the fbi is here with our state and local partners as well as our partners from the atf. we are here to essentially assure that all the woulded are extracted and ultimately public safety is the number one goal at this point. we will work as a law enforcement community to assure that we have done everything we can in our power to find, locate and apprehend these 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 maybe, it may not be, but we will work hand in hand with them from the beginning. if things change we are 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 have several hundred people that were in the

those people have been taken to a safe location, and they are part of the investigation. in addition to that, we know that this is a human incident and this is a tragedy. we know we've got a lot of folks out there that are very concerned and worried about their loved ones that may have been at that facility today. we've set up an area at the hernandez area in the city of san bernardino for family members to go for information. we will push information out to that for those family members as we can. also the sheriff's department put out the crime tip hotline number. if anybody has any information we'd very much like to hear from you. so with that i will take a couple of questions. >> do you have any information on this event that was happening and apparently upwards of three gunmen stormed in? >> i don't. i've heard everything it was a meeting to a boy tension like a lunch-type gathering maybe for the holidays. that's not confirmed. that is very preliminary. it's my understanding that most

most of the victims, were all centrally located in one area of the facility. >> were there any weapons or body armor, anything like that been recovered? >> in terms of the employees, it's my understanding this facility has both 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 ]. >> weapons used and the number of people involved here? given what you have in the way of evidence, witness accounts and everything else would you characterize this as an organized event? what were these men using and shooting at people with? >> preliminary information indicates these are people that came prepared, that they were dressed and equipped in a way to indicate they were prepared.

not handguns. i do not know what type of long guns. >> how were they dressed? >> i don't know. >> were any weapons recovered at the scene? >> we do not have any weapons recovered at this point. >> [ inaudible ]. >> chief, could i ask for clarification? you said upwards of 14 dead? what does upwards mean? >> the preliminary number we have right now is that there are 14 people who are deceased, and our count is another 14 people that have been taken to various hospitals for significant injuries, potentially related to gun shots. we also have a number of other people that may have had some minor types of injuries. they fell down in the course of fleeing or something of that nature. but roughly about 14 that we believe are wounded. >> [ inaudible ] inside the building video evidence of what happened? >> i would imagine there are but we're not that far in the investigation yet. >> chief, would you mind repeating the nuts and bolts again? >> the whole thing?

there are more deceased or wounded inside of that regional center? >> i think that that could be a possibility, yes. i don't think we're comfortable saying no at this point. >> have the bomb technician recovered anything which is or looked like an i.e.d. inside the building? >> as the teams were going through and searching for the suspects and searching for victims, there were things in the building that were not immediately identifiable that caused them some concern. as a result of that we do 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 their bombs of any sort. just simply things that as our teams were moving through said that needs to be looked at more closely. >> they haven't taken anything apart an or destroyed anything? >> i have no information on that. >> [ inaudible ]. >> have you found any vehicles that you believe are related to this event? >> not they know of at this point. >> witnesses said the gunmen said anything? did they say anything? >> we don't have anything

we're in the early stages of talking to them. >> [ inaudible ]. >> this is the only active scene that we're working. >> what about security tapes that may have been shot inside? >> that is part of the investigation. i just don't have that at this point. >> can you talk about the suspects, this vehicle, the dark suv? >> that's all we have. very generic, upwards of three suspects, darker suv to flee. >> suspects wearing camoflauge? >> i've never heard camoflauge. >> what were they wearing? >> [ inaudible ]. >> i have repeatedly been told the number is three. but keep in mind 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. some of the information we put out now may change a little bit in the future. >> is there any description about these suspects? >> as far as people in the area, we're doing everything we can to keep this area safe. we are addressing other facilities in the area that we

somewhere but we don't have any information or any credible threats to any other fa sillcilities at this point. we're on a behind the sense of alert. we ask the public to be on a heightened sense of alert watching out for those things. if they come across information investigate it. >> [ inaudible ]. >> i put out what i have. just three. chief? >> one report i heard is masks were involved, but i don't know that to be definitive at this point. >> do you have any active leads you're pursuing for them right now? >> yes. not going to talk about it. >> did the gunmen say anything at all during the attack, during the shootings? >> 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 ] i just want to say thank you to all the chiefs, fire chiefs and everything, all the responders. i appreciate that. >> thank you very much. >> do you have any idea how long

>> a few minutes. >> based on how well -- >> a lot of information there from the san bernardino police chief jared berguan about a situation that unfolded, interregional center san bernardino, california. i think we have a few more minutes. >> [ inaudible ] how are you equipping your people in the field? >> our people in the field go into the field with what they have. we have a number of officers that have high caliber weapons, they carry assault rifles with them. most of the officers carry handguns. the officers that arrived on scene and did the initial work to go into that building and clear it went in with what they had. >> [ inaudible ]. >> we do not know where the suspects are. >> chief, how is the fbi getting involved in this? and is there somebody a representative maybe they want to talk in detail?

