Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press | Investigators organize the crime scene and mark evidence to be photographed for the case file.
Three gunmen with rifles opened fire inside the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino Dec. 2 around 11 a.m., killing 14 and injuring at least 21.
Tactical teams surrounded the facility, located at 1365 Waterman Ave., searching the area for the suspects, who escaped in a black GMC Yukon, according to ABC News.
A police pursuit occurred around 3 p.m. on East San Bernardino Avenue where police and the suspect in the vehicle exchanged fire. With bullet holes in the vehicle, one suspect was found dead outside the vehicle with a rifle near by and a second suspect dead in the car.
San Bernardino County Police Department, SWAT and other surrounding city authorities were on the scene near Orange Show Road and Waterman Avenue to look for any suspicious items.
Jarrod Burguan, San Bernardino County sheriff, said in a press conference there is increased law enforcement present at highly populated areas near the scene.
Burguan said there is one male suspect and one female suspect who were armed with long guns and said they entered the facility as if they were on a mission but a motive is not yet known.
The two suspects, who were married, were identified by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department as U.S.-born Syed Rizwan Farook and Pakistan national Tashfeen Malik, who had amassed a large supply of ammunition and pipe bombs in their Redlands home.
A third suspect was spotted running away near the scene of the gun battle and was detained, but Burguan said it was unclear if that person has anything to do with the crime.
Local and federal authorities, including the FBI, Homeland Security and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are responding to the shooting.
David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in a press conference they do not know if the mass shooting is a terrorist attack but that it may be a possibility.
ABC news reported more than 20 ambulances left the scene to take injured people to local hospitals including Arrowhead Medical Regional Center, Riverside Community Hospital and Loma Linda University Hospital, where the level one trauma emergency room was in disaster mode.
Briana Pastorino, media relations specialist for Loma Linda University Hospital, said five adult patients are in the hospital where two have critical injuries but are stable, two are in a fair condition and one is being assessed.
Pastorino said there was a bomb threat at 2:30 p.m. but was later found to be not credible.
The White House confirmed President Barack Obama has been briefed on the reports of the mass shooting and briefly spoke with CBS News.
“Our hearts go out to victims and the families,” Obama said. “We have a pattern now of mass shooting in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world.”
Sen. Dianne Feinstein tweeted “I’m monitoring the shooting in San Bernardino closely. Absolutely heartbreaking that we’re faced with another mass shooting.”
The Inland Regional Center is a social service nonprofit that works with individuals who represent people with developmental disabilities. The conference center, where the shooting occurred, was hosting a holiday party for the San Bernardino Department of Public Health.
