Gov. Josh Stein visits Southport in wake of mass shooting, warns on hazardous weather

Good afternoon everybody

On behalf of the entire board of aldermen for the

city of Southport our city manager and our first responders

and the entire city staff I want to welcome you

all here

I want to introduce as well the the gentlemen who

are going to speak behind me first is Brian Chisholm

who we all know is the Brunswick County sheriff and

our law enforcement partner and we could not have done

this whole project together without his help

Then there's FBI Director Chip Hawley and we have the

US Coast Guard Commander John Sukko and senior chief US

Coast Guard

Logan Atkinson as well

We appreciate Governor Josh Stein visiting us at this difficult

time and we thank you for being here

As we struggle with the various human emotions that come

upon us during moments of violence and evil we must

look to the future and not let this event define

us

We are a closely knit community who over time will

again come together to enjoy our surroundings and each other

I want to remind everyone with a short story of

who we are

Just 48 hours earlier I was in that very bar

and I was talking to a manager from a local

jurisdiction and we were going over success stories that both

jurisdictions had and as I was exiting that establishment

Two gentlemen who I've never met before were walking behind

me and as we got to the door those who

have been to American Fish realized the doorman there

He had collected some tips and the tips were sitting

on a wooden shelf right there in full view of

everybody with a glass on top of it and the

doorman had left to go do something else

And I turned to the gentleman and I said you

know how you can tell that you're in Southport

And they said no

I said because as we can see that money is

sitting there in full view and that money will still

be there no matter how many people walk by that

money when he comes back to work back to the

station here and they both agreed that we live in

an idyllic surrounding which has now been broken 48 hours

later

We all need to strive to retrieve that way of

life which I'm very confident we can as a as

a city

Now let me turn this over to Sheriff Chisholm

Good morning again

I was having a conversation with Chief Todd Chorn just

a little while ago and he brought to my attention

something that I didn't think about

I want to first off obviously my heart and prayers

go out to the family and all of you that

were affected by this

I also want to take this opportunity to thank those

agencies that were necessarily not here in Southport but played

an instrumental role in getting people to the hospital

I heard a story about agencies that we didn't know

about stopping stop lights and traffic for for ambus to

get through

So while we have a lot of representation here today

there's others that are not listed that really Came together

and gave us what we need to get a quick

resolution and get people the help that they need

I also stand here today to reiterate again what I

said yesterday

We are not gonna let this define

Brunswick County

We are not gonna let this define North Carolina and

we are definitely not going to let this define Southport

the place that we all love

Many of you grew up here

This is home

Don't let this define you

We all go through trying times in our life

I have I'm sure if I asked you to raise

your hand everybody in this room would raise your hand

that they have been tried at time

Our faith is being tested right now

We've all heard this

He will not give us more than we can handle

Remember that

We had the prayer vigil last night

We had over 1000 people show up in support

Law enforcement community thanks you for what you did for

us last night and what you continue to do to

support us and I assure you

That we are here To support you and protect you

We took an oath to do that

So again thank you for all the agency standing behind

us

The ones that were in the line of fire ran

towards the shots not away

I'm proud to be a sheep dog

I hold that near and dear to my heart so

there's men and women behind me

So again thank you for the support

I appreciate you

Director Chip Holly State Bureau of Investigation uh we had

over 20 agents respond

I just wanna make sure that that what is really

uh brought to the forefront uh our prayers and thoughts

go with all the victims and everyone affected but the

ability for local state and federal law enforcement to come

together so quickly

Uh Sheriff Chisholm the chief here in Southport it was

you had uh local uh you have your legislative representation

We were on the phone with them that live here

in this community and they were affected by this and

our ability to put over 20 agents sworn and non

sworn

On the ground and I would like to really uh

reiterate the part about the EMS and fire people that

brought that just stood in the gap while we were

trying to find uh the suspect which was apprehended and

charged and we got we got the confession

The main part was they were there were people that

needed to really be looked after

