and you know that your job is dealing in reality, but it seem as little surreal but yet -- i did the job that i was supposed to do, my job is to go in there and people don't call the police because they are having a great day they call because there there's tragedy, and this is tragedy i have never experienced and i don't think most officers do. and so -- we had to deal with it. and we had to help bring them to safety, and try to bring calm to the chaos going on. so just knowing that yeah, we resoldiered that situation quickly, there's so much tragedy that's left behind so many families considering now have to deal with the tragedy that were left behind by this senseless act of violence.

my fear that the suspects were in that hallway holding them hows

bernardinokaufmanmeans i try to make a point with the number of officers, many did an extraordinary job for the department and also for all of the agencies who responded quickly. it was just - it was truly overwhelming to see all the agencies that got here, got here in a hurry to provide assistance, like i said, i was sensing that this was a true event. they got here, and no one hesitated. people knew what the job was, it was to bring calm to chaos. so it's one of those things. we - i've gone around, i tried to contact our officers and assess what they were doing,

talk a little bit about it. in doing that, maybe it's helping me a little bit as well. i think we'll all work through it again. >> reporter: there's a video showing courage from an officer taking people out saying "i will take a bullet before you do itself -- do." was that you? if not, who was it. >> no, i'd like to think i was that cool. unfortunately it wasn't. i don't know if that officer has been officially identified, but i'm told he's one of sherriff mcmann's folks. i haven't had it confirmed. >> reporter: what was your reaction when you saw that? >> i saw that everywhere yesterday. that was what was happening everywhere during this event. >> reporter: could you address the pride that you felt with the

men and women and the manner they acted in the scene. can you address how you felt about the men and women under your command. >> you know, we have taken a lot of hits lately. some justified. much of it not justified. and it takes a toll on outline cops, it's hard being labelled or branded as being rogue. i guarantee you that no cop comes into the job with the mind-set, great, i have the ult mate power to violate people's rights. overwhelmingly the vast majority of officers, and i'm talking 99.5% of the officers go out and do the job to protect the public. yesterday reminded me of that, solidified that in my heart, and in my mind-set, and for that

i'm - for that i'm thankful. >> we'll take two more questions. >> reporter: what have you heard from the residents? obviously this is sinking in with a lot of people. what have they told you? >> you not, not just myself, but every officer i encounter is getting the same encouragement and support. again, i think - we can never underlie the tragedy that befell the city and so many families yesterday. there is support for law enforcement. >> reporter: what about the level of sophistication, if there was a level of training, there's a follow up on that, did they leave anything behind like a manifesto.

>> it was clear when we had an active shooting and saw the carnage upon the initial matters that this was not a rogue individual. there was something more. as far as us finding a manifesto, no, sir, we don't have information. >> quickly, mike made a reference early on that it was hard to believe it was happening in his town. mike was raised in this town, went to high school in his town, spend a majority of his law enforcement in this town. it was genuine when he says he felt he was his town attacked. thank you folks. we'll be back in the morning and someone will be here to talk about the photos. >> reporter: can the confirm the report of terrorism ... the chief of police at san

bernardino, and commander mike madden with a powerful statement about what happened. we might go back here. they have photographs that they brought along to that press conference. we may have a look at those in a second. just to go back over what commander madden said. he works behind the desk, but he was going to lunch and he heard the call and said it was out of pure louk he pulled -- pure luck he pulled into the right location. he had a group together, four police officers, they went inside. he saw unspeakable carnage. he saw many victims dead outside the conference room, he saw victims inside alive and talked about the panic on their faces. he talked about how proud he was of the work that the police department and the sheriff department did in a difficult

situation. obviously this had an impact on him and the people of san bernadino. michael is a retired fbi agent. it brings back home the tragedy and pain. can you talk about how they deal with the issues that are occurring. >> 10 years ago i was an agent with the fbi when there was a high school massacre, and 10 people were killed. to my surprise, it was so important to have the press conferences and engage the media and the public, and let them know what you know. it was important to know you're out there working the case, still engaged, and engaged with them, and they are important to your investigation. on this press conference, even though they couldn't shed light. it was well timed and well planned press conference, and i think the police lieutenant