some of these investigations can turn into a potential federal prosecution-type thing. at this point we don't know that to be the case. but 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. in addition to that, being from the federal government they bring to the table tremendous resources to help us in doing our job. >> especially when it comes to terrorism. can you talk about that? >> 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 minimum we have a domestic terrorist type situation that occurred here. >> any description at all? white, black? >> we don't. >> [ inaudible ] in the sense they had training? >> 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.

when the initial responding officers arrived? >> we don't know. our police officers have not engaged or exchanged gunfire with anybody. but we don't know if they were on scene when we arrived. >> chief you may have covered this or no. but were the vast majority of the dead and wounded in one centralized location in the >> yes. facility. >> assumption here, chief, that they had targeted that particular room? those particular people? >> i think we're a little too early in the investigation to even make that assumption. we don't know what the motive is at this point. >> were hostages taken? >> we don't have any information they took any hostages. >> can you describe what types of weapons were being used? told. i think there are people that speculate what type of long guns those are. i don't want to put out a specific type of gun. a handgun.

on a mission? >> they came in with a purpose. they came in with the intent to do something. >> was there any threat made to this facility prior to this 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 have anything specifically we will come back to you every hour on the hour at least for the next several hours to provide an update. >> at the top of the hour. >> at the top of the hour is fine. >> jarrod berguan. >> a lot of information there from the san bernardino police chief jarrod berguan about the situation unfolding at the inland regional center in san bernardino, california, unfolded a little over three hours ago on the west coast, 11:00 a.m. pacific time, when it appears that three gunmen came into the inland regional center, started shooting. 14 people killed according to the sheriff, 14 people with serious injuries at the hospital right now. and perhaps the most chilling news, those shooters still on the loose. pierre thomas our senior justice

the sheriff say that you said worst case scenario. >> worst case scenario, no better way to put it, unfortunately a nightmare scenario. they don't know who they are, they don't know where they are, and they have clearly deadly intentions with more potential targets out there. >> perhaps left in a black suv. brian ross our chief investigative correspondent. the sheriff also said these people came prepared, prepared to do what they did as if they were on a mission. >> on a mission. they came not to take hostages which they didn't take. they came to kill and then get out and go somewhere else. we don't know where, they don't know where. and as pierre says, this is a highest concern. this is an active threat right now. >> what he also said, the sheriff said there's no information and he used the air quotes this is a terrorist situation. but he said at minimum a domestic terrorism situation. >> terrorism of some sort. whether these are people that have some other issue. clearly i would say from what i was listening to here this was not a disgruntled former

unique argument or issue with this center for the disabled. this was a group of people apparently on a mission. they came, they killed, they left. long guns, perhaps masks, body armor. >> yes. it was serious, it was planned. they left very quickly. in fact they were in and out in a short period of time. i'd like to know what sort of rounds they may have found on the floor. obviously we're not there yet. i thought the chief did an excellent job. put out the information he had. he said we don't have this. he was very concise and well delivered. >> promised update on the hour. matt gutman on the scene inland regional center. several people taken out of the building as well, still being cleared. >> reporter: apparently so, george. what we have been seeing over the past probably half an hour or so for the first time in the hour and a half that we've been here is officers, ambulance, fire trucks, starting to pull away from the scene. clearly they don't think that

and what the chief said is that they do believe those gunmen are on the loose now. that's one reason that we've got reports that across this city, city officials are on lockdown. the courthouses. any government officials are still on lockdown. we know that the courts are being surrounded by a swarm of officers with guns at the ready. this city is very much on tenter hooks right now with those alleged possibly three assailants out somewhere. now they're starting to let people come back in here. but whatever happened in there, even though they still may be clearing that building, i think the bottom line from the sheriff's office and police officers here on the ground that situation is over. of course what else is going on we don't know. >> former fbi agent brad garrett with us this afternoon. the chief said there are bomb technicians on the site checking out various devices on the scene. >> that again would suggest, george, that they wanted to complicate this scene as much as possible.

it appears that they didn't go there to die. it appears they wanted to keep their face covered. they wanted to commit this act, they wanted to complicate the scene, maybe kill more people with explosives and then leave. so that then takes you to if it's not islamic extremists, where the likelihood of another event is out there, or is it some domestic extremist group? some hate group? what are the issues in reference to treating the disabled and groups that don't like that or have some issue with it? i'm just speculating here, of course. but if this is just a single event, then there has to be some issue with the individuals who attacked this place and the service they provide. >> that would be one theory, pierre thomas. but as you've been reporting today, the secret service have also been looking at this spate of mass shootings directed at government buildings. of course this inland regional center which takes care of the

get state and local, county government funding, is a government center in some respects. >> exactly, george. everything is on the table right now. because they simply don't have enough information to go on. if you want to understand just how dire the situation is, the fact that he came out and specifically asked the public to help them and to be at a heightened state of alert. also the fact they're going to do briefings every hour on the hour tells you that they know the community is extremely afraid and they want to give people as much information as they can when they can so that the public can again be a multiplier effect in terms of eyes and ears. >> and john cohen also former counterterrorism official with the department of homeland security on the phone. it will be everything is on the table as pierre said, all hands on dex. right now they're are now they're going to comb through the security cameras in that location. but they have such a wide area now to try to protect. >> that's right, george. in the days ahead the investigation will tell us more about the motive behind this.

