hi, this is Mackenzie.

HANNITY: Yeah, go ahead, Meghan.

MACKENZIE HILL: Hi, this is her sister Mackenzie Hill. First of all, I want to say I'm so sorry for all of the victims and their families.

HANNITY: Megan, let me -- so all of the sudden, the door of your classroom is locked. And the shooter shoots through the door. Then sticks his gun into the classroom. Four people get shot right in front of you. One person you believe is -- died, is instantly killed. You're trying to help a friend of yours and pass over your jean jacket. And everyone is telling stop, no, stay still be quiet. What happened from that point? I didn't fully understand.

MEGHAN HILL: From that point on, in about a couple of minutes, the swat team and police banged on our door. We ducked down. They came in and asked who was hurt. We told them the four people that were hurt. They got them out of the door and they escorted us. Just like I said before.

HANNITY: Yeah. And then about ten minutes go by. In the interim ten- minute period, did he stay shooting long? How long was he actually shooting into the classroom?

MEGHAN HILL: He was shooting into the classroom no longer than a couple of seconds. He was shooting in the hallway up at the ceiling and dust was falling onto us. And then he turned his gun to the right and shot a couple of people.

HANNITY: And then I guess you heard a loud bang and that was the police coming to rescue all of you?

MEGHAN HILL: Yes.

HANNITY: I can't even imagine what it had to be like for you. And you had your twin sister who was on the floor above you in the bathroom?

MEGHAN HILL: Well, actually, she was actually -- she is in that class with me. It's AP psychology. Five minutes before the shooting actually happened, she asked the teacher to go to the restroom. The restroom on the first floor was locked, so she went up to the second floor. And on the second floor she heard gunshots, she was with a friend. And she left the bathroom. And she saw the shooter, but got into a classroom just in time for them to let her into the room.

HANNITY: I understand your sister was there. She was in the second-floor bathroom. I don't know if Mackenzie can hear me. But you had an experience that you went up to the bathroom. You both I guess are in AP psych. And there is a freshman girl that had severe asthma. And take it from there. And all the teachers had locked the door and you guys are running literally door to door and this poor girl is obviously struggling, right?

MACKENZIE HILL: Correct. While I was in the bathroom, I heard 10 to 15 gunshots. I ran to the nearest classroom. I went to the door and the teacher in the classroom under school policy, they would not let me in because of this school policy. And luckily they let me inside the classroom. I feel that if the teacher knows in his gut that he can let you in the classroom in the scenario I was in, then he should do it because if that teacher did not let me in, I could have been killed today. And I'm very grateful for that teacher. And as I got in the classroom, the teacher locked the door after me. Everyone was crying, too. Immediately, I contacted my sister who was in the classroom on the third floor, not knowing anything. She did not respond and I could not bear the fact of losing my best friend. And I heard nothing else. I did not know if she was inside.

HANNITY: Yeah. I want to say this to both you and your sister, Meghan. Both of you showed amazing courage today, Meghan trying to help the girl next to her and you obviously helping this poor girl that had this asthma attack as she is going on there.

MACKENZIE HILL: Yes, her inhaler was on the first floor. I was trying to calm her down is the best I can do.

HANNITY: When did you actually reunite? Because how long after was it that you were able to find your sister again?

MACKENZIE HILL: Well, after I got out of the building, she told me that she got out an hour before me she was because she was already down the street waiting for me? And I didn't know she was inside because I was in my classroom and told to silence my cell phone. I finally see her. And as I walk out the building, I'm seeing blood and people wounded everywhere. And it just broke my heart. I couldn't bear the fact that someone could come to this school and shoot up Stoneman Douglas. It was like a dream to me. I couldn't believe it. I'm still in shock right now.

