in fact it's that organized. but you've got to get to the key and the core of who these people are as quickly as possible. because it does have the feel of somebody wants to do something else. >> it is coming up on 4:00 here on the east coast. 1:00 in the west. we're covering this active shooter situation. san bernardino, california. up to 12 people killed by up to three suspects who may have escaped in a black suv. it all started to unfold about two hours ago, 11:00 a.m. pacific time. our reporter matt guttmann now on the scene in san bernardino county, on the scene of that developmental disability center. matt, what do you know? >> george, what is remarkable right now is the scale of the number of people inside. over the past 15 minutes or so that we have been here, not only have we seen all the choppers thundering ahead and more heavily armed police forces flood into this area, but we have seen them try to remove a lot of the bystanders, the people who were in that building at the time.

and so far we have seen multiple dozens of them. probably about 150 so far coming through there, checking them all out. about 20 yards that way, making sure that they're safe and that their names are on a list. they don't want anybody blending in with the bystanders. and the stories we hear from the people are that some of them heard the gunfire and they had to shelter in place for about an hour before finally s.w.a.t. teams moved in, as we mentioned throughout this special report, going door to door inside that pretty vast building, taking people out, leading them to safety at a golf course just over there. and they've been waiting there for the past couple of hours. inside the building we still don't know what is going on. officials told me moments ago they are finally going to have a press conference at the bottom of the hour at 4:30 eastern time. and they'll fill us in on more of the details that of course we wanted to know. but in terms of the scene here, it is absolutely packed with police, ambulances, and everybody just trying to help. george? >> and matt, the witnesses you were able to get to, that you were able to talk to say how long the shooting went on?

>> it seemed to go on for minutes, but of course when you talk to people who have witnessed a shooting, the sense of time always seems to become warped. some people said it went on for a while. other people didn't know. some people didn't know about the shooting at all. that's a testament how big this building. it seems to some degree that shooting, this is what we're learning from eyewitness testimony. but it seems to some degree that the shooting was confined to if not a couple or one specific place, or a couple of specific places, not the entirety of that building. >> the president of that inland regional center said they're focused on a building that house about 25 employees with a conference center is. and one of the things i hope you can find out before we come back to you next, if we can find out what kind of an event was being held at this conference center today. have you gotten any more information on that? >> not at all. people are still pretty jarred coming out of here.

again, these are all folks who have been out in the sun for the past couple of hours. they're the people asked to shelter in place as they heard the shooting, ducking under desks, only taken out of that building by s.w.a.t. team members about an hour after the shooting started, after they have cleared room to room. no clear indication yet of where everybody was. a lot of the people we have been talking to, george, seem to be a little bit shellshocked from the experience. you can only imagine how harrowing it must have been to hear all of the gunshots and to be escorted out even if someone didn't witness any of the shooting itself. >> so terrifying and so many reports from relatives of the witnesses. they're getting text messages and phone calls from their loved ones inside. okay, matt, go get more information right now. time go to steve gomez also on the phone, now a abc news consultant. when we spoke to the board of trustees keith nelson he said he knew of though threats against that center. but that is something that officials are going to be combing through now, looking back through the wreckage to see if they missed any kind of a

threat to that specific facility. >> that's going on right now. so you've got all the local, federal, state agencies, they are scrubbing through their databases, the joint terrorism task force is looking through any threat, tip, complaint that has come in related to that facility, san bernardino and the sheriff's department, they're doing the same thing. they're trying to see if there is anything, whether it's the facility or nearby the facility that has come in recently or within the last year or two. they're trying to start building that pattern to determine if there was any type of threat or this facility was on the radar of bad guys. and is this now the result of any reconnaissance or any tips that they were receiving. and then they'll be able to help their investigation by pursuing that information that came in there. >> and brad garrett, that information so key because if indeed these shooters, if indeed there are three shooters on the loose in a black suv, it might give some clues as to where they

