investigate this case, once the scene is secure and work hand in hand with the city of san bernardino as we do in other high-profile events. i'll now have dave goutage, the assistant director of the fbi say a few words. >> thank you, sheriff. the fbi is here with our state and local partners, as well as our partners from the atf. we are here to essentially treat assure that all the wounded are extracted. and ultimately public safety is the number one goal at this point and we will work as law enforcement community to insure that we have done everything we can in our power to find, locate and 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 right now, we do not know if this is a terrorist incident. so we start from the beginning. working with all our local partners. we take the presumption that it may be, it may not be, but we will work hand in hand with them from the beginning. if things change, we're here

from the get-go and there is no steps lost as the investigation proceeds. at this point i'm going to turn it back over to the chief. >> so very quickly, after the initial response, we, we have several hundred people that were in the building that are not injured. those people have been taken to the safe location and they are part of the investigation. in addition to that, we know that this was a human incident, and this is a tragedy and we've got folks concerned and worried about their loved ones and they've been at that facility today. we set up an area at the hernando center for family members to go for information. we will push information out to that for those family members as we can. also, the sheriffs department put out the crime tip hotline number. if anybody has information, we'd very much like to hear from you. with that i will take a couple of questions.

[ inaudible ] >> i've heard everything that it was a meeting to potential like a lunchtype gathering for the holidays. that's not confirmed, that is very preliminary. it's my understanding that most of the people that were wounded, most of the victims were all centrally located in one area of the facility. >> any weapons, anything like that recovered? >> it's my understanding that the facility has state and county employees, as well as folks that work for a number of organizations. the inland 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 county employees work there. i do not know if any of them are the victims or who they are at this point. [ inaudible ] >> i do not have any information that any children were involved.

>>. [ inaudible ] >> preliminary information shows that these people came prepared. they were armed with long guns, not handguns. i do not know what type of long guns. >> we do not have any weapons recovered at this point. >> what were they wearing? >> sorry. >> chief -- ask for clarification. you said upwards of 14 dead? what does upward mean? >> the preliminary number we have right now is there are 14 people that are deceased and our count is another 14 teampeople that have been take ton various hospitals for significant injuries, potentially related to gunshots, we have a number of other people that may have had some minor types of injuries, they fell down in the course of fleeing. but roughly about 14 people that we believe are wounded.

[ inaudible ] >> we're not that far in the investigation yet. [ inaudible ] >> nuts and bolts? >> i think the whole thing -- >> is there the possibility that there are more people wounded inside? >> i think that that could be a possibility, yeah. i don't think we're comfortable saying no at this point. [ inaudible ] >> the teams were going through and searching for the suspects and searching for victims, there were some things in the building that were not immediately identifiable. that caused some concern. as a result of that we have some bomb techs that are on site. that are checking some of that out. i do not know if they were brought in by the suspects. we do not know if they are bombs, but just things as our team was moving through, saying they need to be looked at more closely. >> have they taken anything apart or destroyed anything?

>> i have no information on that. >> have you found any vehicles you believe are related? >> not that i know of at this point. >> have witnesses said the gunmen said anything? >> we don't have anything specific from those witnesses. we're in the early stages of talking to them. >> this is the only active scene that we're working. >> what about security tapes that may have been shot? >> that is part of the investigation, i don't have that at this point. >> can you talk about the suspects' this vehicle, the dark suv? >> it's all we have. very generic, upwards of three suspects, darker suv. >> suspects wearing camouflage? >> i never heard camouflage. >> what were they wearing? >> upwards of three? there could be more than three? >> i repeatedly been told the number is three. but keep in mind that this is information that is flowing in as people are talking to witnesses very quickly. as we put everything together some of this may change. we know these are fluid situations and some of the