They were they were in they were in dire need

of medical attention and those people who came together in

this community to help that are I just wanna make

sure that they get noted

The the uh guard and all of them coming together

it just it was amazing and the bureau wants to

make sure that we are that conduit with local law

enforcement to make sure that we bring this community as

safe and as possible as we can to make sure

you have some comfort that that we have you in

this community is gonna be OK

God bless

Good afternoon

I want to thank Chief Corn from Southport Police Department

of course Brunswick County Sheriff Ryan Chisholm

I also want to thank Oak Island Chief Charlie Morris

SBI Director Chip Hawley

US Coast Guard Deputy Commander John Suko

They exhibited excellent leadership and an immediate response that was

able to bring an end to the fear and panic

that the shootings might have been even worse than they

obviously were

I want to thank Senator Rabin and Representative Miller for

being here

Both care deeply about this county and its people

As you've heard Southport is a tight knit community

It is known across the state as a tight knit

community

And all of us can just imagine a warm Saturday

night a special date night sitting on a dock by

the river by the water

No one goes into that kind of special night thinking

that tragedy is possible

But 2 nights ago here in Brunswick County of course

it happened

It was horrific

I'm heartbroken for the families of the three people

Who lost their lives in this terrible incident

Anne and I are praying for those who were injured

for a full and immediate recovery

To the victims victims' families and the people of Southport

I urge you to lean on each other in this

wonderful community that you all have built here

I know I speak for the entire state of North

Carolina when I say You are not alone in your

heartache or pain

You do not grieve alone

We stand with you

And my faith it is the community's responsibility to comfort

mourners so we must

And we conclude our mourning our mourners prayer by saying

may the one who brings peace to the universe bring

peace to us

Chief Corning Sheriff Chisholm Chief Morris Deputy Director Hawley Deputy

Commander Suko

I want to reiterate my appreciation for your immediate response

to apprehend the suspect essentially within minutes of the attack

Your excellent police work may have saved additional lives

We will always be grateful for your resourcefulness and your

professionalism

I have faith that law enforcement will continue to work

tirelessly until the job is done in this case and

the state of course is ready to assist in any

way possible to ensure that justice is served on behalf

of the victims

One thing is clear

We must do more to prevent these acts of violence

It has to be our top priority

Recent events here in Southport and Charlotte

Not to mention Michigan

Utah Minnesota and Kentucky and I'm talking about just in

the last few weeks

Our clarion calls telling us that we have more work

to do to make sure that people are both actually

safe and that they feel safe in their communities

We must fix our broken mental health care system

We know that the vast majority of folks with mental

health challenges pose no risk to others

But some can

There are too many people in our communities with dangerous

obsessions exhibiting threatening behavior who do pose risks

We have got to do better and I will do

everything that I can and I will work with anyone

and everyone who is serious about protecting the people of

this state

Folks deserve to be and feel safe in their towns

whether they're enjoying a dinner or praying in church or

coming home from work

We must do better to keep people safe

I want to transition and just say a word about

the storm since I'm here on the coast and we

are still in a state of emergency

I'm grateful that we're joined by Public Safety secretary Eddie

Buffalo and Colonel Freddie Johnson with the Highway Patrol

We are encouraged that the recent forecasts have shown that

the storm Imelda is being pushed further off our coast

But it does not mean that there will not be

impacts from the storm felt on land or that we

should not be prepared

The combined impact of the two storms Humberto and Imelda

may cause isolated flash flooding coastal flooding ocean overwash

Wind gusts and dangerous rip currents throughout much of this

week

The storm will likely linger and hazardous conditions on the

coast may continue throughout the end of the week

So if you're visiting the beaches please stay out of

the water this week

And folks in the east just be aware that flash

flooding may happen in your community

On Saturday I declared a state of emergency across North

Carolina to facilitate our emergency response and to make sure

that the assets of the state the assets at our

state's disposal are available to assist any communities with their

response needs

The state of emergency covered the whole state enabled us

to send critical resources from across North Carolina to preposition

