Federal, metro police agencies on high alert following Manchester bombing

ATLANTA — The Prime Minister of England raised Britain's terror threat level to critical Tuesday after an attack at the end of an Ariana Grande concert Monday left 22 dead and nearly 60 wounded.

The attack, brought on by a 22-year-old bomber, has caused cities across the world to examine their security measures for similar big events.

As several graduation ceremonies got underway at the Georgia World Congress Center Tuesday, Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne found a heavy police and security presence.

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FBI Special Agent-In-Charge David Levalley told Winne that the FBI Atlanta Field Office is keeping a vigilant eye on any incident that could impact the people of Georgia.

Levalley said what made the Manchester concert attack particularly tough, was it seemed to target teens.

“This one was particularly insidious. It targeted young people,” Levalley told Winne.

GWCC police Chief Paul Guerrucci said his team had long ago planned the heavy presence at the Congress Center.

Police and security teamed up with school resource officers for this week's high school graduations

“We're prepared,” Guerricci said. “Today we went over our emergency operating plans.”

“It certainly made a significant impact on me when I saw that because I really do feel like we are responsible for our patrons and our staff,” Guerricci told Winne.

Guerruci said his department has stayed in touch with the state's counterterrorism information clearinghouse, which is in turn in touch with the FBI-led joint terrorism task force.

“We are vigilant, we are postured very aggressively towards trying to protect the American people, protect our communities,” Levalley said. “From the very beginning, we have been looking for any connections to the state of Georgia and we have seen none.”

Levalley said separate from the Ariana Grande incident, there are active counterterrorism investigations going on in Georgia as there are in every FBI field office.

Even with the FBI saying there is no threat to the metro area, Guerricci said they will still keep their guard up just in case.

“Even in the absence of any credible terroristic threat, we are still vigilant in our efforts to keep our citizens and our staff safe,” Guerricci told Winne.

Monday's bombing made Manchester Arena one of the largest indoor concert venues in Europe. The latest apparent target of Islamic extremists strikes at the heart of Western culture, an ideology baffling to the panicked young faces emerging from the concert.

Among those confirmed killed was Georgina Callander, whose death was reported by her former school, which posted a photo of her in her school uniform on its website and described her as a "lovely" and "very popular" young woman. Also killed was 8-year-old Saffie Roussos, who a teacher called "simply a beautiful little girl in every aspect of the word," who was warm, kind, "and unassuming, with a creative flair."

Besides the dead, the wounded included at least 12 children under the age of 16, hospital officials said.

Grande, who was not injured in the blast, tweeted: "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words."

For Atlanta Police Department's homeland security Cmdr. Lt. Theosie Williams, Monday's terrorist bombing was another urgent call for action to secure the city's so-called soft targets.

"I do go back and assess and reassess our plans and firm up our plans if so," Williams told Channel 2 investigative reporter Aaron Diamant.

Williams and his team said they have been sifting through intel coming in from federal partners throughout the day Tuesday.

"We look for the shortfalls. We look for those things that may have contributed to it, or lent to the incident taking place," Williams told Diamant.

The specifics are secret, but Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields told Diamant that oftentimes the key to preventing terror attacks is thinking like a terrorist.

"You have to start preparing to close any possible gaps that they might exploit, and it's sick, you know what? We have to do it," Shields said.

Georgia State University counterterrorism expert Robert Friedmann gave metro Atlanta law enforcement's efforts high marks.

"I think that the expectation that everybody is going to be safe if you enhance security is also a misplaced perception, because there's no 100 percent security. We are working in odds that are not in our favor," Friedmann said.

Because a terrorist only has to be right once.

"You just cannot in this day and age, unfortunately, be vigilant enough," Shields said.

Local Britons heartbroken over attack

Britons living in the Atlanta area are keeping in close touch with loved ones back home.

With Manchester being famous across the world for soccer, several British residents told Channel 2's Berndt Petersen that they never thought Manchester would ever be known for something like a bombing.

Petersen spend the day Monday at Gwinnett County’s Taste of Britain. The little shop caters to many who still want a little bit of where they grew up.

Petersen said the usually cheery mood was somewhat somber Tuesday. Mark Thomas, who owns the shop, said he got the news late Monday night about the concert incident.

"On Facebook. It was just blowing up. Actually, it was a friend who lives in New York who put it on first," Thomas told Petersen.

Thomas said he lived about 45 minutes from Manchester.

He said in England, that's a long way, but it’s close enough to be shaken over what happened.

Some of Thomas' loyal customers, who were also born in Britain, insist the resolve of those back home, is strong.

“I think the English tend to go by their stiff upper lip, and are very defiant," former British citizen Tracy Waugh said.

Waugh has been on the phone with her family, who live in the northern section of the country.

She said the horrific events won't change the way they view things but she said all Britons are hurting.

“They're just devastated. Just feel for all the families and everybody involved and all the young people," Wagh said.

Those Petersen talked to on Tuesday, said now is the time to mourn but at the same time, stand up for justice.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Cox Media Group