information we put out now may change a bit in the future. >> any description about the suspects? >> as far as people in the area, we're doing everything we can to keep this area safe. we're addressing other facilities in the area that we think may be similar or may be similar. but we don't have any information or any credible threats to any other facilities at this point. but obviously we're all on a heightened sense of alert. we would ask the public that they be on a heightened sense of alert if they're watching out for those things and if they come across information. contact us and let us investigate it. >> i put out what i have. >> the gunmen wearing mask? >> one report i heard is that masks were involved. i don't know that to be definitive at this point. [ inaudible ] >> yes. not going to talk about it. >> did the gunmen say anything at all during the attack, during the shooting? >> not that i'm aware of. >> any sort of threats made prior to this incident? >> that's part of the investigation, we're not going to talk specifically about that

right now. [ inaudible ] [ inaudible ] it appears the signal has dropped out. history tells me it will come right back. the highlights today. or low-lights for that matter. 14 people shot and killed. 14 more people severely injured. believed to be gunshot-related. upwards of three people, whatever that means, the number he said he had been hearing most often was three. three people apparently escaped. in a dark suv. our signal is back. listen. >> high-caliber weapons, they carry assault rifles with them. most of the officers carry handguns. the officers arrived onscene went in with what they had.

we do not know where the suspects are. >> how is the fbi getting involved in this? and if there's a representative, maybe they want to talk in detail. >> we know historically that some of these investigations can turn into potential federal prosecutions. so at this point we don't know that to be the case. it's better to have them on scene from the very beginning so they know what we know and they are an active part of the investigation. ed that in addition to that, being from the federal government they bring to the table tremendous resources to help us do our job. we have no information at this point to indicate that this is terrorist-related, in the traditional sense that people may be thinking. obviously at a minimum we have a domestic terrorist type situation that occurred here. >> the only thing i'm

comfortable saying at this point 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 still there when the police arrived? when the initial responding officers arrived? >> our police officers have not engaged or exchanged gunfire with anybody. so we don't know if they were on scene when we arrived. >> were the vast majority of the people hurt or dead in one portion of the facility? >> yes, did the gunmen target a particular area of the building. >> we early in the investigation for that. >> were people tied up, held in a room? or was this just a shoot-out? >> we don't have any information that they took any hostages. whether what type of weapons --

[ inaudible ] >> long guns is what i've been told. think there's people that speculate what type of long guns those are. but i'm only, i don't want to put out a specific type of gun. i'm going to say it was a long gun, not a handgun. >> they came in with a purpose. they came in with the intent to do something. >> was there any threat made prior to the incident. >> i don't have specifics on that. with that we're going to cut this off. we will be back every hour on the hour to provide an update. even if we don't -- >> there you go. the news as we have it, it is grim. 14 people dead, 14 more people injured and in hospitals and now the word that they believe three suspects have escaped. and it makes sense that the early reporting, it was a police who told us initially that they were in tactical gear. it was multiple witnesses, i want to say five different witnesses, something like that.

four or five different witnesses described them as being in masks. which would explain why after all you heard, officers say all of these witnesses had been interviewed, right? and no one gave them a color of skin? a height? they didn't get -- simple information as what color was this person? they didn't get that. so maybe they were wearing masks. maybe the early reports were true. at any rate they don't know where they are think of what he's just told us in context. shooting about 11:00 a.m. about three hours ago. police got there within minutes. by all accounts, including this official, the shooting lasted a matter of just a few minutes. three or four minutes. authorities were there that quickly. by the time the authorities got there, they didn't encounter any suspects, they didn't exchange fire with any suspects. by encounter, that normally means we didn't see any suspects. that's what police speak for "see" is. they didn't see the suspects. by this account and by witness

accounts, these gunmen got there, went in, started shooting in one place where they had rented out this facility for a party. we have it confirmed through multiple sources, a christmas party for some county workers. went in and shot this thing up for three or four minutes. by the time police made their way in there. they didn't see these gunmen. but they had all of these wounded people and injured people and people running out of there. it was a mass chaos event. they're looking, it's an explosive device, but there are no suspects. the man across the street, watching, who had been in there with his employees and had his own weapon. the guy driving a water truck, came running at him. yelling shooter, shooter. he said he got behind the water truck as he described it and watched as a man came walking out the door very close sloely and calmly, got into an suv. and now we're told they're looking for a dark-colored suv. california plates? no idea. what color?

