14 DEAD IN MASS SHOOTING
GUNMEN CARRYING MILITARY-STYLE GEAR OPEN FIRE ON A HOLIDAY EVENT AT A CALIFORNIA SOCIAL SERVICES CENTRE, LEAVING AT LEAST 14 DEAD AND 17 INJURED
Police suspect this SUV was the getaway vehicle at a shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday. Shooters with assault rifles opened fire during a holiday party at a social services agency, killing 14 and wounding 17 others, then fled, leading to a hunt and shootout.
As gunfire crackled through a southern California social services facility Wednesday morning, barricaded employees sent urgent text messages to loved ones.
Terry Petit got one from his daughter, who was locked in an office.
“People shot. In the office waiting for cops,” it read. “Pray for us.”
Scott Murphy received a similar blitz of text messages from his daughter. “I’m in a tiny room … we’re freaking out,” she wrote. She, too, asked for his prayers. “As a parent, as a father, that’s the worst things that you can have come across your phone,” he later told CNN.
As many as three people armed with guns stormed the facility in San Bernardino, about 96 kilometres east of Los Angeles, killing at least 14 people and injuring 17 others, authorities said. Ten of the wounded were in critical condition as of press time.
The suspects were believed to have fled in a black SUV, prompting a massive manhunt through the city’s streets.
“They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission,” San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan told reporters.
Working on tips, police zeroed in on a residence in nearby Redlands, Calif. As they approached, a dark SUV took off and police gave chase. The pursuit ended up back in San Bernardino. David Danelski, a reporter with The Press-Enterprise newspaper, followed the chase from his car.
“I heard a thundering sound. I didn’t recognize the sound as gunfire. Then I heard something strange, a whizzing sound go by my car,” he later wrote in an account online.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, that could be gunshots,’ and I pulled over.”
As he got out, numerous officers ran by him and more gunshots rang out.
WE SHOULD NEVER THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT JUST HAPPENS IN THE NORMAL COURSE OF EVENTS.
— U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
Danelski darted across the street and took cover behind a block wall. The shooting lasted several minutes, he later told CNN.
At about 3: 15 p. m. local time, a KABC television news helicopter hovered over the aftermath: a black SUV, its windows shot out and its driver’s side door ajar.
The camera then panned a short distance away to what a TV announcer described as a “gruesome” scene — a motionless body in a pool of blood and what appeared to be a long gun nearby. Officers appeared to remove a second person from the vehicle.
Heavily armed police had slowly approached the SUV from both directions in armoured trucks to make sure there were no other threats.
Wednesday evening, Burguan confirmed that two suspects — one male and one female — were dead at the scene. They were both dressed in tactical gear and armed with assault rifles and handguns, he said.
A third person, seen running away from the scene, was detained. It was unclear if that person was involved in the shooting or not.
One officer was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
There was no official confirmation of a motive. The Los Angeles Times reported the shooting may have been sparked by a dispute at a holiday party taking place at the facility.
Burguan confirmed a dispute had taken place, but said it was too early to draw a link.
David Bowdich, an FBI spokesman, said authorities had not ruled out the possibility the shooting was an act of terrorism.
“At minimum, we have a domestic terrorism situation,” Burguan said.
The incident was the deadliest since 26 children and teachers were killed at a school in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.
U. S. President Barack Obama used the occasion to repeat his call for reforms to gun-control laws, including stronger background checks.
The setting of Wednesday’s massacre was the Inland Regional Center, a private, non-profit facility that provides care to individuals with developmental disabilities ranging from autism to cerebral palsy. It employs 670 people.
At around 11 a.m., gunmen targeted a conference centre that had been rented out by county public health employees, said Marybeth Feild, president and CEO of the centre. It was a holiday event, Keith Nelson, who sits on the centre’s board of trustees, told CNN.
As shots rang out, employees scrambled for cover, many locking themselves in offices.
Debbie Alvarado told CBS News her daughter, Michelle, who had been shot in the side, played dead along with several others employees.
One father shared the text messages he exchanged with his daughter with KCBS television.
“Dad, shooting at my work. Shot people. In office waiting for cops to catch him. Prayer (sic) for us,” she wrote.
“Hide,” the father responded. “Find a good spot. Hide now.”
The gunfire lasted anywhere from five to eight minutes, said Sandy Wood, an employee with the Inland Empire Lighthouse for the Blind located across the street.
She told CNN she heard maybe 25 to 30 shots.
Some of the wounded were loaded onto a truck in order to drive them out of danger.
Victims were taken to hospitals across the region.
Police bomb technicians were called in to assess suspicious objects located in the building. Burguan said they believed there was an explosive device.
All county buildings, including the main courthouse, were locked down. A distraught Sherry Esquerra said she was searching for her daughter and son-in-law, both of whom work at the centre.She said she repeatedly tried calling her daughter but got nothing. “I just get her message. Straight to voice mail.”