person as we do in other high profile events. i'll now have the director of the fbi say a few words. >> thank you, sheriff. the fbi is here, and we're here to essentially assure that all the wound ready extracted, and ultimately public safety is the number one goal at this point. we'll work as law enforcement community to assure that we have done everything we can in our power to find, locate, apprehend the subjects. at this point i know one of your questions is going to be is this a terrorist incident? i will tell you we do not know if this is a terrorist incidents. we give them the assumption that we will work hand in hand from the beginning. if things change there i, we'll

respond. >> we know that this is a human incident, this is a tragedy. we know we've got a lot of folks out there who are concerned and worry about their loved ones who have been at this facility today. we've set up a center here in the city of san bernardino for family members to go for information. we'll push information out to that for those family members as we can. also, the sheriff will put out the crime tip hotline number. if anyone has information we would like to hear from you. with that we'll take a couple of questions.

>> inaudible question. >> i heard it was a meeting or lunch-time gathering for the holidays. it's not been confirmed. most of the people who were wounded, most of the victims were centrally located in one end of the facility. >> any weapons or body armor, anything like that recovered? >> it's my understanding that the facility has state and county employees as well as folks who work for a number of organizations. the regional center serves a number of organizations that treat mental illness type issues and that sort of stuff. i don't have any idea--i know that state and local count employees work there. i don't know if any of them are the victims or who they are. >> i do not have any information that children were involved. >> the weapons used and the number of people involved, given in what you have by the way of evidence, do you categorize this as an organized event?

>> these were people who came prepared. they were dressed and equipped in a way to indicate they were prepared, and they have long guns not handguns. i don't know what type of long guns. >> how were they dressed? >> how many of those weapons recovered at the scene. >> we have no weapons recovered at this point. >> what were they wearing. >> sorry. >> chief, you said upwards of 14 dead. what does upwards mean? >> the preliminary number we have right now there are 14 people who are deceased and our count is another 14 people in a has been taken to various hospitals for significant injuries potentially related to gunshots. we have a number of other people who have had other minor types of injuries where they fell down while fleeing, things of that nature. >> is there videos in the build

that will give you video of what happened? >> i would imagine there are, but we are not that far in the investigation. >> is there the possibility that there are more wounded inside that center? >> i think that could be a possibility, i don't think we're comfortable saying no at this point. >> have the technicians discovered anything that is or looks like an i.e.d. in the building? >> there were things in the building not immediately identifiable that caused some concern. as a result that have we do have some bomb checks on identity that are checking that out. i do not know if they were brought in by the suspects. we do not know if they were bombs of any sort. just things as teams were moving through, that needs to be looked at more closely. >> they haven't taken anything apart. >> i don't have any information on that.

>> have you found any vehicles that were left nearby? >> not that we know of. >> have the witnesses said that the gunmen have said anything? >> do you have any other active scenes you're working on? >> this is the only active scene we're working right now. >> can you tell us if the subjects-- >> very generic upwards of three suspects. >> wearing camouflage? >> i never heard camouflage. >> this is information that is filling in. as we put everything together some of this may change. we know this is fluid information, and some of the information that we put out now may change within the future. >> any description about the

suspects? >> as far as people in the area, we're doing everything that we can to keep this area safe. we're addressing other facilities in the area that we think may be similar, we don't have any information or any credible to this point. we're all at a heightened sense of alert. if they come across information contact us and let us investigate it. >> i heard that masks were involved but i don't know if that's definitive at this point. >> have you said anything at all during the attack. during the shooting? >> not that i'm aware of. >> any threats made. >> that's part of the investigation. we're not going to talk specifically about that now.