HANNITY: Yeah. I can't imagine how hard this is for both of you. Both of you showed amazing courage today under the most difficult of circumstances. No child should have to see that ever. Meghan, Mackenzie, thank you both. We miss you and your families and your friends obviously, you're going to have a very tough week ahead, as these families are now struggling and the school is struggling. This is a very tight-knit community in parkland. Thank you both. Here more with reaction is criminal defense attorney and former D.C. police detective Ted Williams. I have former FBI special agent Manny Gomez. Once again Ted we saw the police, the sheriff, the FBI. We see first responders. You see everybody, the superintendent, the governor, the Attorney General, everybody really all hands on deck today. I was watching this all unfold live when I was on my radio show today and just how amazing these people are. But it's after the fact. Do we need to reconsider safety for these schools?

TED WILLIAMS, HOMICIDE DETECTIVE AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, yeah, I think we do. But let me say, Sean, from the beginning, the interview you just had with those two young women. We saw the best of America in those two young women. And when you look at this guy Nikolas Cruz, you're seeing, as the governor said, pure evil. This was a cold- blooded, calculated, carried-out carnage massacre. And we do have to start rethinking how we have guards and security in these various schools. The sad commentary, Sean, is we cannot make our schools a prison. We did have a guard there. But if somebody is hell bent on going in a school and killing young people, 12 of these beautiful young people are dead tonight. This is a tragedy, Sean, in and of itself.

HANNITY: This is not a political statement. I know I'm known for talking politics all the time. This is not political. I don't think it is something that most people would disagree with. And Manny, I'll throw this to you. If you're in any administration building -- in this case it's a school. It seems there's got to be greater order in terms of monitoring who's getting into these schools. I know schools that monitor and control who gets into them. It can be done and it can be done fairly easily. But more importantly -- and they did have a guard. But a school this big with 3,200 students and multiple buildings, it seems to me you need a few people in each building. Retired military, retired police. And I would think over time that families -- we're not talking about all that much money at the end of the day if each district is paying for that security. Every buildings I walk into in New York City, every single building, if I don't have an I.D., I will go through security. And if I don't have a clearance, I'm not getting in. And if we can do it in every building in New York post-9/11, I would think we can do it in every school in America if we want to.

MANNY GOMEZ, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: I totally agree with you Sean.

HANNITY: This is not controversial, this is not gun debate.

GOMEZ: This has nothing to do with guns. This has to do with protecting our children. I totally agree with you in terms of having former military and/or former law enforcement. One way to do it is to perhaps federalize it. After 9/11 we went from a private security system in most airports to TSA and their homeland security.

HANNITY: Great example.

GOMEZ: So that might be something that congress may want to consider and moving forward set up a federal system to protect our schools, because some school districts honestly don't have the budget for it or may not be willing to raise taxes for it, even though it's a necessary thing.

HANNITY: At the end of the day, we've got to put a price -- I remember the movie years ago 'Lean On Me.' it was about the principal Joe Clark. He got in trouble because he chained the school door shut. That is not necessarily the answer. There should be very specific entry points and other entry points should be closed off. But beyond that -- and look, I don't know if it would be applicable in this situation. But I've got to believe in some situations that if you have first-line defenders there, people that are trained, retired military, retired police, that they're going to be able to at least hold off for the five minutes. The police got there. The sheriff got there. They got there as fast as humanly possible. Swat team was there. First responders were there. Everyone did their job today and did it so well. But I'm just thinking for the long term, we've got to secure these schools. Again, it's not about guns. It's secure the schools.

GOMEZ: 100 percent.

WILLIAMS: I've got to tell both you guys, I disagree. It is also about guns. If you put a security guard in with a pop gun in one of these schools and you've got a guy come in with an AR-15 rifle he can even take that security guard and somebody else.

HANNITY: Ted, I'm talking about armed former military and armed former police. These are people we trust. My guess would be most school and most communities, those retired military and retired police would become the best friends of the students over time. They get to know each other. It would be good all the way around for everybody. Win-win. Safety-security. We can secure anything we want to secure in this country and nobody's going to convince me otherwise.