for law enforcement and security officials is to identify and capture these individuals, prevent them from doing another attack, increasing security around lo locations that may represent a risk. i thought one of the newer facts that came out of the press conference besides what everybody else was saying was that this was potentially a government facility. that's potentially a very important piece of information that state and local government officials that work at this location. >> what would that tell you? >> that would suggest that the investigators are going to be looking at very carefully at whether this was targeted specifically because it had government personnel there, whether it's a domestic extremist organization or a foreign terrorist organization, the fact thought isat it is a government building could be potentially important in determining the moat. >> i have steve gomez, former fbi special agent as well. they said they're talking to the several hundred evacuated from the building. they could be the prime sources of information right now.

getting all that information from those witnesses, as much as they can. and if these suspects had their faces covered and they did everything they could so they couldn't be identified, any little thing that those witnesses can provide, their physical description whether they were tall, short, big, whatever it is, even the color of their socks, whatever they can come up with is going to be very important. and as you can see, they're already looking for as much information from the public as possible. they put out the tip line. you know that they've got a number of people that are manning those tip lines right now, getting that information together and pushing that out to the investigators. but one thing i think that is very important is any kind of suspicious activity that may have occurred at that facility -- and i'm talking suspicious activity people maybe that are sitting in a car for a period of time, watching the facility. this is days, maybe weeks ahead of time. they're going to be really focusing on that part of the investigation to try to see, did these guys do some kind of reconnaissance of the facility

>> george, you know, history has to be our guide in these situations. and people at home may be wondering why we keep qualifying. again, history is a guide. when the oklahoma city bombing took place many years ago there was a lot of speculation initially that it was international terrorism of some sort. perhaps some sort of islamic terrorism. it turned out to be domestic terrorism. and no one saw that coming initially. >> and then we heard there, brian ross, from the chief quite open about the fact that they basically know nothing. >> they just don't know. they made a clean getaway is what he's saying. three men came, heavily armed, on a mission. they killed 14, he says, 14 more injured, and they got away. they were on a mission. and as pierre says from the oklahoma city example, we know it wasn't the mid east. it was the midwest in that case. so all options are open here. there are a number of hate groups around the country. we're told the los angeles police department now is

possible targets. >> they must do that. what we also heard from the chief, ray kelly, the active shooter protocol was put into effect as soon as they got that first 911 call. what does that mean exactly? >> it means that the officers have been trained. as i say, columbine changed a lot of things. and the primary goal is to save lives. so officers responding have to enter that location as quickly as they reasonable can, rather than waiting to construct a team. and apparently that's i think that's what the chief was alluding to. >> brad garrett, we heard from one eyewitness that the suspects who were in the car started to leave and in a quite deliberate manner, relatively slowly. but now some three hours after they may have escaped the scene, they cowluld have gotten quite far. >> somebody mentioned earlier

without, you know, something beyond the suv, did they find it? is there -- do they have witnesses of getting into another vehicle? all of those -- it's like the timeline of when they left to where they are now, that's all the pieces we appear to be missing. so that's really the key. can you put that together? so finding the suv really is a key element to what they're doing right now. >> i want to go to matt gutman back on the scene right now. you have some more information, matt? >> reporter: george, only that what we've continued to see officers and s.w.a.t. forces filing away from the scene. we believe that the officers really do think that that building, the i.r.c., has been cleared. what we do know from that press conference is that event was held in a bottom floor, that that is where most of the shooting was confined to, at least that's what the officials say. and that now they are fanning out as brian and pierre and everybody have been saying

that dark-colored or black suv. government offices are still closed down. people told to shelter in place. and all of the 200 or so employees that we saw who were not injured, some of them were still crying, clearly shaken up after the ordeal they had been through. but all of them filing past here out of that building and to safety were instructed not to talk to anyone. not family members and certainly not the press about what they saw and what they heard, george. >> so everyone you saw was told not to talk. but do you know if all the employees are in fact out? >> reporter: we believe that the living employees and the people who were not injured and the bodies are indeed out. that is what we are told. we've been in this corner for about an hour and we haven't seen anybody file past. authorities have been meticulously registering every one of those employees, taking their names, giving them water, allowinging them to go to the rest room in that needed to. it has been hours since that shooting started they have been waiting in the hot sun or

inside the building to be extricated and extracted by those s.w.a.t. teams. since then it seems that they're all out at this point. the tone here has totally changed since when we got here about an hour and a half or two hours ago. at first we saw officers running, heavily armed with assault rifles, towards that scene. now people are sort of walking about. i think what is clear the officers believe that whatever happened inside that building, that shooting, the three men coming in, gunning down 14 people, injuring 14 others, that that either 1, 2 or 3 assailants that, those people have left and they're trying to look for them elsewhere. and that's why so much of this city is still on lockdown. i'm getting text messages from city officials in the courthouse who are still texting from inside their offices. they're not even allowed to use the phones. that's how jittery it still is here. that's how jittery the police officers are still here in san bernardino. george. >> with good reason right now, those shooters still on the loose. pierre thomas, we've heard from