couldn't have done better in relaying the story, what he said, and you said about his comments were right. an officer has to go into dangerous situations, and be dispassionate because you can't be afraid. and you have to act and you can't let other people think you are afraid. you have to be a leader. you have to get the confidence that people believe. when tes all over. you are still going to take it home and have the sleepless nights. >> let's talk about it. walk me through this. he pulse over. he -- pulls over, he had three police officers with him. they start to go inside. he - he said his training kicked in. what sort of training is that, what do you do in that situation when you are walking inside, expecting to encounter an active shooter? >> probably in of the last decade i'd say every police department in this country has been through actor shooter training for the obvious reason

we have many occurring. most police officers are well trained. you must get there and assess the situation, which is a matter of observation, looking at what is going on, listening for clues and good sense. you have to get in there quickly, you don't want to wait and set up a barricade while people are killed. however, you can't rush in, for officers to be shot dead or be wounded would not help and would complicate the situation. >> it's a matter of assessing the situation, entering it. that case would be keeping yourself under cover of concealment. understanding where the hostages are, or innocent people, or where the shooters are, or looking for a chance to get the shooters to escape and neutralize the threat. >> i don't know if we had the picture. there's a candle light picture at san bernardino stadium.

we are looking at live pictures from san bernardino. the other interesting thing we heard from mike madden, the police officer, who went inside was he's facing people who were panic-stricken and afraid. in fact, a little afraid of him. they don't know what to do, what to expect. that is a different skill set. trying to comfort and protect the victim, right. >> that's right. during the situations, the first few moments people tend to freeze. how many people are prepared for that situation. even with the training, you are not always prepared for it. this lieutenant did not make lieutenant by not being a smart guy. he is very smart. he knew how to get to these people.

once doing that, the floodgates open. he is commended for quick thinking and brave police tactics. >> he mentioned after columbine, the shooting in columbine, that the approach changed from police departments across the country. when they here there's an active shooter they go in. what happened before columbine. >> correct. referring to some of the afterthought was when police officers arrive and there's an active shooter, there was a tendency to cordon off the area, wait for the s.w.a.t. teamm to take over, because they are highly trained for that. on the one hand it makes sense, on the other hand we learnt that wait in the moments, that's when most of the casualties occur. to cordon off an area and wait could be counterproductive. we can't expect the officers to rush in without knowing anything, but make a quick assessment. and referring to the old

tactics. >> it's the first few moments. >> to the press conference, they brought pictures of the gunning that they believe were used in the attack. long guns and handguns. given the casualties in this sort of situation, how long would it take to cause this sort of, as he said, unspeakable carnage? >> it wouldn't take long. you are talking about a group of people in a confined area. they are not people waiting for this. you see someone you know walking into the room. even if addressed odd by, it takes a second to assess what is going on, they pull out a high-powered weapon, it wouldn't take a matter of moments to do the carnage, we saw that and other shootings in the theatre, in sandy hook and others. it doesn't take long with the high-powered weapons to cause a lot of death and injuries.

>> michael, stand by for a second. jennifer london is turning by in san bernadino, as i mentioned there's a vigil at the baseball stadium. talk about after hearing the press conference, it does take a couple of days for the - for all of thisfor all of it to hit a community and for them to feel it in a big way. tell us about what you have seen and heard. >> you heard the police commander, born and raised in san bernardino, talking about how surreal this was, and despite the training, you are not prepared for it. when you talk to the people in the community who don't under go training on how to deal with an active shooter. imagine what they are going through, trying to process everything that happened. it's a combination of anger, sadness, and disbelief. we spoke with someone today that told us they were inside the

inland regional center when the shooting took place. i said how are you processing everything. he said "i have not had time, i have not been able to sleep." you are seeing a lot of that. where it's slowly moving from disbelief that this can't happen in my community, to the reality setting in, that it did, in fact, happen in your community. and the mourning and the grieving process is starting to begin with the candle lit vigils, and for the first time we heard from california's governor jerry brown, and he told everyone to be on your guard, take nothing for granted. all the agencies are working together. he assured californians that everything that can be done is being done to protect the people of california, and to ensure that this never happens again. >> you know, after listening to them tonight, and then seeing this vigil, and after last night where we understood the schools

were locked down, and government buildings were locked down and courts locked down and parts of neighbourhood in and around san bernardino were locked done as well, were things getting back to normal today or not? >> well, i can tell you a little bit about the difference we have seen in the last 24 hours. about this time last night, the street behind me was a steady extreme of emergency vehicles. we are hearing the wail of sirens as emergency and police vehicles were flying by us. we heard constant noise from the skies of helicopters circling, a lot of that chaos and commotion calmed down. they have reopened a lot of areas under lockdown last night. the inland regional center which they were processing until the early morning hours, that has been secured, and is deemed