>> no idea. >> came walking up to the suv. slowly drove away. where did he go? >> no idea. >> don't know what color they are, don't know how old they are. i've heard upwards of three saided man in charge of the first news conference in three hours. i've heard upwards of three. the number i've heard the most is 14 dead. 14 injured. plus other who is got injured in the escape. they don't have any idea who these suspects are. to the degree they don't know their age, race, they don't know anything about them. they don't know their motive. and it looked like according to the authorities, it looked like they came in here with a purpose. they had long guns, we have been told by other police spokesmen, they were in tactical gear. we know that the shooting only lasted three or four minutes. long enough so that when the police got there, they didn't even see any shooters. maybe the shooters are watching us now. for the shooters who killed 14

people, injured 14 more with gunshots, using long guns in tactical gear. escaped apparently in an suv and have not been seen since. in a great american city with an enormous police force, hundreds of officials on scene who got there in a matter of minutes. the gunmen were able to kill 14, shoot 14 others and get away without a trace to the point where they can't even describe age or race. and there we have it. he said that the local offices of the government are now on lockdown. the schools are now on lockdown. it's 14 minutes past 2:00 in the afternoon. and san bernardino county has what appears to be three murderers, mass murderers on its hands who are not locked up. who authorities have no idea about. was there anything that led up to this? was there a tip? they haven't told us of anything like that. this is not as he told us, terror in the traditional sense unquote meaning these weren't

people who said we are terrorists, we're coming in here, you know, whatever it is they might scream. the few things we've heard in the past. there was none of that. there's no indication there was any communication at all. think of the number of witnesses. 14 people injured. many dozens, i would say upwards of 50 and they're going back to look at the video. at minimum we saw 50 people with their hands in the air walking out of there. we're told by the man who owns the place that there would have been a couple of hundred employees on hand at the time. a couple of hundred in this building. and of all of those people through all of this time, the witnesses in the room where it happened, those shot are now in hospital. those who were injured as they tried to get away. none of them to authorities' certainty would give them even the race of these people? did that mean they had masks on as initially indicated? maybe. it certainly means that those who did this according to the authorities, had a purpose. they came in and for three to four minutes, shot and shot with long guns. and then escaped as the police

were arriving. escaped right under their noses. and now three masked murderers are on the loose somewhere. from san bernardino, california, how far can you get in three hours? the 10 freeway runs east and west. from los angeles to, you can get to las vegas on the thing. the 215 will take you north or all the way south. and there is an airport right there at the top of your screen on that traffic. that's the san bernardino international airport. and from there you can go anywhere. this may not have been a terrorist event. but hundreds of people were terrorized, now an entire city lives under terror. think of this, the entire government has been locked down. the entire school system, school is set to let out shortly has been locked down for three masked murderers on the loose and no one has any idea where.

our chief correspondent jonathan hunt is in san bernardino now. jonathan, it's unfathomable. >> and perhaps the most chilling single sentence from that news conference, came from the san bernardino police chief who said quote they came prepared to do what they did as if they were on a mission. no official there could say whether they would describe this as terrorism. but any law enforcement official will tell you when you have three shooters as it appears coming in, carrying out what appears to be a well-planned attack and clearly with a well-thought-out exit plan, that they are probably not looking at something like a workplace grudge. we don't know the motive in any way, shape or form at the moment. but those are chilling words from the police chief. that these lee shooters could go in there cause that kind of mayhem, kill 14 people, get out

and not be seen by any law enforcement personnel and still be on the run, three hours or more later, is extraordinary. when you consider just how efficient every single branch of law enforcement is part of southern california is. at keeping eyes in the sky. following any kind of car that they happen to be chasing, any kind of circumstances. the fact that these three apparently got away in what is being termed by officials here as a dark-colored suv, seems extraordinary to all of us who have covered law enforcement action for so long here in southern california. the words of the police chief, they came here as if they were on a mission. shep? >> you know, i was sort of surprised that they didn't have any kind of specifics at all. how can we understand that they don't even know the race of these people or how many of them there are at this point.