might be headed next. >> well, true. but, george, if these guys if end up being some sort of extremist group like paris, they're not going to probably have any track record at that particular location. now, does it tie in to other potential facilities? maybe. my guess is no, that that was picked probably as a soft target. and if they're going to go do another one, it will be another soft target. so, you know, we'll have to see. but steve right. you have to play that part of the leads play out to see if any factors any history between these potential shooters and that center. >> how wide an area would they be concerned about right now? >> well, that's the real trick bag, because you just don't know. you -- if you don't know who the shooters, are you don't know their motivation, and you don't know where they went to after they left this center, it is a huge, huge issue for law

enforcement. because they've got every cop in southern california looking for black suvs at this point. now, you know, is that a rental vehicle? is it a stolen vehicle? usually organized people don't use their own vehicle for the obvious reasons. the crowd in prance used rental vehicles. don't be surprised if it fits one of those scenarios. >> and that scene still an active situation, brad, as well, and a concern about a possible explosive device on the scene. >> exactly. and, you know, bad guys of this nature love to complicate situations. they love to put things in place that slow law enforcement down, that may potentially harm law enforcement. and, you know, it will be a focus obviously until they can figure out what they have. and do they have it in more than one location. because as matt, as others have described, you have a situation where this conference center

where apparently the shooting occurred. but then you obviously have this office building next to it. so did they get in there before they left? you know, we just don't know. but it's going to be quite a while in my view before we know exactly what they do have inside that building. >> and pierre thomas, we're reminded every time an incident like this happens, how easy it is to wreak havoc and to prepare for something like this by simply sitting at a keyboard. you can buy the body armor. you can get the guns. you can prepare the explosives. >> exactly. and as we saw in virginia tech a few years ago, one man with a handgun killed dozen -- more than a dozen people. and that tells you the nature of this threat, which is so difficult to deal with. other thing that strikes me is right now law enforcement is trying to get information because they are going to want to communicate with the public. the public will play a role in this if this is ongoing. they will want the public to be their eyes and ears to pass on any tips, anything they saw out of the ordinary. so that's another reason why

getting some information that can be put out will be key. >> we want to go back to the keen. kabc on the scene with an update. >> an active shooter situation still ongoing. this is sergeant vicky er cervantes. from the last word we had, still an active shooter situation with multiple cashies here. and there are fatalities, up to 12. can you bring us up to speed, sergeant cervantes? >> there really isn't a whole lot of updating as of yet. we're trying to remove all of the victims and witnesses from the building where we will take them to a secure location. so that they can be interviewed. we don't have numbers yet on casualties, but there are multiple casualties and there are confirmed fatalities. >> can you talk to us about these buildings? i've heard there are three buildings. are these fairly large buildings? and on the right side of the road up here if i'm not mistaken? >> they are on the right side of the road. it's the inland regional center. i believe it houses county and

possibly state offices. they manage behavioral health type businesses i believe. and they had some type of function, a function there today, an event. and during that event is when multiple shooters came in and just started shooting. >> we've had a lot of questions about the number of people who are in the building, or who were inside that building at the time of the shooting. do you guys have any idea as to how many people may have been there because of this event and how many people might be in those buildings on a regular basis on a wednesday? >> have i not been given any of that information. >> okay. >> about an hour, a little over an hour ago, you told me that there was some kind of information about a suspect vehicle, perhaps a black suv leaving the scene. can you elaborate on that, please? >> we were told that at least one of the shooters may have left in a black suv. from the location. but that's the only information i have on that. >> are there any other active

scenes right now besides this one right here? >> not that i've been made aware of. >> again, we have heard up to 12 fatalities. what have you heard? >> i haven't been given a number. >> thank you very much. again, sergeant vicky cervantes with the san bernardino police department. we're here on -- >> okay, ray kelly, former new york city police commissioner here with us. we just heard from the police that maybe one of the shooters had run away in that black suv. and one of the things that police will be tracking now is there are cameras all along public highways. >> exactly. you look at cameras obviously at the immediate scene. you want to get a sense of which direction this vehicle went and then you try to go along that route, look for cameras along the route. >> how widespread are the cameras? >> it depends. very different models. a lot of them are privately owned. it's difficult. it's not that easy to check the cameras. but i think that's something that is going on now. i would assume it is, trying to get a specific route is where this vehicle went.