safe. that was not the case last night when they were searching for explosive devices, and investigators found three pipe bombs combined into one, and they were on a remote control device. police detonated the pipe bombs last evening and got in and processed that as a crime scene, and they did deem that safe earlier today. also, one thing we should talk about are the victims, the 14 people gunned down and killed in the mass shooting. the names of the victims have been released, and we are starting to see some of the stories about the victims and their pictures and learning a little more about who these people were. >> we have a couple of pictures to show you. one is of the mosque in san bernardino, where they are holding a vigil tonight. also, the baseball stadium,

where they are holding a vigil tonight. were there other signs of grieving and coming together in san bernardino today? >> you've heard a lot from law enforcement, a lot of language that you don't here often, descriptive words of surreal, carnage, panic stricken people and wails and moans, but we heard the sheriff saying the community must come together, stay strong and must not be divided over this. that is what you are going to see over the two vigils, an attempt to make sure the horrible shooting does not divide the community. that will help or won't help with the healing process. i think that's what you are starting to see here with the vigils this evening. >> do we have sound from the

picture at the stadium? i'm curious whether we are hearing anything now. jennifer london has been covering the story and, you know, i think it affects everyone coming through an event like this. give me a sense of what this has been like for a reporter to cover in san bernardino. >> well, john, it's difficult. as a reporter, it's our job to stay neutral and be objective observers about what happened and report on the facts, and not report on feelings and emotions and assumptions, but we are also human being, and you cannot be here and report on a story like this and not feel and share the pain that the community is experiencing. any time a tragedy such as this happens, it's horrific. it's the holidays, a time where family and friends were

celebrating, and everyone joins and spends time together and is thankful for our loved ones. it's been part of so many in the community, and as a reporter we were on the outside of that, you can't help but feel it. it can be emotional. >> san bernardino is the community that is grieving. a community that is hurting. it's in pain, and these vigils, one at the mosque and the other at the stadium show that. >> we'll take a break and be back after this.

>> half a million fields will lie fallow. >> if we had another year of this severe drought, i'd say all bets are off. active shooter, there was a tendency to cordon off the area,

wait for the s.w.a.t. team to we heard from a police officer who was first on the scene at the san bernardino shootings yesterday, and talked about unspeakable carnage, panic, a scene that was surreal in his words. as we have told you before, they are holding a vigil at the baseball stadium in san bernardino tonight. there's a vigil at the mosque in san bernardino as well. we are starting to learn about the victims of wednesday's shooting in san bernardino. friends and family members took to social media to mourn those that lost their lives. here is what we have learnt about some of them. >> michael wetzel was a 37-year-old environmental specialist for the country. the husband and father with six children. more than 900 people donated money to set up a fund for his family. 52-year-old niklas worked as a health inspector in new jersey before moving to california. he was a religiousman, a staunch

supporter of israel. he had two grown sons. 58-year-old damian meins started to work for san bernardino's department of environmental health in september. he met his future wife, the woman he called his soulmate, in high school. a former co-worker described him as an amazing guy who will be missed. >> 42-year-old daniel kaufman ran a coffee shop at the inland regional center. he trained developmentally disabled clients that worked there. this image shows kaufman's boyfriend, breaking down after hearing the news. new york giants football player matt berhay said his cousin was a victim. he went on twitter saying:

this is the complete list of the 14 men and women killed in wednesday's attack. i'm john seigenthaler. thank you for watching. "america tonight" is next.

>> i've been asked to keep my voice down cause we are so close to the isil position

>> who is in charge, and are they going to be held to accout? >> but know we're following the research team into the fire >> they're learning how to practice democracy... >> ...just seen tear gas being thrown... >> ...glad sombody care about us man... >> several human workers were kidnapped... >> this is what's left of the hospital >> is a crime that's under reported... >> what do you think... >> we're making history right now... >> al jazeera america on "america tonight" why - the troubling and unanswered question. what led a californian man to attack his own community. >> unbelievable what our society has come to. >> a community in crisis, san bernardino california, and what is known now. thanks for joining us, i'm joie chen. we have just begun to know the face of