them here on the coast

We activated our state emergency response team which is a

consortium of the Department of Public Safety Department of Transportation

North Carolina National Guard State Highway Patrol and our local

partners

Thankfully the change in Imelda's forecast track

We hope that these resources are not needed

But they remain ready and available if they are

We always seek to prepare for the worst

At the same time we hope for the best

Last Saturday's One year milestone of Hurricane Helene reminds us

of the importance of being prepared

Anna and I our first lady and I spent the

weekend with our neighbors in western North Carolina

The milestone event stirred incredible emotions out west

Folks were mourning all that was lost 108 lives lost

in the storm

At the same time they were celebrating the remarkable progress

that they've made

And they're sober in their recognition about the vast amount

of work that remains ahead of them

While this weather system is not looking nearly as catastrophic

as thank gosh

Know that we're preparing early and knowing that preparing early

and following emergency guidance can save lives

My last thought is that in times like this whether

it's in the wake of a natural disaster or a

horrific tragedy as experienced here Saturday night it is more

critical than ever that we look out for each other

So I encourage you to reach out to your friends

reach out to your family reach out to your neighbors

make sure they're OK make sure that they have what

they need

And we at the state are committed to doing likewise

Thank you

Happy to take questions and you can address them to

any of the speakers

Yes sir

To Specific Increasing safety and increasing those uh mental health

checks that you were referring to so that

Yeah We need to have a greater integration in our

criminal justice system with our mental health care system because

usually it's law enforcement that is the first point of

contact with people either because they get repeated phone calls

about a person who may be a risk

But it's not enough to just know that somebody may

be a challenge

We've then got to be able to connect that person

with the treatment that they need to address whatever their

underlying conditions are

There is a great deal that we need to do

to improve our mental health care system and we will

be talking more about that in the days to come

Governor question over here

Monica Casey WEL the crime bill that's currently on your

desk Democrats pushed for there to be a red flag

law component to that

Do you think that would have made a difference here

I don't know the specifics of this gentleman and whether

there are people in the community who were concerned enough

about his erratic behavior to have triggered a red flag

law provision

I think it's a good idea

There are people in our community who people know are

a risk a risk to others a risk to themselves

and they should not have firearms and that's what a

red flag law allows is for a judge through due

process to temporary remove dangerous weapons from people who are

a risk

I think that the public would be well served if

North Carolina had a red flag law

with ABC News you said we must do more to

prevent these acts of violence

Knowing what you know about the suspects so far is

this could this happen I'll have to defer to the

locals who know more about him and what his conditions

were and and what his engagement with local law enforcement

was whether there were family members or neighbors in the

area who are concerned

I just don't have enough to say

I I don't know if anyone wants to take that

question

The question is could this happen Knowing what we know

about the suspect

At this point it's premature

Yes the tang will actually Today all the way We're

doing a systematic analysis of our mental health care system

and what is needed in order to enhance it so

that we have the resources to respond to people's needs

Um

There are too many people who are profoundly troubled who

are obsessed whose paranoia gets stoked by what they read

on the internet every day

And we've got to figure out ways so that those

folks don't pose risks to the community

One last question Can we expect any new details about

the victims today I'm I'm Chief Todd Corn with the

City of Southport Police Department

We should have details coming out possibly tomorrow on that

um

They're still hospitalized

We're still getting information

Um we're trying to allow the family some time but

we should have a another media release coming out tomorrow

with additional details

We heard one of them was still clinging to life

Is that still the case To my understanding we do

have one that is still very critical at one of

our area hospitals

To to that up real quick to that point is

it possible just to get an update on their conditions

overall So Well there I don't have no details on

that

I don't have clearly enough to to speak on that

They're at two different hospitals and I had not had

time to to check up on them yet

To my knowledge yes the ones that were transported are

still hospitalized