colleague mike lavigne, who also covers homeland security issues. the chief there said we have no information this is a terrorist situation. he said at minimum it is a domestic terrorist situation. he did not mean that in the technical sense of the word. because in justice department parlance that means something quite specific. >> exactly. that means some sort of political motivation is assigned to that. they don't know that to be the case. he's just talking about the theory clearly being fomented. >> they've scrambled tactical teams as a precautionary measure they're putting guards around planned parenthood locations in the los angeles area. >> colorado springs last friday attacked by a single gunman on the planned parenthood facility right there, ray kelli? >> this is purely speculation. but we know isis wants to goad the u.s. into some sort of land war in the middle east. and the theory is that they want to commit these horrendous acts

now, these victims, i think many of them had special needs. so it's particularly outrageous this type of attack. an the fact that there's three individuals, i think obviously that has to be on the table. >> the most vulnerable in our society. but brian ross, of course you cover isis. you've covered terrorism for so many years. so far at least not only do we have the police chief saying we really have no information, the president saying we have no information, fbi officials saying we have no information. but so far nothing coming up on international chatter, anything on social media? >> not at all. we've been monitoring. we haven't seen that. don't forget it was a week ago today that the president told the american public there's no specific credible threat against the homeland from isis. and that was the current state of the information. that hasn't changed. so if this turns out to be that, this would be a huge intelligence flaw. but at this point there's no indication whatsoever that it's isis. frankly, they don't know. there's no information whatsoever.

>> they're monitoring various hate groups that are in that part of california. they're looking at isis. they're looking at everything. as pierre said, everything is on the table. >> widest possible net right now. abc's kana whitworth at loma linda hospital on the scene. >> reporter: hey, george, we are at loma linda hospital about four miles away from the scene. it's one of the only level one trauma centers in the area. right now we have word they have received four adult patients here at loma linda hospital. and they have at least three more on the way, although that report they're saying there could be more. there could be less. but again, it's very close to the scene. and the only level one trauma center that they have here. the other thing i can tell you is that when we arrived on scene, the amount of security is unprecedented. there is the san bernardino police department, of course here. but also the union pacific railroad police have been called in to help. when i talked to them they said we're here to keep any potential target safe.

the middle of the parking lot with their guns ready to go. so again, here at loma linda hospital, four confirmed adult patients. there's also another hospital in the area, arrowhead hospital, that has six confirmed patients right now. here at loma linda they do have family gathering in an area of the hospital, we're told that's where family members are sort of supposed to go, supposed to congregate there. that's where the information about their loved ones is flowing. that is an area of the hospital that is also heavily guarded by police. they're taking this very seriously, george. it's still very scary at this moment. a lot of information coming in. >> and kayna, as this started to unfold over the last three hours you were in the region as you were heading to the hospital, what kind of alerts could you tell the public was getting? >> reporter: you know, it's interesting. because as you get closer and closer to the scene, you have to drive along the highway. and they have certain exits on the highway completely blocked off. which in california traffic if

talking about a major jam on the highway. so that's creating problems all throughout the city. then as you get closer and closer, they have a major radius around this area on completely blocked off by police officers. it was hard for even all of us in the crew here with abc to even find each other to even get there. and then there are people around the area. there's a hotel right across. and there are people there that are in the hotel. when i walked in they were kind of working, doing their normal things. so it's like people are getting alerts. they're being told to stay away. but they're also -- there was a calmness by the time i arrived. but that was a few hours later. and it was about a mile away from the scene as well. so i can tell you that they're definitely keeping people far away. they're telling people beginning to shelter in place and not letting anybody get anywhere close. >> can't be too safe right now. possibly three suspects on the loose. kayna whitworth, thanks very much. and pierre, listening to that, los angeles -- the entire los

its highways. this could create ripple effects across southern california. >> exactly. so many factors that have to be considered here. and i'm just getting word from senior officials in washington, the homeland security secretary, jeh johnson, fully engaged on this. the attorney general fully engaged. right now this is the highest priority of law enforcement in the entire country and their treating it like that. >> it's got to be. potentially three active shooters on the loose in southern california after killing 14 people at the center, 14 injured, and no one has any idea what's driving this event. >> and what the concern is that their mission is far from complete. they are hoefly armed, they are well-prepared, this was a plot obviously that did not occur on the spur of the moment. and that's the great concern with the ability to get a clean getaway before the police caught up with them. simply they don't know where they are or who they are. >> and one of the things we

attacks more than two weeks ago now far more preparation, guidance, direction went into this than was initially believed. >> you have to call this a plot of some kind. and for my money that's a kind of terrorism. somebody planned this for whatever reason, whatever motive. >> want to go back to kabc, the mayor of san bernardino on kabc right now. >> transportation authority, and that's when i received the message. as soon as i received it i left that meeting which is held in the sante fe depot, then i headed directly to the city hall. and then got communication as soon as i could with p.d. to make sure that i was informed and made sure that we took whatever necessary steps. i've had some contact with some of the local other facilities, the college, cal state president, i've also spoke within our superintendent of schools to make sure that they were aware that they were on top and they were taking precautionary measures to make sure their facilities were secure.

