SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) –
2:30 p.m. PT: Police say the attackers who killed an estimated 14 people at a Southern California social services center came prepared with long guns.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan declined to say what kind of weapons they used at the Inland Regional Center. Burguan says a motive wasn’t yet clear, but that the shooters “were on a mission” and “came in with a purpose.”
He says police are looking for up to three shooters.
The attack was concentrated in one area of the building where most victims were shot, while hundreds of other people weren’t injured.
Burguan says it’s too early to say whether the attackers targeted that area or chose it out of convenience or at random.
The president and CEO of the center says the shooting happened in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was having a banquet.
12:15 p.m. PT: Terry Petit says he got a text from his daughter saying she was hiding after gunfire erupted at the social services facility in Southern California where she works.
Petit choked back tears Wednesday as he read the texts for reporters outside Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
He says she wrote: “People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office.”
Police searched people filing out of a building with their hands up before they reunited with loved ones.
Ambulances and law enforcement vehicles are racing through the area with sirens blaring.
EARLIER: Police in San Bernardino, California, are responding to reports of an active shooter at a social services facility.
Lt. Rich Lawhead said Wednesday there are reports of multiple victims.
No arrests have been made.
Sgt. Vicky Cervantes says police are working to secure the scene in the inland region east of Los Angeles.
