[ inaudible question ] the preliminary number we have right now is that there are 14 people that are deceased, and our count is another 14 people that are taken to various hospitals for significant injuries, potentially related to gunshots. 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.

are wounded. we're not that far into the investigation yet. [ inaudible question ] the whole thing? i think -- [ inaudible question ] possibility, yes. i don't think we're comfortable saying no at this point. >> have the bomb detectives recovered anything that is or looks like an ied? >> as the teams are searching for suspects and victims, there are 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 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 were bombs of any sort. just things that as our teams were moving through, that needs to be looked at more closely. [ inaudible question ]

that. [ inaudible question ] have you found any vehicles you believe are related? >> not that i know of at this point. >> did the gunman say anything? >> we don't have anything specific from those witnesses. we're at the early stages of talking to them. this is the only act i ive scene that we're working. that is part of the investigation. i just don't have that at this point. >> can you talk about the suspects' vehicle, the darker suv? >> it's all we have. very generic. upwards of three suspects. darker suv. i never heard camouflage. i have repeatedly been told the number is three. this is information that's going in. people are talking to witnesses very quickly. as we put another thing together, we know these are

some of the information we put out now may change a little bit in the future. 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 think may be similar, but we 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, that they're watching out for those things. and if they come across information, contact us and let [ inaudible question ] i put out what i have. 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 >> yes. not going to talk about it. not that i'm aware of. >> any sort of threats made prior to this incident? investigation.

now. >> i just want to say thank you to your entire agency, all the chiefs, everything, i appreciate that. >> thank you very much. a few minutes. [ inaudible question ] well, 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 question ] we do not know where the suspects are. involved? does somebody that represents them maybe want to talk? >> we know historically that some of these investigations can

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're 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. >> can you talk about that? >> we have no information at this point to indicate that this traditional sense that people may be thinking. obviously at minimum, we have a domestic terrorist type situation that occurred here. >> we don't. >> the only thing i'm comfortable saying at this point is the information they have is they came prepared to do what mission. shooting?

several minutes. the officers have not engaged or exchanged gunfire with anybody, but we don't know if they were on scene when we arrived. >> i don't know if you covered this or not, but were the vast majority of the dead and wounded in one centralized location? >> yes, in the same general area of the facility. >> making an assumption -- i'm sorry if it's an 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 they held in a room? was this a shootout? >> we don't have any information that they took any hostages. [ inaudible question ] [ inaudible question ] >> long guns is what i've been told. there are people that speculate what type of long guns. i'm just going to say it was a long gun, not a handgun. >> rifle or shotgun? [ inaudible question ]

they came in with the intent to do something. >> was there any threat to this facility prior to that? >> 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. >> top of the hour? >> at the top of the hour is fine. thank you. >> we've been listening to jarrod burguan, the police chief in san bernardino, california, updating us with what they know and the headline here, up to 14 dead, 14 people injured in that facility in san bernardino today. up to three shooters who are presumed to have fled. at this point, they presume they have fled. a chilling remark at the end. he said they came prepared as if

the fbi saying they do not know if this is terrorism. the chief noting that ultimately, it is, and whether it's the kind we tend to think of or domestic terrorism, certainly a horrible loss of life here. the suspects could have gotten away in an suv. they have put a lookout for a dark-colored suv. these men apparently marched into a meeting of some kind that was going on. he wasn't sure if it was some kind of a holiday get-together or what have you, but all the victims were shot in a central part of one of the buildings on this facility. the inwood regional center is part of the developmental disability center. it's government workers, state and county workers. as a result of this, there have been security precautions taken on other government buildings in the area as well as hospitals. the area still very much on high alert because of the many unknowns on this attack.