know of anyone personally who you knew who was involved in all of this? i know hundreds of people are in that building. and i don't know if maybe you had a personal connection to anything that might have happened. >> i'm not aware of any at this point. as you know, the chief is managing that process. so i will defer to any of the information that he puts forth. >> okay. a lot of county buildings within the city. i know you can't speak to them. but can you let us know what is being done at many of the city facilities? i know a lot of the schools -- all of the schools? san bernardino city unified are in lockdown right now as a precaution. >> city hall is on lockdown. some of the other community schools are on lockdown. as i indicated earlier they're taking the precautions. they're staying in connection with their police force also. cal state, san bernardino, the superintendent and san bernardino valley college have been in connection with them. certainly they're monitoring the situation and taking precautions the students and for their staff.

a terrorist act, not knowing who might be behind this, what's your message to everyone out there not only in the city but in the southern california area and perhaps beyond with three gunmen perhaps heavily armed still outstanding to this point? >> certainly i can't speculate to the identification of those. it's a tragic incident to happen to any community. we are unfortunate to be the target at this particular emergency. as always, our p.d. rises to the occasion and puts forth their best efforts. our community always unites and comes together during these events. they have a very resilient spirit. i'm very grateful to be here and be a part of this and observe how well our public safety responds.

cary davis, city of san bernardino. speaking with us about what's going on in the city. again, in the field that we're in we've often watched these things happen all across the country, wondering and hoping that it never happens in our community. and now it has happened in our community. it's amazing to see how many text messages -- >> robin williams, kabc right there. a little more information there. pierre thomas from the mayor of san bernardino also learning from the vice president of the board of trustees, keith nelson of the inland center that event today was something organized by the san bernardino county department of public health. again another government tie right there. but we've talked about this a little bit so far. but let's get into greater detail. we have seen several instances in the united states of mass shootings. several instances carried out by lone gunmen, whether domestic terror or inspired by groups overseas like isis. this somewhat unusual if indeed

three gunmen involved, prepared for a mission. we'veave -- who also got away. this is something different. >> this is unique in recent memory. in the sense if it turns out to be three or more people. think about it. you have three people who have conspired to murder people. that is why the situation is so dangerous. because if they're willing to do it once they're likely willing to do it again. again, the psychology of three people getting together and saying yes, we're going to go out and kill people. that is why this is being treated so seriously. because it's unfortunately likely that you're going to hear from these people again. >> and in the wake of the attacks overseas by isis, the downing of a russian airliner, the attacks in beirut, the attacks in paris, brian ross, we also saw these videos prepared by isis or isis sympathizers saying directly the united states would be targeted. although they were focused more in washington and new york. >> they talked about washington and new york and the iconic targets. this is not that but this is something else.

from all of this, it's not over, george. it's not over. >> john cohen, former homeland security counterterrorism official as well, talk more about what kind of assistance federal officials in washington can now provide the local officials on the ground in california. >> well, the officials on the ground first and foremost or in the short term are supporting efforts to clear the buildings and to provide security around associated locations. as this transitions into a crime scene, fbi, atf, others will help to interview witnesses, they'll help process the crime scene, they will help collect evidence. depending on what drove this attack, what the motive was behind it, you may see this retained as a local investigation, or i may very quickly transition into a federally led investigation. >> steve gomez, former fbi agent

california, this is a massive manhunt right now across the southern california region. we're learning from our reporters that law enforcement officials say that local and state agencies have mobilized all planes and helicopters available to search for this suv. >> they're going to be looking for this suv. they're going to be checking. there are some capabilities where they can identify any suv especially if they have it narrowed down by color. talking about a vo luminous amount of information. but in this situation they're going to do that, finding out where that suv is, putting as much information out to the public. the fact we're in l.a., very close to the mexican border, there's going to be a lot of alerts put out at the border entries going across. so there's going to be a lot of information going over to homeland security to make sure they're on the lookout for anybody suspicious. because we've talked about before, the probability that they dumped the black vehicle

else, that's very high. so they're probably in a different vehicle. but still, finding that vehicle is going to be key to the various next steps that are going to occur in this investigation. >> how extreme could this get, steve? we heard kayna whitworth say she saw several exits closed off on the highways by police. how far could thaeks tend? how far will police be willing to go? >> well, i think initially when they started to close off the exits they weren't sure if there were still people or suspects that were still inside the facility. so they have to take all those precautions. at this point, the net might have to go very wide. and when we say very wide, we're talking about not just southern california but potentially the border to mexico, nevada, arizona. you have to assume they did get out of that immediate perimeter you have to go very broad and put that information out there to all agencies throughout the country. >> the entire southwest at least

and brat garyrett, two different scenarios there, the one the gunmen would immediately look for another opportunity to attack or they may be simply trying escape. >> exactly. now we're up to three plus hours. we don't know of any other attacks. my guess at least in the short term, george, is this is all about not getting caught. and if they have planned this correctly, dropped one vehicle, pick up another, maybe even dropped a second vehicle, had somebody pick them up. but george, they had to communicate swayome way, i would assume. there are another possibility here of looking at cell phone traffic in and around that regional center right before, during, and after the shooting. granted, that is a mind-boggling job when you consider everyone basically has a cell phone. but that's another avenue.