>> brian ross has joined us, our chief investigative correspondent as well. and one of the things that officials had been less concerned about was an active, organized isis cell coming into the united states from overseas. >> that's right. they felt they had a sense of security that an outside group would have a hard time getting in. they have 72-hour advance notice of everyone coming in on a flight to the u.s. as well as mexico and canada. they screen all those names. they scrub them. recently they've turned down several people we've learned who were trying to come in from france because they were on a active terror watch list. but they do keep a close eye on that. that gives them a sense of security that an outside cell would have a hard time getting here. that's not the same thing as pierre and ray have often talked about the inside cell. we know there are several groups that are loosely coalesced that are communicating on social media that the fbi has been closely watching in this country. >> we know, pierre, there have been many arrests over the past year of people who might have been motived to do something here on our soil. >> exactly. in the last two years, the fbi

has arrested more than 70 people, for example, who were sympathizing or supporting isis in some way. and the big concern in the recent months are i'm who have been consuming isis social media material. identifying with them. and the concern has been that one of those people might actually go out and try to conduct an attack. of those arrests, the 70 i mentioned, there were a number of what i thought were active plots that the fbi believed they have foiled. >> we don't want to jump to any conclusions. as you reported in times, the concern of the secret service the attacks on buildings coming from isis but those who have domestic concerns. >> exactly. until they know specifically who the suspects are, no one is going to categorize this as anything. because they don't want to jump the gun. however, as you mentioned, government facilities have been frequently the target of attacks. people who have specific gripes, they want revenge, or a lot of times mentally unstable people as well.

>> i want to go to brad garrett, former fbi special agent now in our washington bureau. brad is going to join us as well. it's been a little over two hours since the first reports came in on 911. a wide net has been cast across southern california. but 150 police, fbi, atf on the scene. but that actual location not yet secure. >> not yet secure. and my guess is, george, it's going to be some time before it is secure. but, you know, there is a lot of moving parts when you have a shooting like this. because we're trying to patchwork -- we're behind, basically. law enforcement is behind. so what they get from the scene, from victims, from cctv, from traffic cameras throughout southern california, can they track these guys? have they been able to move along? have they been able to identify any of them or the vehicle. because playing catch-up is the worst place to be in law enforcement. and until you can start getting

real-time where are they, what are they doing, what weapons do they have? do they have explosives in the vehicle or in a house at some location. all of that -- >> okay, brad, excuse me. well want to go back to kabc who is talking to someone tied to three people on the scene. >> and your friend works with people with developmental disabilities. >> yes, she does. she does. and i know another lady that was caseworker to someone in my home. i work for the mental program. and the regional center sends cases to the mental program. and then they find homes for mentally disabled people that are disabilities, people with disabilities. and yes, i know another lady there, named arceli. and brenda and teresa. so i know about three people there i've met. >> and you just rushed right down here as soon as you heard. >> yes, as soon as i heard. it was about 20 minutes. and i was at work. and i was just leaving my shift. and the breaking news came on. the clients that had the tv on and breaking news came on. and i just rushed right down

to -- it was just like i said totally unbelievable. i could not believe that this is happening in our city, in our state, you know. just so much is going on. >> what is going through your mind? you're obviously watching the people as they're walking down the street. >> yes, i'm trying to see if i can recognize, you know, any one of the people i know. but so far i have not. so i'm still looking to find out if i see someone. >> yeah, well hopefully you get in touch with them very soon, meredith. thank you so much for speaking with us. >> you're welcome. >> again, a lot of people like meredith just out here waiting to talk with loved ones. some of them thanks to technology have been able to text back and forth and maybe make some phone calls. we talked with one gentleman who was waiting for his wife and she was actually able to call him. she worked here for about ten years. she said the shooter was on a second floor according to his wife. they were just reunited about a half an hour ago, or at least he was able to wave to her. i don't think he was actually able to go over and talk to her. but again, dozens and dozens of