>> i just want to say thank you for everyone. >> thank you very much. >> based on how well armed-- >> the latest news is that the police, the police chief is confirming 14 people, at least 14 people have been killed. 14 injured, and he did say up to three shooters. they came prepared for the right equipment. they were using long guns not handguns and there were reports that they fled in a dark-colored suv. let's go back. >> the officers arrived on scene and they went into that building at this point we don't know that to be the case, but it's better

to have them on scene at the very beginning so we know what they know, and they're part of the active part of the investigation. they bring to the table tremendous resources in helping us do our job. >> all right, again, the latest information there is that this apparently the shooting lasted just a few minutes. but here we are nearly three hours later, and the police are trying to room by room to clear the entire facility. the police said that there were some things they were investigating that may have been left there. >> the only thing i'm comfortable in saying is that the information we have is that they came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission. >> how long were they inside shooting? >> i don't know specifically. several minutes. >> were the gunmen s still there when the police arrived when the initial responding officers arrived? >> well, we don't know. our police officers have

nonengauged gunfire with anybody. >> were the vast majority of the dead and wounded in one centralized location? >> yes, in the same general area of the facility. >> that they had targeted that particular room, those particular people? >> i think we've not done with you the investigation to be able to make that assumption. >> were people tied up, held in a room-- >> we don't have any information that they took ag any hostages. [ inaudible question ] >> just a long gun is what i've been told. not a handgun. >> what about the people. >> they came in with a purpose. >> is there any threats prior to this incident?

>> i don't have any specifics on that. with that we're going to cut this off. we'll be back every hour on the hour to provide an update even if we don't have anything specifically. we'll come back to you every hour on the hour over the next several hours to provide an update. >> at the top of the hour? >> at the top of the hour is fine. >> ththe police chief of san bernardino confirming that 14 people were killed, 14 injured, and as many as three shooters with long guns were involved. according to the police they came prepared, dress equipped, that says to me they were wearing armor. they said that the police did not exchange any gunfire with the shooters. in other words, the gunmen fled the scene, they believe, before the police were able to get there. and the police chief described a massive response in terms of police and first responders, emergency vehicles. 14 dead in the shooting.

we're joined in the studio with lou palumbo. lou, what did you make of this? >> i thought it was fascinating. no one asked the law enforcement community if there was any video recovered, that would give us a lot of information. that's an easy tell. you just pick up shell casings. they have their own fingerprint created by the retractor. >> they'll know quickly what type of long gun this was. >> they should have known the minute they entered the building and started conducting an investigation. that's a very key element for law enforcement when they entered a building. we would like to know what we're up against. the thing i would immediately do is identify the weapons used. it's done by recovering the empty shell casing. >> this is now a very different mass shooting than any others in recent history in the united states because you have perhaps three shooters, not just one.

not just two. as many as three. they fled they have not been apprehended. there is no real information other than they fled in a black suv. >> this is being treated as a terrorist incident. >> even if he wants to say this was not a terrorist per se in a traditional sense. this is a planned assault. >> it's a planned staged assault this is a form of terrorism. whether it's domestic or foreign, that will be the fruition of investigation. but when this is conducted by numerous individuals this is an assault and it is a terrorist incident. i know it's a word that alarms the public but the public needs to understand the environment that we live. now we have to trust our law enforcement community to bring this problem to resolution

through identifying them and apprehending them. >> this is not just trying to frightening people by taking out a soft target, or whether these shooters had information about this facility or an axe to grind, or whether this was part of a drug-settling score killing a bunch of people. we don't know because they're not saying. do you have a sense based on the number of those killed. >> there are a couple of scenarios, and you touched on a couple of them. are there those involved here who are involved in the drug trade. they'll have have to find that out. is this simply this target being soft? is it a by-product of an element or cell, for example. it doesn't have to be a foreign cell. we have a lot of activity in this country that people are unaware of that is domestically

driven. the fbi watches them as well. if we can figure out what the motive is then we start to put the pieces together as to. in this incident they plan on fleeing. they were successful in doing so. >> given that they flee this will bring to find what happened in the boston marathon bombings where several towns were lockdown as police are trying to devil information about this. can we expect that is what will play out over the next 48 hours as police develop information, try to tract what the motive might have been and try to figure out who was involved? >> the other thing i want to say in reference to the fbi the finest investigators on the planet. they have forensic units they're phenomenal investigators.