out exactly how this moved from the shooting away from the scene and then start plugging it in from there. >> no suicide vest. no final stand there on the scene at the inland regional center. the potential at least for now of escape, the gunmen on the loose. brad, does that perhaps push you more in the direction of domestic terror than isis-inspired terror? or again, it still doesn't necessary i give you a clue either way? >> well, it doesn't because george, think about paris, for example. obviously at the rock concert, those guys were going to shoot it out and die or blow themselves up. but you had other locations where they went to restaurants and just shot the restaurant up. and they clearly got away and moved on to another location. so hard to say.

obviously -- of masks and gloves. you can't eliminate isis or some other extremist group like them. but is this just an individual attack and we're just going to have to see, obviously. hopefully that is the case. >> pierre? >> and george, you also have to think about the potential of like we saw in the washington, d.c. area of the snipers. where they didn't attack immediately there after the first attacks. >> back in 2001-2002. >> exactly. where time would pass and they would live to fight another day. and that could be a scenario. so many things on the table right now. none of them great. >> and the snipers in the d.c. area, they were actually at >> exactly. and again, two men conspired together to kill people. and again, the nature of it was they attacked, waited awhile, attacked again. i can tell you having been living in that area at the time, people were literally changing

to gas stations, shopping centers. so there is great effort now to find these people very quickly. because you could you have an entire region living in fear. >> and kayna whit worth outside the loma linda hospital inside san bernardino you were describing some of that before. you've got an entire region now being warned about shooters on the loose, areas on lockdown, employees told to stay in place. and no idea when it's going to end. brian ross. >> at this point the lack of knowledge authorities scrambling to figure out who's involved, if these are local residents, if this is an act of some domestic terror group, they could have gone to ground and be hidden well and be prepared to act again in two or three days or in a week. it's unclear.

this. exactly who they are, what was their motive and what was their mission? >> and right now we have no good information about any of that. the witnesses are being -- who are in the center at the time are being interviewed. chief ray kelly, we heard from the chief there, the san bernardino chief, that they're going to be looking at the closed circuit cameras inside the facility which might provide more clues. >> yeah. it might give them a picture of the individuals. i think this is the type of event that's going to generate lots of phone calls, lots of tips coming in. they may very well be of value. but going through that information is an herculean task. >> assuming these gunmen stay on the loose through the evening, what kind of precautions will be taken tomorrow? would schools be open? would people be told not to go to work? >> well, in the immediate area there, i think you'd probably see that. a lockdown type approach.

bernardino you'll see less of that. but hopefully there'll be more information through the night to give us some direction. but yeah, i think there'll be a lot of concern in that community and other communities in the area if in fact there's nothing more developing during the night. >> pierre, you're always trying to balance out the need to get the perpetrators and at the same time try to maintain some semblance of normal life. >> exactly. and that's increasingly difficult in the case like this. because this threat, as we all have said over and over, is active. so you want people to not panic, but at the same time you heard the chief say we need the public to be alert. and they need the public right now to help them solve this case. >> and that's why they've put out a call for people to say anything they've seen, report it. right now they're going to get a

brad garrett, former fbi special agent, what more can they do to find out about any kinds of threats against this facility or like facilities in recent weeks? >> well that, shouldn't be that difficult, george. presuming they were reported to the police. so you're going to look at that. you're going to look at any similar type of facility that provide a similar type service to see what their threat level has been or any issues that would suggest that the gunmen may have a connection to that location. i'm going to guess that's not going to end up being the case. but it's this lack of information that's just killing everybody to get this stopped. and the idea that you're going to shut down large areas, i just

because if you don't know the motive, then how do you start shutting things down? i mean, we just don't know. so a real tricky thing. and one thing extremist groups financially. and obviously every time we have one of these it does that. >> it certainly does. want to go to john cohen, former homeland security official as well. so difficult here to be essentially in these early hours flying blind. >> that's exactly right, george. and i think the other thing that this event illustrates and it's something we've been seeing over the past year, year and a half in europe and the u.s., we need to be prepared for these type of mass casualty attacks even when we don't have intelligence forewarning us. whether it's a foreign terrorist group, they're changing the way they communicate, they're using more encrypted technologies. they are leveraging people who they're inspiring to act independently. domestic groups or even

some ideological purpose to commit this attack. our intelligence systems were not designed to pick up on these people. so we need to start looking more at using tools that local police have and that exist within the community. >> explain that. what would that mean, john? >> well, it's kind of ironic at the same time that we have a conversation going on across the country about police-community partnerships and relationships. police are going to depend more and more on their relationships with the community to hear about threats such as that may be developing within the community. and so police need to work closely with the community members, they need to educate the community members about what to look for. and those community members have to be willing to communicate with police when they see things that cause concern. >> and right now as you say, we're not equipped at the national level to deal with those kind of threats or haven't been.

