At Least 14 Dead, 17 More Wounded In Shooting In San Bernardino, California
Update below.
Fourteen people are dead and 17 more wounded after at least two shooters opened fire in a rampage that terrorized the Southern California city of San Bernardino Wednesday.
KTLA reported:
The San Bernardino Fire Department first tweeted around 11:15 a.m. that they were responding to a report of a “20-victim shooting.”
San Bernardino police confirmed via a tweet sent by the county’s Sheriff Department around 11:30 a.m. that there was an active shooter still in the area of Orange Show Road / Waterman Avenue near Park Center Circle.
The call first came in at 10:59 a.m. of multiple shots fired from the area of 1365 S. Waterman Ave., San Bernardino Police Department Lt. Richard Lawhead said. The department’s SWAT team was training nearby and was suited, “ready to roll” and responded rapidly, Lawhead said.
The San Bernardino Police Department said on Twitter that it had “confirmed 1 to 3 possible suspects” and multiple victims in the shooting, which remained an “active” situation for much of the afternoon.
At a press conference shortly after 1:50 p.m. PT, the San Bernardino Police Department said “up to three people” were suspected, “upwards of 14 people dead,” and “upwards of 14 people are injured.” The shooters were armed with long guns, and appeared to have been dressed and equipped in such a way as to suggest that they were “prepared,” they said. (The tally of injured was later raised to 17.)
The local courts and city and county buildings in the area had been closed, Sheriff John McMahon of San Bernadino County said at a mid-afternoon press briefing.
At the time, authorities were unwilling to describe the shooting as an act of terrorism outright. An FBI spokesperson said “we do not know if this is a terrorist incident.” The San Bernardino Police Department said it was not “terrorism in the traditional sense people might be thinking,” but conceded that it was most likely a form of “domestic terrorism.”
The location of the shooting was reported as the southern building of the Inland Regional Center, an education center for people with developmental disabilities near a golf course; although the building had been rented out at the time of the shooting.
SBFD units responding to reports of 20 victim shooting incident in 1300 block of S. Waterman. SBPD is working to clear the scene.
— San Bernardino Fire (@SBCityFire) December 2, 2015
Hard Closure at Orange Show Rd/ Waterman and Park Center Circle in San Bernardino. AVOID THE AREA POLICE ACTIVITY! — SB County Sheriff (@sbcountysheriff) December 2, 2015
This post has been updated.
Update: Two suspects have been killed and a third detained. For more click here.