GOMEZ: I totally agree. So going back to former military, former law enforcement as an added benefit, going back to your win-win, now you have somebody who's been trained. And if there's other things going on in the school, this is are the drugs, bullying things like that, this is a trained professional that can deal with that, identify it, investigate it and deal with it. So that is an added benefit of having somebody of that caliber there. But it has to be funded. And it has to be a serious conversation where we as a nation say enough and we need to fund this just perhaps, like I mentioned, the TSA program.

HANNITY: All right. Ted last word for you, I was not talking about unarmed former retired military police. They don't have to be showing -- they could obviously have it concealed. But they certainly would be the front line of defense. But I do believe securing those doors. Nobody that is expelled from the school should have access to that school ever. The other thing is paying attention to mental health issues or disgruntled kids or disciplinary issues, looking at the social media footprint of a kid you throw out of school. Apparently, we're learning from Trace Gallagher we could have learned a lot about this kid. And that happens after almost every shooting. People are telegraphing where they're headed.

WILLIAMS: You're right. If you see something, you need to say something. And we don't have enough of that. But I was also happy, I must say -- and I'm using the word happy and encouraged about what Pam Bondi, the attorney general said there as it pertains to the death penalty. When you put gas masks on, when you put smoke bombs, you go in a school and pull an alarm, you're able to shoot all these people and then able to leave that school and I want to find out that you're mentally ill. I have a serious problem with mental illness when you have the sense to do all of that.

HANNITY: I know schools that have this security and it works. Thank you both. Manny thank you, Ted thank you. All right. Joining us now, Fox News correspondent at large Geraldo Rivera, national syndicated radio host Larry Elder and American first action spokesman senior advisor former Milwaukee county sheriff David Clarke. Geraldo what about the idea? Let's protect the kids. Forget about all the other debates? Ex-former military, retired military, retired police. Every school should have basic fundamental security. Not like the White House necessary, but we can secure anything we choose to secure.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEW ROAMING CORRESPONDENT: They should be at least as secure as airports. I heard about this taking her from her school to her after school activity. Another psycho punk loser with an AR-15 slaughtering these innocent. It makes me sick. How did he get the gun? How did he get the thousand dollar gun? Where did he get all this magazines? Where was his family, parents, and friends? It is just absolutely outrageous. 25 of this school massacres since Columbine in 1999. When are we going to see this is a national emergency? They want to spend $25 billion on the wall, what about $25 billion in making our schools secure from these savages that all they want to do is cause mayhem.

HANNITY: You will agree with me, we've got to get away from already the same predictable, frankly, insane and intellectually lightweight debates are going on. This is about, we can secure these schools if we choose to. We have the mindset, we have the manpower, and we have the people to do it. And I don't even think it would be that expensive. We just have to decide we're going to secure it.

RIVERA: I agree with everything you're saying. And I want exactly that as the remedy, Sean. But the AR-15 was designed to kill people. Ever since that brainy ban expired we've been selling them like hot cakes.

HANNITY: This is not a gun debate. Geraldo, I've carried firearms for 30 years of my life, Geraldo. And there are guns that also protect people, guns in the hand of retired military, Larry Elder or Sherriff Clarke and guns in the hand of retired police with track regards that are beyond admirable in those schools are going to protect those kids not perfectly. But it certainly if you add to that measures that control access to the school, it would go a long way to making every school safer. And if we need them in some schools, you put the metal detectors in.

LARRY ELDER, SALEM RADIO NATIONAL SYSNDICATE HOST: I couldn't agree with you more. I want to just say to my friend Geraldo, far more people are killed with handguns than AR-15s. If you really want to ban a weapon in order to deal with this carnage you could be banning all of the weapons.

RIVERA: That is a bogus argument, Larry.

ELDER: Let me just finish.

RIVERA: Did you hear the guns going off in that classroom? Did you hear that AR-15? Did you hear that bang, bang, bang? And there's a kid, a sophomore, a high school, defenseless and this guy's got a long rifle and he is popping with AR-15. Come on.