i mean, our intelligence capabilities as robust as they are, were never intended to pick up on a small group of individuals who may be planning a domestic attack and not communicating with foreign terrorist organizations or even acting in concert with a broader group of extremists. so it means that we have to build and use new tools, basically local tools, if we're going to be better able to pick up on these types of emerging threats. >> one of the difficulties we've seen coming out of the situation in paris, even people who were in the system, had been in prison, had been on the watch lists of french authorities, french officials, still were able to slip through the cracks and organize in the dark. >> exactly right. and there's two factors driving that. one, the sheer number of people that we're beginning to see across europe, the united

are willing and are focused on carrying out these types of attacks, and they just exceed the resources of security and law enforcement organizations to monitor. and secondly, the way they have either changed the way they communicate to avoid detection by our intelligence resources or they're not communicating with anyone at all because they're planning independent of these organizations. >> but pierre thomas, federal officials have been actively watching several individuals they believe have either traveled overseas or have some other kind of contacts with isis, actively monitoring them for fear of this kind of attack. >> actually several dozen under 24-hour blanket surveillance. people who are thought to sympathize with isis. major major effort, over 900 terror investigations under way nation-wide. hundreds we're told involving people with isis sympathies. >> what kind of active investigations, active monitoring of those who might be

>> the fbi at any given time has domestic terrorism investigations under way. we just saw a case kaisin virginia where a number of men were accused of plotting a race war, attacking african-american churches or synagogues. so those things are on the table as well. and the fbi director recently told us they can't take their eye off of any of them. >> we saw the incident in chicago this week where a person called in a threat to kill white students there at the university of chicago. i want to go back to kayna whitworth on the scene there at loma linda hospital in san bernardino, california where several of the injured have been brought in. we were discussing, kayna, we also have the local police there asking directly for help from the public. they say they are seeking three suspects who fled the scene. call 1-866-34 -- >> reporter: right now they have received four patients. they say at least four more are

what you were talking about is the ex true security. the san bernardino police department is on scene. their presence is heavily felt. for almost every other car that is parked along a street, there is a security officer or a police officer, one or the other. the other thing i saw is officers from the union pacific railroad fleet, they're on the other side of the hospital standing in the parking lot with their guns drawn. they said they are here to protect any potential target. they just want to help. now, the other thing about this hospital is that it's currently undergoing some renovations right now. so just off to the other side of me they're currently building a gigantic parking structure. and there's a lot of other construction areas around this parking lot. i just spoke with some folks that are in charge of that. they said right now their construction has been brought to a halt. but it just adds another layer, another hurdle for folks to deal with things here at this hospital. now officials are telling me that family members are gathering inside the hospital. they sort of have an area for them near the cafeteria where

again, that is an area that is heavily guarded. they don't want anybody there, including us from the media, they really want to give these families their privacy. so folks that think that they may have a family member that has been treated here at loma linda are being told to go into the cafeteria. we haven't received any more word on the conditions of the people brought here. there also were six patients transported to arrowhead hospital as well. loma linda itself is just four miles away from the scene. transferred here. so george, i'm having aly i.f.b. problem here. having a little hard time hearing you. i will send it back to you now and continue to give you updates from loma linda hospital. >> kayna, thanks you very much. we also want to go to matt gutman at the inland region nat center. we don't have matt right now. brian ross come back to you on this. matt was reporting about half an hour ago that most of the employees seem to have left the situation, even though the

been cleared it was much quieter there on the scene at inland. >> the tension at that site seems to have lessened. and matt was reporting to us that all of the employees have been asked not to speak to reporters, to him, while they're debriefed by the state police and local police there as to the best description of what they can tell about these men. they'll be looking for voice, accent, height, weight, age, anything to help identify these three gunmen. >> how much information do the police need to determine whether these individuals were actually in their system in some fashion? >> it would be difficult if there are no fingerprints, if they're wearing gloves, if there's no dna left behind. they're in the dark. this is a huge mystery of a kind that you rarely see for law enforcement. usually there is some solid lead. and without that vehicle being discovered, they're in the dark. >> or some claim of responsibility, right? >> yeah. police agencies have confidential informants. they possibly are aware of petty

out there. that's another network that's going to be engaged with i think fairly aggressively. >> matt gutman is wired up right now on the scene at the inland regional center. what are you seeing now, matt? >> reporter: george, we just spoke to an eyewitness who is still somewhere back there right near the building. now, what he told us and what we've been able to glean from police officials here is that i.r.c. is in fact evacuated and seems to have been cleared of any suspected threat. but the buildings around it, those people are still on lockdown. they're being told that there's an active shooter situation still about 200 yards away from where we're standing. so they are told to shelter in place. they are not being allowed to leave. i think that's one of the issues that we're going to have for police officers and this investigation going forward is that there are so many eyewitnesses like the owner of this company with whom we spoke, glen willworth. he said he saw the scene unfold. he heard gunfire, he saw a man

