SAN BERNARDINO,
Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said the killers walked into the meeting room at the Inland Regional Center, began shooting and quickly fled in a dark-colored SUV. A massive manhunt quickly ensued, and hours later police had surrounded a bullet-riddled SUV.
"The information we have is they came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission," he said, adding that they were "equipped to get away."
He said at least 14 people were killed and 14 injured, but that those figures could change. Police said all county buildings in the area were shut down while the manhunt continued. Witnesses said the shooters were armed with long guns, wearing ski masks and military-style vests.
"Obviously we have a domestic terrorism situation," Burguan said, adding that police have not determined a motive for the rampage.
Many of the injured were taken from the building on stretchers and strapped into gurneys. Loma Linda University Medical Center and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center said they received multiple patients from the shooting.
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, KABC-Los Angeles reported.
"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.
Terry Petit said his daughter texted to say she was hiding after gunfire erupted at the social services facility where she works. 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.”
Many area residents and concerned friends and family members congregated about a quarter-mile from the scene of the attack, near a gas station. Meredith Wiresinger said she had two friends in the center when the tragedy took place.
"Thankfully they are OK. But you can see the fear from people who don’t what has happened to their loved ones," she said. "You hear about tragedy, but today we are seeing it in real life and on people’s faces. They’ve got to get these guns off the street.”
Wilbert Aquino picked up his 10-year-old daughter from a nearby school.
“We are just going to go home and stay there and wait until we hear more," he said. "Thankfully she is OK, but I’m sure the kids are scared.”
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According to its Facebook page, 670 Inland Regional Center staff members provide services to more than 30,200 people in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The center's clients range from toddlers to seniors.
San Bernardino is located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
In Washington, a White House spokesperson said President Obama had been briefed by his Homeland Security Advisor Lisa Monaco about the shooting and has asked to be updated on the situation as it develops.
"We don't know that much yet," Obama told CBS News. "It's still an active situation."
The president said we do know that "we have a pattern of mass shootings" in the United States that have no parallel in other countries in the world. He again called for "common sense gun safety laws" and improved background checks
"It doesn't happen with the same kind of frequency in other countries," Obama told CBS.
Contributing: Brett Kelman, The Desert Sun reported from in San Bernardino; Liz Szabo and John Bacon from McLean,Va.
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