CBS Evening News open - 1999-05-21

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] New information tonight about the

[0:04] Georgia high school shooter.

[0:05] >> [music]

[0:06] >> Investigators reveal where his guns came

[0:08] from and how he smuggled them into

[0:10] school.

[0:11] We investigate the proposed trigger lock

[0:14] law and whether it will really keep guns

[0:16] out of the hands of children.

[0:18] >> [music]

[0:18] >> And the United Nations welcomes a new

[0:20] ambassador of goodwill.

[0:22] >> [music]

[0:24] >> This is the CBS Evening News.

[0:29] With Dan Rather [music] reporting from

[0:31] CBS News headquarters in New York. Good

[0:34] evening. New evidence tonight of just

[0:36] how easy it is for young people to get

[0:38] guns and use them in this country. Even

[0:40] as Congress wrangled again over closing

[0:42] some loopholes in gun laws,

[0:44] investigators said the Georgia teenager

[0:46] who wounded six high school classmates

[0:49] yesterday got his .22 caliber rifle and

[0:52] powerful .357 handgun from home. CBS's

[0:56] Byron Pitts is on the scene in Conyers,

[0:58] Georgia.

[1:00] By late today, all but two of the six

[1:02] wounded students have been released from

[1:04] area hospitals. Kids like Jason Cheek. I

[1:07] was going to die.

[1:09] Other people were going to die. People

[1:10] that I cared about. Scarred and still

[1:13] scared, he was shot twice.

[1:15] Shouldn't have to go through that at 17.

[1:18] No one should.

[1:19] Never.

[1:22] As for the suspect, 15-year-old TJ

[1:24] Solomon, the boy scout, the kid who went

[1:26] to church with his parents the night

[1:28] before the shooting, police say he

[1:30] carried two weapons to Heritage High on

[1:32] the school bus Thursday morning. A

[1:34] revolver in his book bag, a rifle in his

[1:36] pants leg.

[1:37] >> We now believe that both weapons, a .357

[1:40] revolver and a .22 rifle, were removed

[1:43] from that gun cabinet within the

[1:45] suspect's home. Neighbors say the

[1:47] teenager liked guns, showed off his

[1:49] stepdad's collection. Extensive, what do

[1:51] you mean? Like maybe nine to 11

[1:54] big ones, like

[1:55] >> He even had a handgun of his own. The

[1:57] handgun that he had was a present from

[2:00] his parents, but it was taken away from

[2:02] him

[2:03] cuz they caught him carrying it around.

[2:05] Yesterday, Solomon allegedly did his

[2:07] damage with a rifle. Afterwards, he

[2:09] walked outside and put the revolver in

[2:11] his mouth.

[2:13] Students were running in every direction

[2:15] and then it it was really panic. That's

[2:17] when assistant principal Cecil Brinkley

[2:19] approached him. I said,

[2:21] "Give me the gun."

[2:23] "Give me the gun." At that time, he

[2:26] raised the barrel up toward me. But

[2:28] Brinkley held his ground and the boy

[2:30] surrendered.

[2:31] >> He grabbed me and

[2:33] gave me a bear hug and said, "Um

[2:37] I'm scared." Today, Cecil Brinkley's

[2:39] being held as the saint who stopped the

[2:41] shooter. Meantime, TJ Solomon will spend

[2:44] the weekend in a juvenile detention

[2:45] center. But come Monday morning,

[2:47] prosecutors say they hope to treat this

[2:49] boy like a man, charging him with

[2:51] aggravated assault in adult court. And

[2:54] in Georgia, aggravated assault means the

[2:56] same as attempted murder.

[2:59] Byron Pitts, CBS News, Conyers, Georgia.

[3:02] The landmark yet modest gun control

[3:05] measures now passed by the US Senate

[3:07] moved to the House today, where final

[3:09] passage is no sure shot. House members

[3:11] can't even agree on when to consider the

[3:13] legislation. Republicans are pushing for

[3:16] a delay. As for what's in this bill,

[3:18] CBS's Wyatt Andrews has been

[3:20] investigating the potential impact of

[3:22] one key provision, the one requiring gun

[3:25] locks to at least be sold with guns.

[3:28] It prohibits the trigger from going back

[3:31] and and firing. At his gun store in

[3:34] Virginia, Hayward Long showed us the

[3:36] kind of trigger lock the Senate's safe

[3:38] lock amendment has in mind. It locks

[3:41] with a key and it blocks the trigger.

[3:43] The problem, Long says, is that gun

[3:44] owners don't want to fumble with a key

[3:46] if they need the weapon. 90% of them's

[3:49] going to take it off and

[3:50] not use it. Drop it right in the drawer.

[3:52] >> Drop in the drawer. Which is another

[3:54] loophole. Legally, the buyers can throw

[3:56] the