another building i believe to the left of the facility where this took place. in fact, as the camera widens out -- well, i'm not quite sure where it is. but i believe it's just to the -- above it there. just above it is the facility where this took place. let's go to tom costello watching along with us. tom, what do you have? >> i think yet again, leicester, st lester, this country is dealing with mass murder. 14 dead, 14 injured. his point was at a minimum, this is a domestic terror. so this is terrorism in some fashion. what we don't know is whether there is a nexus to foreign players in any way. or foreign actors in any way involved in this, or a foreign state or a foreign terrorist organization involved. we simply don't know. also interesting that he reiterated that point from the very earliest calls to police, there were witnesses who said there may be as many as three individuals who are involved in this mass shooting and the

what is now -- it's 1:30 or so on the west coast -- 2:30 on the west coast, pardon me. they're going on the assumption they still have three suspects on the loose. nearly three hours after this incident first went down, they are still going on the assumption of nearly three different suspects on the loose. the faa has put flight restrictions in place over this particular area as they try to work their police choppers to look for the suspect, and also ask the media to back off and give them as much space as possible. and i think it's also important to take note that they are still trying to answer the question of who was involved, and is there more than one vehicle? as we've been reporting, they have been looking for one vehicle, that black suv described by some as a possible uconn seen leaving the area at e ing ing -- yukon leaving the scene with three

in my experience, covering quite a few mass casualty and mass shooting incidents, this is unusual in that three hours later, we are still looking for the perpetrators, and that there loose. unusual situation. >> something that may have slipped by very quickly in that news conference, one of the reporters asked the chief, are you pursuing any active leads? and he kind of paused and said, yes, and i don't want to go any further than that. so perhaps a hint that they at least have something to go on in the search. but we heard certainly not comforting from the standpoint of i think the takeaway, not only the horrible loss of life this is still ongoing. present danger. schools are on lockdown. government buildings are being protected. hospitals are being protected. three people who the chief says came prepared as if they were on a mission are still on the loose.

are on the loose. that is a terrifying statement, but it is from the mouth of the police chief in san bernardino, california. they are looking for right now whoever is responsible for this, whoever gunned down we believe this hour. >> all right. tom, thanks very much. you're watching continuing coverage on nbc news of a mass california. some stations are going to return to regular programming. for others, nbc news coverage continues in just a second. >> and there's a scene live over san bernardino, california. we continue to cover the mass shooting there today. few minutes that 14 people are dead. 14 injured. and police are on the lookout for up to three suspects who burst into one of the buildings at the inwood regional center, a state and county facility and opened fire in a central part of

three suspects who they believe may have fled in a dark colored suv. no identification on the shooters. there is no motive. federal officials and fbi representatives on the scene say obviously everyone wants to know is this terrorism, and he simply said, i don't know. the police chief saying the shooters came prepared, as if they were on a mission. some reports that they were wearing masks. the police chief acknowledged that, but couldn't say for sure, and was not able to say whether the suspect said anything, as to whether they had active leads they are pursuing, the chief said yes. in terms of a possible motive, again, that remains a huge the police still going through the building, trying to make sure that everything is secure. secondary searches. their belief is that the shooters in this case may have gotten away, and for that reason, and because of the lack

motive might have been, they have locked down schools. they have put up extra security in front of hospitals, in front of other government buildings in the area. this regional center is part of a department of disabilities and developmental disabilities. there are some clients who come there. there are apparently state workers and county workers. several hundred people work there. the vast majority of them we saw play out earlier were actually evacuated safely on to a golf course. and eventually away from the area. but again, we know up to 14 dead and 14 injured. some of those injured were whisked to safety in civilian vehicles that were taken out away from the scene of the shooting. they were triaged right there in the street and loaded on to ambulances as quickly as they could get the them to the proper facilities for treatment. we don't have conditions on those who were treated. we talked to folks at the loma linda medical center.