and they also have confident informants. they have a budget to pay them. they're out there in the field connecting dots. they have people who are their snitches, who gather confidential information. i think they'll find out who this is sooner than people anticipate. it really is an interesting dynamic how small the law enforcement community is is there are only 800,000 in the country. people think there are millions. but they go out there, they had to inter face, to buy weapons, whatever it was, they had to interact with people to acquire this. they're going to feed information. it will come to them through a number of different avenues as well as technology. if they were carrying phones, i'm reluctant to speak about this because it's one of the tools that law enforcement uses to locate people in a proximity of a crime.

we ping your phones. there are a lot of technology. a lot of avenues to go down. the biggest one is the human resource. they're going to hit the streets. everyone that they have on the hook for them, every informant, and they're going to shake this out. >> leo palumbos, a former police officers, with us. and now mark, whose daughter was inside. mark, have you heard from your daughter? >> i have heard from my daughter. let me say my heard goe heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones. when i heard the news i couldn't believe what she was telling me. i turned on the radio and sure enough there was an incident happening, a shooting, and i drove over and got as close as i

could to make sure that--to see my loved one, my daughter. she's a 25-26-year-old girl that works in this building. she loves children. she loves to help children. she helps disabled children. who would want to do this? you know, my daughter is on a bus right now going--i believe they said they were taking her to a church. but i'm just in a state of shock. i can't believe this is happened. >> mark, we're glad that your daughter is safe. i wonder if you can describe what she described to you? you mentioned you could not believe what she was describing. what was she saying? >> well, they had been practicing drills just in case something like this was to ever, god for bid, was ever going to happen. but i guess a warning went off, and they all went outside and somebody said this isn't a drill. this is actually happening. they went back inside and they

put my loved one in a room with the other employees. and from what i understand there was some banging on the door. and i have no idea who would be banging on the door. you know, i know just as much as you do. i thank god my daughter and the others are okay. >> mark, we're looking at a live picture of the regional center conference center, which is the smaller building of the three where the shooting took place. which building was your daughter in or which building is she typically working in? >> you know, i just--i actually don't know. i see it. i want to say it's the one on the left one-- >> what. >> the building that mary works in. >> yes, the left. >> the one facing north. >> so she was in the larger office building. two buildings away. did she say if she had heard

gunshots? you mentioned the pounding. did she describe hearing any gunshots or anything like that? >> you know, we haven't really talked to her. we just know tha she's safe and she's on a bus, and she's going to be interviewed. i believe i asked her if she heard any gunshots and i want to say she said no. >> did she say anything, mark, about any holiday parties, or any reason why she or any of her colleagues might have been in the conference center building of these three? >> she did not. but they have--they do have buffets, i guess, where everybody brings a dish for lunch. what are they called? they have potlucks. they have potlucks. you know, i guess--i guess they were having a potluck today in

one of the buildings. >> mark, you mentioned that your daughter is involved in social services. she helps people with disabilities. i wondered if you can describe a little bit more about what she and some of her colleagues do at this social services facility? >> yes, she coordinates transportation for disabled children. and i don't know why anybody would ever want to target somebody a place like this that helps disabled people. these are children and disabled kids that need transportation, and that was part of her job to coordinate transportation for these disabled children. i just don't understand why anybody would want to go in and do something like this. >> you mentioned that your daughter had been through this

training before had she expressed any fears or concerns about possibly having to go through the real thing? >> they were going through training. she said dad, they're training us in case something would ever happen. i said that's good. you need to know that stuff because of the world we listen in. when i heard this, at approximately 11:00 this morning, the first thing that came to my mind was, terrorists, oh my god, terrorists in our own backyard in san bernardino. i know they've had terrorists in new york, but right here in san bernardino? why would they target this building? and then for them to get away?

they need to be caught. they need to catch these people. >> do you all live in san bernardino? >> we live in grand terrace in the san bernardino count. >> you're living in the area where the police are looking for a gmc yucon with as many as three shooters in it. what was going through your mind? i know you were listening to the police news conference. when they said three. >> what was going through my mind was i was sitting on the side road. they wouldn't let me near. it was side road. what i'm tearing at is upwards of 14-15 ambulances just sitting there. i'm thinking they can't do anything until the building is cleared. i'm thinking these perpetrators are still in the building hurting others.