people leaving the facility, being loaded on to these buses. and that's the latest from here right now. reporting live, eileen ferrer, abc eyewitness news. >> we're back on the scene covering this active shooter situation, san bernardino, california. up to 12 people may have been killed in the situation. one to three suspects reported by the police. some, at least one may have gotten away in a black suv. we're joined now by matt olsen, the former head of the national counterterrorism center. matt, take us inside what would be happening in the national counterterrorism center right now when they get report of a mass shooting like this in san bernardino. >> right, george. so absolutely inside the national counterterrorism center as well as the rest of the intelligence community, the analysts are scrubbing the databases for any indication, first, of any threat, warning involving this location. so anything that would give any insight as to who is involved and their motivation. they're also feeding that information or any related information to the fbi, which then is of course on the scene and in touch with the local

police. so they're trying to maintain that connection between the federal level and the local level there in san bernardino. >> and matt, educate me here a little bit. with the counterterrorism center have been tuned in to both those who have been motivated from groups overseas like isis and those who might be representative or inspired by extremist groups here in the united states? >> so generally, the intelligence community focused on threats emanating from overseas. but in an incident like this where there is so much we don't know right now, they're going to monitor it and essentially make sure that it isn't coming from overseas. so treat it almost default as if it is until it's determined certainly that it's a purely domestic event, if that's what it turns out to be. and then it would be a purely fbi domestic law enforcement concern. >> and matt, if this were something that was inspired or directed by a group overseas, would bit the kind of thing where you would expect to see some traffic after the fact taking place right away or not

necessarily? >> you know, not necessarily. particularly where it's simply an inspired event, if in fact that's what this turns out to be, we wouldn't necessarily see any group, isis or any other group take credit for it. so it's a lot. obviously we don't know right now. but that wouldn't be something you would necessarily expect. >> and pierre thomas, the acts of terror we have seen here in the united states since 9/11 with the exception i believe of the underwear bomber, most of those maybe had some communication with isis or going on isis websites. but not necessarily part of a core native plan directed from overseas. >> exactly. if you look back to the boston bombing, so far the fbi still maintains that that was a centralized plot by two brothers which may have been inspired from overseas, but not directed from overseas. >> fort hood? >> exactly. same scenario. the other thing just communicating with some sources, the fact that one of the

suspects, if there turns out to be more, may have been wearing masks, possibility of gloves, this gets very, very difficult to figure out who it is, if you cannot catch them in a direct confrontation. the dirty little secret is a lot of criminals tend to be stupid. these people do not appear to be acting in a way where they want to get caught initially. if you have the mask on, if you have gloves, you can make it very difficult, ray, correct, to be caught. >> sure. absolutely. you have no forensic element to work off. no biometric element. so you're absolutely right. it shows quite a bit of planning and forethought. >> and as brad garrett was saying, ray, the possibility of body armor which suggests they wanted to survive at least the first attack. >> right. the possibility of going to another location and doing something very quickly. >> and brian ross, talk more about what i was justing to pierre about, the history of the terror attacks in the united states over the last dozen years or so, people who were pretty much planning it on their own.

>> well, there have been lots disrupted by the new york police department and the fbi since the 9/11 attacks. but any successful directed attack we haven't seen. the closest came the attempt to shoot up the cartoon conference in garland, texas, where two individuals who had been under fbi surveillance but were deemed not threats had been in communication with isis leaders, thought at least in syria and were encouraged to go do that. what was different about paris was this appeared to be directly run by isis. and we know that isis is now created the kind of department of external affairs. and they have organized their recruits by country and language. and they've tasked each of those separate country units to figure out plots against the countries they come from. >> the french president, francois hollande saying it was planned in syria, organized in belgium and executed in france. >> that's right. the level of organization and sophistication that had not yet been seen from isis.

