Video After The Jump
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — As many as three gunmen believed to be wearing military-style gear opened fire Wednesday at a Southern California social services center, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than a dozen others, authorities said.
FBI agents and other law enforcement authorities converged on the center and searched room to room for the attacker or attackers, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said. But he said they may have escaped in a dark SUV, he said.
"They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission," Burguan said, noting the attackers carried long guns — which can mean rifles or shotguns.
Police shed no light on a motive.
Witnesses said several people locked themselves in their offices, desperately waiting to be rescued by police, after gunfire erupted at the Inland Regional Center, which serves people with developmental disabilities.
The attack took place in a rented-out conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was holding a banquet, said Maybeth Feild, president and CEO of the center. She said the building houses at least 25 employees as well as a library and conference center.
No weapons were recovered at the center, though authorities were investigating unidentified items in the building and have brought in bomb squads, Burguan said.
Ten of the wounded were hospitalized in critical condition, and three were in serious conditioni, San Bernardino Fire Chief Tom Hannemann said. Police cautioned that the number of people killed and wounded were preliminary estimates that could change.
San Bernardino police spokesman Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told The Associated Press there were reports from witnesses of one to three gunmen.
As the manhunt went on, stores, office buildings and at least one school were locked down in the city of 214,000 people about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and roads were blocked off.
Triage units were set up outside the center, and people were seen being wheeled away on stretchers. Others walked quickly from a building with their hands up. They were searched by police before being reunited with loved ones.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the attack by his homeland security adviser.
He said it was too early to know the shooters' motives, but urged the country to take steps to reduce the frequency of mass shootings. He told CBS that stricter gun laws, including stronger background checks, would make the country safer.
"The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world, and there's some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently," Obama said.
Terry Petit said his daughter works at the center, and he got a text from her saying she was hiding in the building after hearing gunshots. Petit choked back tears as he read the texts for reporters outside the center. He said she wrote: "People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office."
Marcos Aguilera's wife was in the building when the gunfire erupted. He said a shooter entered the building next to his wife's office and opened fire.
"They locked themselves in her office. They seen bodies on the floor," Aguilera told KABC-TV, adding that his wife was able to get out of the building unharmed.
The social services center has two large buildings that require a badge to get in, said Sheela Stark, an Inland Regional Center board member. However, the conference room where many public events take place — including the banquet on Wednesday — is usually left open when visitors are expected.
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Contributing to this report were Brian Melley, John Antczak, Christopher Weber, John Rogers, Christine Armario, Gillian Flaccus and Sue Manning in Los Angeles; Amy Taxin in San Bernardino; Alina Hartounian in Phoenix; Michael Sisak in Philadelphia; and Hannah Cushman in Chicago.
CNN affiliate KABC showed images of police activity in a neighborhood on Wednesday. It was unclear whether the operation was tied to a shooting earlier in the day. The images showed a black SUV and a person on the ground.
Bullet-riddled SUV in 1300 block of S. Waterman in San Bernardino https://t.co/u5lTveArpy https://t.co/fZr7k2Srd2
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 2, 2015Follow Me
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