ELDER: When you done with this debate already. When you are done I will answer. Far more people are killed with regular handguns than AR-15s. If the goal is to eliminate death, then you'll be eliminating firearms including regular handguns. Are you prepared to do that? I don't think you are. The question really is what common-sense gun control measure can we pass that can really minimize the carnage? I want to say on my friends on the left, if it was some sort of common-sense gun control legislation, which is a phrase you guys always use, that doesn't violate the second amendment. I'm down with it. Tell me what it is.

HANNITY: All right. Sherriff Clarke, let us bring you into this, I don't think it's about the gun. I don't think anybody's mind is going to be changed. I've been on radio 30 years. I'm now on my 23rd here at the Fox News Channel. I believe in the second amendment. I disagree with Geraldo, because you could easily bring in any other gun. And if you are trained to use that gun, you know how quickly clips could be changed out or you bring in multiple guns with you. I support guns as a safety feature, especially in the hands of retired military and retired police, locked doors, security first and foremost. Geraldo is right. This is a national emergency at this point. Let's save the kids, secure these schools. We can do it if we decide to do it.

DAVID CLARKE, MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF: Well, sure, Sean. We're all shocked after what happened today. It happen in the Columbine, it happen at the Sunny Hook, At the Pulse Night Club, but the worst thing you can do I think in a time like this in the early stages, your emotion takes over. You can't let emotion drive public policy. You will end up with bad policy. One of the things that I suggest that after Sunny Hook, we should have this discussion at the state level, not nationally, about armed guards in school to protect these valuable assets, our children. The left call that a crazy idea. And then what happens long after these incidents occur, everybody forgets about it and they just go home and the discussion doesn't continue until the next incident. So I think, again, we need to have that discussion to occur at the state level. But this is not a gun control issue. We don't need any knee jerk reactions, which is what I hear after things like this. My god, let's let the grieving period happen for these families.

HANNITY: 17 families and now some literally they didn't have I.D. and they're still identifying them. I think there is a middle ground here that would keep these kids safe. Thank you all for being with us. When we come back, the mindset, social media aspects of people that are on the brink, missed. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Sad tragic day, Fox News alert, 17 dead after the school shooting in Florida. Joining us now live on the scene in Parkland, Gina Loudon radio talk show host is with us. Dr. Gina, the social media imprint we see after the shooting, signs and symptoms. What should we be doing in terms of looking at this more often?

GINA LOUDON, RADIO TALKSHOW HOST: Definitely we should, Sean. And you make a great point. The first thing I did was look up this man's Instagram. And I notice that there were animals dead on his Instagram. That is a definite sign, something we worry about in this field. And make sure your kids have meaningful relationships outside of social media. And that goes not only for kids that are troubled, but even the children now going through the grieving process.

HANNITY: He lost his mother. We knew he was troubled. He got kicked out of schools. Should they be offering, in this case, counseling ahead of time?

LOUDON: You hope they are. And I don't know what they're doing, but I myself would volunteer to help, as I know the good doctor here would. I think everywhere to take a hard look at one thing we're not looking at, too. That is psychotropic drugs. My guess is we will find out like most of this shooter.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: That has happen there in many incidents. Dr. Loudon we don't have a lot of time sir but we appreciate your insight.

DR. DANIEL BOBER, PSYCHIATRIST: Sean, what we need are not metal detectors. We need mental health detectors. We need people to say something, the tremendous work of the Office they don't operate without tips from people in the community and so when we see something as you say, we have to say something. It's the only way that we can slow these people down or prevent it from happening all together.

HANNITY: All right. I want to thank you both for your insight. Thanks so much for being with us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to these 17 families and others tonight. We need some solutions. Got to be a middle ground here. Stay with the Fox News channel continuing coverage of this shooting. Laura Ingraham is straight ahead. We will see you back here tomorrow night.

Copy: Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.