and this of course is of great concern if isis has now decided, as they apparently have to take the battle to the countries they consider the allies of america and america itself. >> again, we do not know the motivation here of these shooters here in san bernardino, california. but we have seen over the last month the russian airliner brought down by isis, the attack in beirut, lebanon, paris as well. a speculaate of attacks inspire isis. >> exactly right. they targeted as we recall in the days after the terrorist attack, they're going to target the u.s. they're going to target germany, the uk, the united kingdom, and russia. they're all on the target list of isis. that used to be somewhat scoffed at by law enforcement because they didn't think they had the ability to carry out a large organized attack. that seems to have changed. they are now at least trying to do that. now, in this case, there is no evidence whatsoever that isis is involved. but it's still something that is being considered, certainly by the people who have taken over the job, the people who are now

in your old job. >> and just last friday planned parenthood in colorado springs something quite different. a deranged man who is unclear exactly what was motivating him. lots of different rantings going on in his head, went in there, did it on his own. >> exactly. you just never know. i was thinking back to the columbine shootings. did involve two individuals, young people. so you have -- it's rare. you have had situations where there has been domestic terrorism where there are two individuals working in concert with a very specific target, a very specific plan that does not turn out to be terrorism. >> and matt gutman on the scene there in san bernardino county, we're learning more from an eyewitness. brandon hunt who works at the inland regional center said there was some kind of an event. it was a banquet for county personnel in the room where the police had been especially focus monday in the last hour or so. what more are you seeing now, matt? >> what we're seeing actually the enormous scale of this scene right now.

we keep getting pushed back by the officers. you can see a gentleman here putting up some police tape there are literally hundreds and hundreds of police cars, highway patrol, sheriff's department, helicopters, fire department, ambulances, all on the scene here, trying to control it. and they're still taking some of those eyewitnesses that you just mentioned at the banquet and at their offices at the irc out of there, trying to process them. and we're hearing more and more as well about what eyewitnesses saw. one man told me he just spoke to his niece who said that she was outside on a break when she saw three gunman open fire going in and begin to fire. s.w.a.t. teams eventually pulled her out, as they did everybody else, getting them to safety. other people said they were outside of the building and helter-skelter, didn't know where to go. they were told by a security guard either go into the building or run away. this woman decided to run into the building, which could have been a very perilous decision. ultimately she was safe. but so many others here clearly rattled by what happened. >> now let me underscore here.

you spoke with an eyewitness who definitely saw three shooters? >> he spoke to his niece who definitely saw three shooters. she said categorically there were three. but again, we've been to so many of these shootings and in paris as well we were there. eyewitness testimony is notorious fallible. but it is possible. and that's what police have been saying. and clearly there are eyewitnesses out there who are saying there are up to three of those gunmen. either out on the loose or still in that building, george. >> okay, thanks. we want to go to another eyewitness coming in through our affiliate kabc. >> well, at least we know he is safe. she is at the golf course. that's good news. you have good support here too. >> i do. >> i'm a principal. so she is my teacher. we're here to support each other. what's it we do as a family. >> how has this been for you? obviously maybe you can see from olivia, this is heartbreaking. >> i mean, i don't know. lots of worries right now. i just want to make sure her daughter is safe and the others.

but thank you. >> okay, well thanks so much. thanks for speaking with us. we know that she is safe. she has been at the golf course. it's just a matter of time, right? >> absolutely. >> thank you so much. i appreciate that. again, as you can imagine, just horrible having to wait for her loved one. but again, her daughter did let her know that she is at the golf course. she is safe. it's just a matter of coming out with the groups of people like we've been watching all afternoon, or at least for the past hour to get loaded on to these buss to be interviewed by police. that's the latest from here. eileen ferrer, kabc news. >> thank you very much. >> president obama as you said, pierre thomas, has been briefed. he told nora o'donnell at cbs that he is waiting for more details. he, as your sources said, can't say any more about who is responsible or why the shootings took place. >> exactly. we now know the fbi, the atf and federal officials are on the scene, working with the local authorities. we also believe that there will be a series of conference calls where they will offer additional resources.

