Mass Shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.; 14 Dead; 2 Suspects Identified

UPDATE — In San Bernardino, California, a heavily armed man and woman dressed for battle opened fire on a holiday banquet for his co-workers, killing 14 people and seriously wounding more than a dozen others in a precision assault, authorities said. Hours later, they died in a shootout with police.

Authorities are trying to determine a motive, which could include workplace violence or terrorism.

Wednesday's shooting happened at a social services center for the disabled where the suspect's colleagues with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health were renting space for a celebration. It was the nation's deadliest mass shooting since the attack at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, three years ago that left 26 children and adults dead.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan identified one dead suspect as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, the other as Tashfeen Malik, 27, his wife or fiancee. Burguan said Farook was born in the United States; the chief said he did not know Malik's background.

The suspect in the Southern California shooting that left 14 dead traveled to Saudi Arabia earlier this year and returned with a wife.

Co-worker Patrick Baccari says Syed Farook was gone for about a month in the spring. When he came back word got around Farook had been married, and the woman he described as a pharmacist joined him shortly afterward. The couple had a baby later this year.

Baccari says the reserved Farook showed no signs of unusual behavior, although he grew out his beard several months ago.

Baccari said he been sitting at the same table as Farook at an office party Wednesday morning, but his co-worker suddenly disappeared, leaving his coat on his chair.

Baccari said he had stepped into the bathroom when the shooting started and suffered minor wounds from shrapnel slicing through the wall.

Federal authorities say that the two assault rifles and two handguns used in the San Bernardino massacre were all purchased legally in the United States — two of them by someone who's now under investigation.

Meredith Davis of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives says investigators are now working to make a connection to the last legal purchaser.

She says all four guns were bought four years ago but she's not saying whether they were purchased out of state or how and when they got into the hands of the two shooters.

Davis says California requires paperwork when guns change hands privately but many other states don't.

She also says the rifles involved were .223-caliber — powerful enough to pierce the standard protective vest worn by police officers, and some types of ammo can even plow through walls.

UPDATE — Police say two suspects, one male and one female, are dead after the shooting at a Southern California social services center that left at least 14 people dead and more than a dozen wounded.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan also said at a news conference Wednesday evening that authorities found what they believe is an explosive device at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Bomb squads were working on it. The FBI says it's a possibility that the shooting is "terrorism."

Burguan says the suspects were wearing "assault-style clothing" and were both armed with assault rifles and handguns.

Police say a person was detained who was seen running near a gun battle between officers and two suspects of a deadly shooting at a Southern California social services center. That person's connection is unclear.

UPDATE - There is apparently a second suspect in the back seat of the SUV. Police say he is sitting very still with a gun across his chest. A third suspect is said to have run away, and is reportedly moving through a neighborhood.

UPDATE - Police say shots have been fired and a suspect is down near a dark-colored SUV.

It's unclear if the suspect is related to the deadly shooting Wednesday at a social services facility in Southern California. Police have said that the suspects may have fled in a dark SUV.

San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes said she knew of no officers who were injured in the shootout.

Television footage showed armored vehicles blocking the SUV on a residential street.

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Police are pointing guns at a dark-colored SUV with shattered windows on a residential street.

Police have said that the suspects in the deadly shooting Wednesday at a social services facility in Southern California may have fled in a dark SUV.

Officers were keeping their distance, pointing their weapons at the vehicle, while more police raced to the scene.

Local media said there appeared to be a person on the ground but it was unclear who they were or what their injuries may be.

UPDATE - Authorities say 10 of the 14 people wounded in a deadly shooting at a Southern California social services center were taken to hospitals in critical condition.

Fire Chief Tom Hannemann says three people were in serious condition. Authorities say an additional 14 victims were killed in the gunfire at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

The chief says firefighters were on the scene within seven minutes of the 11 a.m. Wednesday call and transported all the injured by 11:30 a.m.

Authorities say they are looking for up to three shooters and a motive is not yet known.

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President Barack Obama says there's a pattern of mass shootings in the U.S. that has no parallel elsewhere in the world.

Obama commented on the mass shooting at a California social services center in an interview with CBS News. Authorities say at least 14 people were killed and the motives of the shooters are not yet known.

Obama says there are steps the U.S. can take to reduce the frequency of mass shootings.

Obama is calling for the country to come together to make mass shootings a rare occurrence. He says the U.S. should never think mass shootings are a normal part of life.

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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.

UPDATE - The president and CEO of the Southern California social services center where gunmen opened fire says the shooting happened in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was having a banquet.