>> the news from police that they have said as many as three. not just one but as many as three. what do you make of it? >> it's surreal. i can't believe it. i'm still in shock. i mean, i don't know what to say. these are people going to work, helping others, and they were gunned down? for what? why? >> mark, you mentioned that your daughter is on a bus going to a church, where she'll be interviewed by investigators. do you have any sense about how--did she provide any sort of guidance to you as to when you might be able to be reunited? any guidance at all? >> do you know when she's going to be released? >> no. >> no, she has not provided that at all. i talked to a female officer on

the scene, and she said they were taking the family members--they wanted to take all the family members to a facility on third street. then i got another report from my wife, who said that they were taking them to a church. i still do not know--i do know that my daughter was on the third bus. i do not know exactly which location she's at. so i'm just--i thank god i fell for the people who lost their lives. i thank god that my daughter is safe. these people need to be caught. i don't see how they could have got in and out and done something like this and not then caught. >> well, i know from first-hand experience that the community of people who are engaged in working with our fellow citizen who is have developmental or mental or physical disabilities,

and it takes a special sort of person to pure su--pursue that as their life work. please pass on to your daughter our thoughts and prayers to her and they are colleagues, and thank you for sharing what you heard. we appreciate it. >> thank you for your time. >> we'll take a quick break. when we come back we'll talk about the information about the police describing this what is essentially a staged assault on a facility where people work in social services and try to help some of the less fortunate in our society. police reporting 14 people who worked at that center have been killed. we'll talk more on the other side of the break. you're watching al jazeera america.

♪ ♪ welcome back to al jazeera america, you are looking at a live pick of san bernadino, california, where today police confirm at least 14 people were shot to death in a mass shooting in the inland regional center which is a facility that essentially comprises up to 600 workers that deal with social services in san bernadino, kam. at a news conference about a half hour ago, police said that upwards of three shooters were involved. the police chief for san bernadino said the shooters came prepared, dressed, equipped, presumably meaning body armor

and they were using long guns, not handguns. they said the shooters did not exchange any gunfire with police who responded. and that they suspect, the police suspect, that the shatters fled the scene in the moments before the police were able to get there. police are on the look out in southern california for a black suv, gmc yukon. again, the police spokesman saying there is no motive that police have established yet in this incident. this incident began about 3 1/2 hours ago. joining us from los angeles with more is al jazeera's jennifer london with some of the latest report, jennifer. >> reporter: david, we have arrived in san bernadino and when we arrived as close to the scene as we were able to get, the police barriers are up all around the scene as you can imagine, we went to a gas station at the corner of waterman and orange show, and at this gas station we met an employee who told us that he was outside a little before 11:00 a.m. local time when he

start today hear gunshots. and he said at first he was pretty sure it was gunshots but he waited and then he start today hear more rapid-fire shots. he said it sounded to him like it was coming from an assault-type weapon because the shots were so rapid fire. he heard 10 coming immediately, one shot after another after another. he said he was with a customer, they went inside and then they saw and heard police vehicles, sirens, ambulances, fire trucks, all heading in that direction. he said it's about less than a mile from where the shooting occurred. he said then a couple of hours later the police entered this gas station and asked for the surveillance camera video. and the people at the gas station were told the police were doing this because they were want to go look through this footage to see if perhaps the cameras at this gas take may have caught a glimpse of this black s.u.v. that police say they are looking for.