everyone, again, is trying to get their head around what this is. because, again, depending on what it is, the federal response could be significantly large. >> but for right now, ray kelly, former new york police commissioner, as pierre said, the fbi, atf, homeland security on the scene. but the san bernardino county sheriff's department is in the lead. is the sheriff's department like that equipped to handle this kind of an incident? >> i think in this day and age they are. there is an awful lot of drilling going on. homeland security has provided a lot of equipment. and you'll see they look like s.w.a.t. teams all over the country. they look the same because of this distribution of equipment. a lot of focus on this. a lot of training. active shooter is definitely a topic of discussion throughout law enforcement. >> and steve gomez, when something like this takes place, you're former fbi agent. how do they divide up the responsibilities? >> well, it starts at the organization at the command post that's onscene. they're also going to have -- that's close to the scene. but not too close. they're also going to have various command posts that are

established at the different agencies. the fbi has their joint operation center that set up right now at their office. so does atf. but you that main command center that is nearby. and everybody is coming over to that location. you're talking about the executives and the managers of the different agencies that are involved. and that's one of the first thing they're doing is organizing their response. and you've got the security of the location there that they're dealing with. the investigation that they're conducting. the intelligence that they're gathering up. you also have a lot of people that are dealing with the logistics. because this is a long-term investigation. you see what we're dealing with here. this isn't going to end today. this is going to go on for days, potentially weeks. >> and brad garrett, one of the things we don't know right now, and i take matt gutman's caution seriously, even eyewitness reports in a situation like this can be unreliable. but one eyewitness told a relative that they did see three gunmen on the scene. one reported that maybe only one escaped in the suv, which could

suggest that you would have different shooters in different locations right now. >> you either have that, george, or you have them leave in other vehicles. we just don't know how well-organized they were. so the thought being that it makes it more complicated for law enforcement if that is the case. but, you know, the way they're treating the scene would suggest they still have something there. it may just be explosive. maybe bad guys. but this is going to take, as we've all talked all afternoon, quite a while to sort out. >> but, i mean, help me out here there haven't been any reports of any shots fired in over two hours. now we're just about two hours. doesn't that suggest that the shooters aren't on the scene, or could they be holed up? >> well, i think that would suggest that the shooters or shooter is dead, or they have left. so going back to what one witness said, that they may have

had mask and gloves on, that would also suggest they want to be anonymous, at least for now, for whatever reason. and would further suggest they were going to leave. obviously if you're going to the scene, you're going to shoot a bunch of people and shoot yourself or law enforcement to kill you, who cares if you're having a mask on or not. it takes on a bit of a different twist. well still don't know what that means yet, as to the real motivation behind these shooters. >> george, you know, it's interesting that law enforcement is as frustrated as we are. you have the leader of the free world, the president of the united states who can't tell you what happened yet. that tells you how dicey and fluid the situation is. >> and also, and this is when you think of the echos to paris, there was a plot planned, brian ross, for several days after the original. but most of this unfolded within an hour or two. first shots fired around 2:00 p.m. eastern time. right now more than two hours ago, nothing else since then.

no other attacks anywhere else either. >> that's right. in paris there were three attack teams. they began at the stadium and then their grand crescendo apparently was the attempt to go at the concert hall. and that would be the concern now for law enforcement in this case. was the attack on the most vulnerable people in the country, a disability center, was that a distraction meant to pull law enforcement to one area so they can go to another area. >> and people have been and reported from paris talk about how what was different this time and what creates a different feel and a different kind of terror, the ideas they went after those who were just going about their normal life on a friday night here. the targets some of the most vulnerable in our society. >> absolutely. the everyday life of americans under threat is the message that america is getting. >> and pierre, this is something that we have talked about for years now there has been a concern ever since 9/11. well knew that al qaeda was going for these spectacular kinds of attacks. they went after the world trade center not once, not twice. they tried to bring down

airliners. but for years, intelligence and homeland security officials mystified by the fact that they weren't seeing more often these single attacks against soft targets. >> the concern has long been that one day the bell would go off in the heads of the bad guys who would see that you can kill a large number of people in these soft targets using simple weapons. you don't have to have a huge truck bomb. you don't have to have a massive bomb. you can simply go shoot people. and i think with the recent speculat spate, the steady spate of mass shootings, that word is out. be you terrorist, be you unstable, whatever, that is the mode of operation where you can have success. >> we're flying blind here right now. we have no idea what the motive, who is behind this so far. what we do know, though, and what we have seen and again and again in this country is a series of pattern of mass shootings unlike anywhere else in the world. >> exactly.