Marybeth Feild of the Inland Regional Center was not at the facility but says she is in contact with many employees. She says they told her the shooting happened Wednesday during a banquet for the health department.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan estimates at least 14 people have been killed and about 14 wounded. Burguan says police are looking for up to three shooters.

He noted that most people were killed and wounded in same area. Authorities say bomb squads checked unidentifiable items in the center, but they didn't know if the gunmen brought those items.

UPDATE - Police say that the suspects in the deadly shooting at a social services facility in Southern California may have fled in a dark-colored SUV.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at a news conference Wednesday that he estimates at least 14 people have been killed and about 14 wounded. He says the wounded have significant injuries that may be related to gunshots.

Burguan says they are looking for up to three shooters.

Authorities have locked down courts and increased police presence at other public facilities but didn't know the motive of the attack.

UPDATE — Police say suspects in California mass shooting may have left area in dark-colored SUV.

UPDATE — Police estimate at least 14 dead, more than a dozen wounded in California mass shooting.

1:30 p.m. PST

Marcos Aguilera says his wife was inside a social services facility in Southern California when gunfire erupted but she got out of the building unharmed.

He told KABC-TV that a shooter entered the building next to his wife's office and opened fire.

Aguilera says they locked themselves in her office and saw bodies on the floor. He says his wife saw ambulances taking people out of the building on stretchers.

Authorities say multiple people were shot and some were killed Wednesday at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told KCBS-TV that police were searching for more than one gunman. She didn't have specific numbers on the number of dead and injured.

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1:20 p.m. PST

A hospital says it's received four patients in its trauma center after a shooting at a social services facility in Southern California.

Briana Pastorino, spokeswoman for Loma Linda University Medical Center, says she didn't know their conditions. She says the hospital expects to get three more patients.

Authorities say multiple people were shot and some were killed Wednesday at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told KCBS-TV that police were searching for more than one gunman. She didn't have specific numbers on the number of dead and injured.

Gov. Jerry Brown's press office said on Twitter that the governor has been briefed and "is closely monitoring this disturbing and ongoing situation unfolding in San Bernardino."

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1:05 p.m. PST

Police confirm that people have died in the shooting at a Southern California social services center.

San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told KCBS-TV on Wednesday that "there are multiple casualties and there are some confirmed fatalities." She says she doesn't have specific numbers.

She told the television station that it appears there was more than one shooter. She believes they were wearing "military-style" attire.

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12:55 p.m. PST

Paul Lacroix said his son was able to escape after gunfire erupted at a Southern California social services center.

Lacroix told reporters Wednesday that his son texted him and told him alarms started going off and they got word there was shooting. He said his son was sheltered with a group of people before they managed to get out.

Authorities say multiple people were shot at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Police were searching for one or more gunmen.

Lacroix said his son and colleagues were ordered to exit with their arms up and nothing in their hands.

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12:40 p.m. PST

The president and CEO of the Southern California social services center where gunfire has erupted says the focus is on a building that houses at least 25 employees as well as a library and conference center.

Marybeth Feild of the Inland Regional Center says "the incident is in the conference area" that an outside group was renting Wednesday. She says she is not at the center, which serves people with developmental disabilities and does not know what outside group rented the center.

Feild says people served by the center also would have been in the building, which is in San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Police confirm fatalities in shooting at San Bernardino, California, social services center.

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Police say they are searching for one or more gunmen after a shooting at a social services facility in Southern California.

Police say multiple people were shot at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, a facility that serves individuals with developmental disabilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Several law enforcement agencies have converged on the scene, and triage units have been being set up in the area. Some people were seen being wheeled away on gurneys, and others filed out of a building with their hands up.

No arrests have been made.

San Bernardino is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

The head of the Inland Regional Center says "the incident is in the conference area" that an outside group had been renting, but people served by the center also would have been in the building.

The White House says President Barack Obama has been briefed on the situation.

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UPDATE 3:30 p.m. EST: The Los Angeles Times reports that a San Bernardino police spokesperson, Sgt. Vicki Cervantes, "told reporters at the scene up to three shooters were reported inside the Inland Regional Center." Their precise whereabouts are uncertain.

The shooters were heavily armed and possibly wearing body armor. A SWAT team is now going door-to-door to try to clear the building.

The original post begins here:

Early reports indicate that a shooter or shooters may have opened fire in San Bernardino, California, near Los Angeles, possibly injuring or killing up to 20 people. Police say they are looking for one to three suspects.

ABC is reporting that the shooting occurred at "the Inland Regional Center, a nonprofit that works with individuals with developmental disabilities, at 1365 S. Waterman Avenue."

News station KTLA in Los Angeles has a livestream up and running.

This post will be updated as further information comes in.