By ABC7.com staff
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) --
Police said up to 14 people were killed when one or more gunmen
opened fire at a San Bernardino social services facility on Wednesday.The shooting took place at the Inland Regional Center, a nonprofit that works with individuals with developmental disabilities, at 1365 S. Waterman Avenue. The complex is comprised of three buildings. Sgt. Vicki Cervantes with San Bernardino police said the shooting occurred during some type of scheduled event at the facility.
In addition to the fatalities, San Bernardino police Chief Jarrod Burguan said up to 14 people were injured.
Inland Regional Center employee Brandon Hunt told Eyewitness News that he believes the shooting took place in the building with the facility's main auditorium, where a banquet of some sort was being held. He said the auditorium is regularly rented out to outside agencies. Hunt said approximately 550 people typically work at the facility at any given day.
Investigators were searching the building and have yet to clear it. Police said there were reports of one to three shooters involved, and they were described to be wearing ski masks.
A source confirmed to Eyewitness News that there were three shooters armed with rifles, and there were no suspects in custody. Riverside police said they are helping other agencies look for male suspects in a black SUV, possibly a GMC Yukon.
The suspects are heavily armed and were possibly wearing body armor, according to Cervantes.
Shortly
before noon, dozens of people were seen exiting the building with their
hands up. Cervantes said police are taking them to a secure location.
She said police are not aware of any other active scenes.Loma
Linda University Medical Center said the hospital's emergency room is
in disaster mode and is expecting an influx of patients. The exact
number of patients was not immediately available.
Patton State Hospital officials said the facility is "in crisis" but did not specify how many victims they were expecting.
San Bernardino County officials said six patients were being treated at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
San Bernardino Unified School District officials said more than 70 schools are on lockdown as a precaution.
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 said, adding that his wife saw ambulances taking people out of the building on stretchers.
Aguilera said his wife was able to get out of the building unharmed.
Terry Pettit said he received a text message from his daughter, telling him that gunmen were in her building and that she and some co-workers were hiding. She said there were 10 to 20 people were shot.
MORE: Father receives text message from daughter during San Bernardino mass shooting
Multiple agencies were working together on scene. FBI and ATF agents were responding to the scene to assist local authorities.
The regional center in Alhambra is closing as a precaution, a client of the facility told Eyewitness News.
There are 21 regional centers across California with more than 40 offices throughout the state.
The White House said President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation.
DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.
Patton State Hospital officials said the facility is "in crisis" but did not specify how many victims they were expecting.
San Bernardino County officials said six patients were being treated at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center.
San Bernardino Unified School District officials said more than 70 schools are on lockdown as a precaution.
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 said, adding that his wife saw ambulances taking people out of the building on stretchers.
Aguilera said his wife was able to get out of the building unharmed.
Terry Pettit said he received a text message from his daughter, telling him that gunmen were in her building and that she and some co-workers were hiding. She said there were 10 to 20 people were shot.
MORE: Father receives text message from daughter during San Bernardino mass shooting
Multiple agencies were working together on scene. FBI and ATF agents were responding to the scene to assist local authorities.
The regional center in Alhambra is closing as a precaution, a client of the facility told Eyewitness News.
There are 21 regional centers across California with more than 40 offices throughout the state.
The White House said President Barack Obama was briefed on the situation.
DEVELOPING: We will add more details to this report as they become available.
No comments:
Post a Comment