we were talking about earlier how the fbi looked at mass shootings over a 14-year period. again, stunning. the data is what it is. first seven years of the study we were averaging six of these kinds of incidents per year. now we're up to 16 or more per year. that's a stunning number. that is a huge increase that is going to affect our daily lives in a way that we now are doing these kind of events all the time. >> how has it changed the work of police departments day in and day out? >> thing is a lot of drilling that goes on for active shooters. as i said before, it's very much on the agenda of certainly major police departments, and probably police departments throughout the country. there is lot of reading oven it, a lot of tabletop exercises. i think one of the challenges, which is mentioned before, is the coordination of multiple agencies showing up. that is so key to having an effective response. but that is practiced as well.

through the tabletop exercises. >> let me bring that to john collin. former county official with the department of homeland security. john, you have also advised a lot of state and local officials about how to deal with these homeland security type issues. what can you tell us about what officials on the ground there in san bernardino might know, what might -- what they might have gone through to prepare for something like this, and they're doing right now. >> well, george, as we watched this situation unfold over the last several hours, what we have seen is how the work that ray was just referring to has borne fruit. you have multiple personnel from multiple agencies, all responding to this scene very rapidly. they are entering the location. they are working together. they are seeking to provide medical assistance to injured people on scene. that ability comes because of the moneys that have been

invested and the work that has been done on the ground in communities across the country to prepare for these types of events. on something you talked about earlier about -- and pierre were talking about earlier about the number of these ooefbts, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of these active shooter mass casualty attacks over the last several years. not just by people who are inspired by terrorist ideologies, but by people who for broad range of reasons have come to the decision that the only way they can bring meaning to their life is by carrying out these types of attack. very difficult for law enforcement to deal with. >> because there are so many different kinds of motivations, so many different things that can trigger something in the mind of those individuals. >> that's exactly right. now, we have seen some common characteristics amongst this group of individuals who have carried out these attacks. these are people who come from dysfunctional families, who are disconnected from the community, who have suffered a series of life failures, who are searching for some thing, whether it's an organization or a cause to belong to. they're seeking some meaning in

their life. what is disturbing is that over the past several years, increasingly, these people are either turning to joining a group like isis or carrying out an attack on its behalf, or going into a school or a movie theater or a shopping mall and seeking to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. >> back your old job here at the department of homeland security counter terror right now, you heard this series of details coming in, again, all unconfirmed. but one to three shooter, body armor, masks, gloves. where would that take your gut? what would you be searching for first? >> well, you know, until the shooters are identified and are in custody, what homeland security and the fbi and quite frankly other law enforcement organizations throughout the region are concerned about is whether this is just one of what could be a possible multievent attack scenario. so we would be morning the situation very carefully. we would be waiting to see if additional attacks begin to take place.

we would be staying on top of any information coming in from the scene, relevant to the identities and the motives behind the shooting. what we would be most concerned about, that this is not another paris type of attack where you're going to have an event in one location followed by attacks in other locations. >> does this feel like any incidents you worked on in the past? >> i think unfortunately, we've seen way too many of these types of incidents occurring, particularly over the last several years. this is a problem that we really need to get a handle on from your perspective. we can't simply rely on our traditional counterterrorism strategies if this is -- it turns out to be terrorism-related. our traditional counterterrorism strategies at the federal level aren't designed to pick up on homegrown threats such as this. >> george, one thing is really interesting. here is why we have to be so careful about assigning what this is or what this isn't.