>> they are as they said interviewing witnesses and survivors as quickly as they possibly can. in this situation, we should always understand that law enforcement might not be very good reason be telling us everything they know. would you think by now having interviewed at least a portion of those who were in that room, where the shooting happened, they will know whether any of the shooters said anything. they will know the specific words and they will have better descriptions than we are currently being given. there were some initial reports that the shooters may have been wearing masks. just note of caution, that law enforcement took very good investigative reasons might not be telling us everything they know. simply because they have three shooters on the loose. somewhere in california.

>> we can hope if they're sitting on them somewhere. they have them surrounded somewhere. that they are not able to get away. there's nothing to indicate that. not at this moment. i've gotten the transcript of what we just heard. preliminary information indicates these people came prepared. they were dressed and equipped in a way to indicate they were prepared. so whoever did this, think this through with me. they had to get this tactical gear from somewhere, right? maybe as a part of their work. this had tactical gear. they had to buy this tactical gear. they had to get the tactical gear together. they had to plan the drive in. they had to plan getting in. doing the shooting and they had to plan the escape. knowing that the authorities would be there like that. they had to plan this wuking out slowly. remember the man behind the water truck with his own weapon. calm. remember the phone call with him. saying that he watched this man come walking out of the building, walked slowly to this suv. and the suv driving away in a

slow normal way. couldn't see the license plate. he said at the time he thought it was black. authorities apparently gotten this from multiple people. and all they're comfortable with is saying a dark suv. now they're saying a dark suv. in essence what they're telling us is they don't have a any idea. they don't know what kind of vehicle it is, they don't know what kind of direction it went. if people are coming out bloodied and looking for an ambulance, are you going to be looking for a black suv going five miles per hour through a parking lot? no. but if you're a guy who was prepared, had his weapon there told his employees what to do, you might come out, watch and say all right look at that suv and apparently there were a couple of others like that because authorities are comfortable enough telling us they believe they escaped in a dark-colored suv. did they take the 210 west or

the 215 north or the 10 freeway west? the airport i was mentioning earlier. there's an airport right there. but it's not a regular commercial airport. but nobody saw them do anything past that because everybody is converging on the scene. now 14 people are dead. 14 people are injured. it sounds like something out of a hollywood movie. a script that would have been rejected because it just not the kind of thing that can really happen. three people can't go in tactical gear armed with head to toe with long guns, they can't go walking into the municipal center like this. they can't murder 14 people, others who were injured in another way. and calmly walk out and drive away without being caught for three hours, 22 minutes. that's not possible. it happened this morning in san bernardino and the nightmare lives on. the nightmare lives on for people who are still waiting to learn where these people are and how much danger there is. all of the schools are locked

down. all of the municipal buildings are locked down. city hall is locked down. i'm guessing people in their homes are locked down wondering who are these people and with are they? or are they somewhere? we just simply do not know. we know the president has been briefed. the president has spoken on this matter and more and our correspondent, peter doocy in washington with more. >> it's extraordinary to hear from the president when there is so much unknown about the event. normally the president would wait until things are more settled, until we know more about the people who may or may not be involved. a prescheduled interview. he kept a reporter put him on the spot. this is how he summarized what he had heard. >> my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are. but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to

make americans safer and that we should come together on a bases every level of government could make these rare as opposed to normal. we should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events. because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in over countries. >> perhaps most significant thing that the president said there in terms of figuring out what exactly happened is he said "shooters." the authorities in california have said there are up to three people involved with this. the president said he didn't know what the shooters' motives were. that's very important. it's all we know from the white house. because this was just happening, as the briefing was going on and josh earnest had no idea about any of it. >> he actually said upwards of three. normally what that means is here we have three and here would be upwards of three. upwards of three. that means three or more.