was an active shooter situation. he had a side arm with him. pulled it out, ran towards the scene and saw and heard some of that shooting. so he is one eyewitness. he says he only saw one person climb into that black suv. he did not see three others. he said his view was slightly on security by some trees. but that is one of the things that investigators are going to come up against. there were so many people, not only in the i.r.c., apparently 670 employees. we saw hundreds of them file past. not only in that hotel but in the office billuildings surrounding that, distilling the information is going to take some time. that may have hampered the investigation so far. may have slowed officers and others from realizing that maybe those three suspects believed to have shot up that event going on on the first floor of that building, that they in fact may have gotten away, george.

does seem to be much quieter around there right now. can you tell if there's any activity inside those buildings right now? >> absolutely not, george. so there's a water treatment plant right here where we're standing. i'm going to swivel the camera with scott right now. you can see that there are some fire trucks, some ambulances down there. there is still a tremendous amount of police activity. just beyond that railroad there are probably still about 2 or 300 police cars. we're still seeing officers from s.w.a.t. teams heavily armed, assault rifles at the ready. but the level of tension that we saw earlier has completely abated. and we saw officers, probation officers, highway patrol, fbi, people running towards the scene when we first got here. clearly there was a sense of alarm. clearly there was so much tension here still. they were armed, ready to go. there were noises that people heard, unconfirmed reports of gunfire that sent people skittering one way and another. now clearly the tension here has

but again there are so many officers here just trying to figure out what in fact has gone on. >> so many officers there. but one final question, matt. from what you can tell, has everyone who was inside the building been brought to the golf course and other areas around the inland regional center, are they all gone now? >> reporter: it appears so. everybody who was in the i.r.c., that center for those with developmental disabilities, seems to have been evacuated. they were extricated by s.w.a.t. teams after sheltering in place for about an hour. now, what is happening and you see an s.w.a.t. team pulling out right now, but what is happening is that that lockdown remains in other parts of this area. other office buildings are on lockdown, people told to remain sheltering in place. so we're not sure exactly what's still going on here. and i think that speaks to the fact that some of these armed officers behind us also don't exactly know what the situation is, george. >> so confounding right now. >> whether or not there are

whether or not there are devices still loose. again, that investigation still ongoing. >> it makes it difficult. come back when you have some more information from the scene, matt. i want to go to brad garrett with the situation right now. brad, we just heard from matt. much quieter on the scene right now. yet police still describing it as an active shooter situation, even though we heard from the chief about an hour ago that he believed the assailants fled the scene. >> and that's because, george, they haven't cleared every building. as you've shown on the screen, you've got at least three buildings to clear. and until those are completely cleared and the on-scene commander says i'm going to give a green light, we can now leave, it's going to remain active. and again, go back to the potential, at least, of explosives. if that plays into this it will clearly be treated as an active scene until those are neutralized. >> until those are neutralized. right now no activity there.

hours ago on the west coast in san bernardino, california. no shooting after the first several minutes. and from everything we know, a massive manhunt going on right now, brad garrett, across southern california. >> exactly. and so this is going to be again a guess that there was maybe a switched vehicle. no one saw that. so the person or persons, if we're up to three, are now in some unknown vehicle that might have been prestaged. so then it really is driven by what intelligence can you get from the public, can you get from cameras, did one of these cameras capture a license plate license plate of the black suv? i think steve mentioned this earlier. the ability, even if you have a partial tag, to be able to runt could give them information, particularly if it's a rental vehicle, they should be able to find out fairly shortly based on a partial tag.

critical whine are those guys and where are they. >> to that point, brain ross, and correct me if i'm wrong, but i can't remember a situation in recent memory where four hours after the first shots were fired, after four hours after tint began, we have so little information about what happened. >> that's true. in this country especially. you think about paris, that also was a mystery with people at large after that attack. but in this country, to have so little information, no leads, no claims of responsibility, no tangential leads, no obvious suspects. >> even in paris, more indications of what the motive might have been from eyewitnesses on the scene. >> nothing here. it's an unusual target. disabled individuals going for treatment, going for help, at this government center. why that would be a target recognizes lots of questions, unless it was just a random target. but why that would be a target

deans the mystery. >> brian, it comes at a time, not only here in the united states but all across europe on the highest state of alert. we've seen raids in france, great britain, all trying to scoop up anyone who might be involved. >> don't forget the president of france put his country on lockdown because of concern in britain they are araid of an attack at any moment. they're at the highest state of alert. in this country there was the kind of sense of security that isis wasn't going to atake large way, that it was under control. the president assured the country just one week ago there was no specific credible threat in this country from isis. >> and right now of course ray kelly former commissioner of the new york city police, no indication of any kind of what the motive may have been, whether it was something inspired by isis or whether an act inspared by another group. >> clearly frustrating. but clearly it's an act of terror.