four adults, expecting three more, but they were not able to provide an update on the conditions. as far as the police chief, there are no children among those who were injured or killed. let's listen in now to the coverage on knbc, our station in los angeles. >> we had heard earlier that the ceo of the regional center said her understanding was that the gunman targeted a conference area where there were a number of employees. that was not confirmed by the police chief, but that is something that she had reported that her understanding was it was sort of a conference area with adult employees. >> there's also been the suggestion that this is the large facility and some of these rooms, in fact, are leased out or rented out to particular groups. there may or may not have been a job fair out there today. the numbers, 14 people dead. we're not getting any descriptions or any names on who they might be, other than the fact that they are not children.

four patients already at loma linda. patrick healy said he saw the traffic coming and going. >> we know lake arrowhead regional also taking patients there. it's been a very fluid situation, as we have seen throughout the morning. some patients being triaged in front of the regional center and then transported to the hospital. the chief mentioned that some obviously suffered very severe injuries. others were injured in the rush to get out of that building. and alex vazquez, our nbc 4 photographer told us that at least six people were piled in to a pickup truck. in fact, this is a shot of that pickup truck right after the shooting started. these six victims were simply put in the back and shuttled to safety because the first responders hadn't yet made it to the scene. that's how quickly this all unfolded this morning. just after 11:04, the first reports of shots fired coming in. let's listen in.

if you see this, ryan, call me, let me know that you and your brother are okay, so i can get word back to the family. everybody's worried about you guys out there. >> so difficult. awaiting word from loved ones. some families were luckier than others in being able to receive text messages from those trapped inside. people were able to get outside and make it to safety. but still a number of people trying to reunite with their relatives. >> you know, with all that has happened in the world, a lot of people jumped to the conclusion or want to know immediately if this was, in fact, a terrorist act committed by one of the overseas groups. as we heard from the chief, they have not made that connection. but this is some sort of domestic terrorism. we saw the shooting in colorado last week, colorado springs at the planned parenthood. we saw what happened in oregon at the college a couple months ago.

is world and how we live our lives on a daily basis. the other thing that struck me when i heard the chief speak. he said we train for active shooters every day. but in your heart of hearts, even though you train for that and you're a police officer, you can't imagine it, i would assume, happening the way it does in your own backyard. >> yes, and unfolding like this with so many casualties. there's a rather controversial mass shooting tracker that's been put together by reddit that talks about in the past 336 days, we have now seen 355 mass shootings. the way they quantify a mass shooting, is four or more people injured by gunfire. so based on the numbers we have here, this is the second mass shooting of today and bringing us to 355 mass shootings. >> we've been listening in on knbc's coverage of this ongoing 14 dead, 14 injured in the shooting at the inwood regional disabilities center in san

you can imagine the horror, not only of those who were inside the building when this took place, but also their loved ones and people who knew folks in there when they got word of this, and we heard from some of them just a short time ago. >> i'm really scared for my sister. >> did she tell you what happened inside? >> she just said there was a shooting. she's scared. she's hiding in the closet. >> it's terrible. it's terrible. i have no words to describe it. >> your sister is in there? >> well, she works there. i haven't been able to contact her. >> how frightening is this? >> a lot. >> my daughter is out of the building and she's safe. >> you just got the call? >> yeah. >> how are you feeling right now? >> relieved. but sad for the others. >> she was whispering because she didn't want to be heard. she didn't want anyone to hear her. they were outside of the home. she turned off the lights, or someone turned off the lights

that's all that i know. that's all that she told me. and then we stopped talking because i didn't want her to talk anymore. >> what a helpless feeling, to be in contact with your loved ones, you can't get to them, and they are in this desperate situation with a gunman opening fire. all the gunfire apparently in a centralized part of one building, in the multiple building complex. let me bring in clint van sant zantvanzant, i guess it's natural for us to want to categorize these things. the fact is, 14 people are dead, and no matter what you call it, that reality is inescapable. but when we hear three people who as the police chief said came prepared as if they were on a megs, ission, and we hear those three people are still out there, where does that take you as a former law enforcement officer? >> well, you know, investigators are investigating this right