but three is the number we've heard over and over again. that's what the sheriffs office said a moment ago. >> three guys who were in tactical gear and carrying long guns. they didn't find any weapons. they are assuming as all of us would, that those people took their weapons with them. if the cops didn't find them they took them with them. are they still running around in tactical gear or on a southern california day, are they wandering around in shorts and t-shirts? it's a, it's a -- it's a thought that gives you pause. >> off to the suv and calmly driving away. >> brett kelman is from the desert sun newspaper there. what can you add? >> i was on the west side of the

law enforcement were walking out. dozens and dozens, possibly upwards of 100 people out of the building. had you bystanders lined up by the police tape looking for the faces of people they knew. and they would shout back and forth. i saw one woman who was in tears, asking if anyone had seen her mother and eventually someone said they had and then she had a sense of relief. i saw another woman, saw someone she knew and asked about her friends and her response was, i saw her, she's okay. she was okay i promise. some bystanders were lined up are not going to get such reassuring news. it was a horrible scene to witness. >> if i'm sitting in san bernardino right now and i'm just a civilian and the police are telling me well three people came in here and shot the place up and we don't have any idea who they are and where they are,

you would have a hard time getting me out and about to go do things tonight. frims, the national christmas tree is about to be lit in washington. we're going to hear from the new speaker, paul ryan in a minute. he's going to talk about this. if this had happened in my city, i think i would have a hard time getting out and about, you know? >> i think there are a large number of people in san bernardino that's dumb-founded right now. this is city that has been plagued by gang violence for years. but this does not prepare you for something like this. something far more on the level of warfare or tactical assault. everything i've spoken to said we've had shootings, but not like this. i can't imagine that people are hitting the streets to go out tonight. because no one knows where these guys are. >> well, they don't, brett kellman son the line, a reporter

for the "desert sun." one of the things we do know now is that a lot of officers have just arrived at the loma linda medical center. that's not far from there, right, brett? >> no, i believe it's just on the other side of the complex where i am now. >> a lot of cops have just arrived there and there's a numb of different explanations for this. they're not speaking. one of them said they're there to interview witnesses. some of the people that are injured, we've gotten word from one of the hospitals, one critical, five others stable at arrowhead regional. that's six. some of the rest of those are at loma linda. maybe the cops are there to talk with them or maybe they think one of the shooters might be one of the injured. i don't have any way to know. all i can know now is that authorities have told us, there's three suspects and just short of an almost casual way. we don't know who they are, where they are, we don't know anything about them. and we believe there are, he didn't say this, but they do

believe they're armed and extremely dangerous. they didn't find their weapons and from what we've just seen, they are extremely dangerous. stations across the united states have joined us on the fox broadcast network and on my network, for continuing coverage of the situations around san bernardino, california. the hunt is on now for gunmen. we'll have continuing coverage on fox news channel. on satellite and cable. for now, i'm shepard smith, fox news new york. we'll continue with those stations as well. it's a curious thing when the local stations join you on a cable network. they're there with you for hours. we appreciate you joining us. i was told we need to end the level 2s, but we're not doing that just yet. they're staying with us and we're glad you are. we're waiting for more reports from the scene on the search for these men. we normally in situation like this i'll show you, back behind me are information specialists are monitoring what's going on. all over this region. searching the wires, monitoring

different sources and listening to police scanners where it's legal. talking to local authorities and our contacts in that area, along with our news rooms across the country. in southern california. others around that region trying to find out is there anything else we can learn specifically about these suspects? and the search for those suspects. and the fact is since the first five minutes of this shooting. we've had nothing. in the first five minutes we had cameras, we had tweets immediately from the sheriffs office, because they had gotten the word and they sent out the tweets. within a matter of what seemed like five, six minutes, we had live aerials above. same aerials you see what's happening. see people running out with their hands up. but there was no shooting by the time the media were there. there was no shooting by the time the authorities got there. the shooting had stopped. and nobody knew why. the question was are they holed up somewhere? are they hiding in a closet? are they about to go to another facility on this campus of three buildings?