the media is left to speculate. as we start to connect these dots from what we've heard from law enforcement in a press conference and the confirmation coming in, it appears that all the shooting took place in the same location in these three different buildings that were connected that have about 650 or more employees. we also heard from law enforcement that at may have been in a conference room where there was some type of meeting or luncheon going on. should those facts prove to be correct, it would sound like the shooter or the shooters went right to that conference room. in essence, they may have targeted somebody in that room or the purpose for that room. that's what investigators and detectives, that's what they're trying to do right now. find out if that specific group was, in fact, targeted because then that gives them a lead. who would have had some reason,

to commit a controversial atrocity like this, whether it's domestic terrorism, some frustrated fired employee, that he or they were able to assemble three people, weapons, body armor, and put together this plan, chief of police is right. these are at least one to three people who came in with a purpose and that purpose was mass murder. >> he was unable to say whether the suspects said anything, but given the number of people who were there, he did note that they do have active leads. is it possible that something was said that might imply a motive, that would give them something to follow up on? >> i think it's likely, if it was anything related to the group, or related to the people in the room, and one to three shooters, someone likely would

in the room might have either recognized a shooter by his face, or if they had masks on, as we're told, maybe recognize the shooter by their build or something that was said or murmured within that room. those are things right now that hundreds of law enforcement officers all over that area of california are trying to identify. if the chief is right, they have leads, not only on the vehicle description that tom costello told us about that was being put all over the area, but they may have an idea of a suspect or suspects in this case, too. they may not want to show their hand, but hopefully, there are dozens of law enforcement officers moving in every direction and every lead, while at the same time, we're administering to the injured. feeling so bad for the dead. and we're trying to develop further information to help us identify who the shooter was.

know from the reporting that's been done, this is almost 400 people this year that have been killed in america in mass shootings. whatever type of terrorism we call this, this is an unacceptable level of violence that this country has got to get a handle on. i don't care what your political affiliation. we have to find a way to stop these copycats, to limit weapons, to deal with mental health situations. this calls for america to come together and not be divided on a situation like this. >> if this was it turns out to be a random target, that this place was hit for no other reason than it had a lot of people in it, as law enforcement, do you have to be concerned about a second attack, a second location that could be targeted? >> well, with the chief telling us that these individuals appear to have come to this location

in essence, they may well be surprised that they were even able to escape the area at this time. and again, as you rightfully said, law enforcement is still searching these three massive buildings in the areas around. but right now, i think the biggest challenge is going to be if the shooter or shooters escaped, it's going to be when those law enforcement officers have to confront these shooters and deal with them. this is going to be a tremendous threat to law enforcement, and unfortunately, it does continue to be a threat for the public until the shooters are found. >> all right, clint van zandt, thank you. we'll be checking back with you. we want to go to the scene now. nbc's miguel almaguer is there. describe the scene and what you've learned so far, miguel. >> reporter: lester, still a very active scene. as a matter of fact, we just saw more police officers driving down this road. there was also a large bus that looked like it could be transferring folks who are down at the crime scene out of this area. police helicopters are still

certainly just a short time ago, we saw bomb squad members coming into this area. it's difficult to hear what is happening behind us, because we're somewhat of a distance away, but certainly a very active scene. police with their rifles, their long guns are out here as well as several people who are looking for any information about friends or family members that may have been involved in this incident. we also know at nearby hospitals, there are several people who are gathering. ambulances rushing in and out. it does appear the numbers may change. as you know right now, lester, reports that there are 14 people dead, another 14 injured, as police search for three suspects in this area. >> have you seen any indication of police actually leaving the scene to join the hunt? >> reporter: we're about two blocks away from where the incident actually took place. from our vantage point, the roads are blocked off a few blocks in the other direction, but police are continuing to come into this area. we have heard reports that there is police activity all across this region at this very hour,

investigators are still arrivin on scene.