if you look at just in the past few months, look at the variety of the active shooter incidents we've had. charleston, south carolina. racially motivated shooting where multiple people were killed. a few weeks later chattanooga, tennessee. military targets, terrorism related. >> more than one target, though. >> more than one target. then earlier this year you had a shooting in a movie theater. so look at the variety there. >> planned parenthood center in colorado springs on friday. >> exactly. huge variety here. but a steady spate of active shootings. >> and the common denominator, weapons. high-powered weapons, semiautomatic weapons. just doing some quick checkings, there are more than a dozen gun stores within a half mile or 30 minutes of this centerment under california law category the california attorney general, there is a ten-day waiting period between the time you purchase the gun before it can be released. in that period of time, california and the federal authority ace apparently do some kind of a background check. but there are questions about how thorough those background checks are and who is included and who is excluded.

>> and the information that is not there and whether the state and local officials have the resources to actually do all the background checks. >> that's right. >> they need to do. as we said, president obama was being questioned on this in an interview when the reports started to come in with nora o'donnell, a cbs news. she asked about this incident. let's take a look. >> mr. president, it appear there's has been another mass shooting in california. what do you know? >> well, we don't know that much yet. it's still an active situation. fbi is on the ground offering assistance to the local officials as they need it. it does appear that there are going to be some casualties. obviously our hearts go out to the victims and the families. the one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world. and there are some steps we could take not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the

odds that they don't happen as frequently. common sense gun safety laws. stronger background checks, and, you know, for those who are concerned about terrorism, some may be aware of the fact that we have a no fly list where people can't get on planes. but those same people who we don't allow to fly could go into a store right now in the united states and buy a firearm. and there is nothing that we can do to stop them. that's a law that needs to be changed. and so my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting and we don't know what the motives of the shooters are. but what we do know is there are steps we can take to make americans safer, and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to 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 other countries. >> thank you, mr. president. >> thank you. >> pierre thomas, the president referring to the legislation that is sponsored by democrat of california, senator dianne feinstein, peter king of new york to make it more difficult for those on the no fly list to buy weapons here at home. but the president also showing signs of the frustration we've seen from him so many times. he spoke at the funeral for the victims in charleston. he spoke at n washington state. he has spoken after sandy hook, always calling for more measures to make it more difficult for people to have access to the kind of weapons that can pull off these kind of mass shootings. it's been one of the great frustrations of his presidency. >> yes. and it's been viewed by some as a local issue. the president has been accused of making it that. irregardless of that fact, the country right now is reeling from the steady spate of these

events. the solutions have been difficult in coming. and the moment appears to be nearing where they're going to be so many of these things that people are going to have to come together and try to figure out a way to deal with it. >> there has been a lot of debate, brian ross, about this legislation that the president was just talking about, the fact that people on the no fly list can still buy guns. those who say that's appropriate point out that a lot of people on the no fly list don't belong on that list. >> it's far from precise. and there are people on the no fly list who really aren't considered terrorists, but perhaps they have connections with family. and there is a lot of debate about the accuracy of that list. nevertheless, as the president said, that list does prevent those individuals from boarding an airplane. and that is not something, though, that is considered, for instance, when the waiting period is in effect for buying of firearms, that's not something that is factored in. that's the issue in this legislation. and with america is one big soft target. and there would be no way to fortify every soft target in this country that is not the answer to this dilemma.

>> ray kelly, speak to that issue right now. here in new york city, you had so much experience trying to protect areas like times square which received direct threats on videos from isis and others. how do you decide where to allocate your resources when the number of targets is not infinite, but huge. >> obviously a lot of judgment is involved. you look at masses of people. you look at the history of the location. you look at the iconic nature of a potential target. and, you know, there is judgment, and, you know, so far in new york, it was 16 plots against the city. none have come to fruition. so whatever is going on, you can say is working in some degree. >> and the fact that you have a more fortified presence does have some kind of a deterrent effect. >> sure. >> one of the things we learned in paris is one of the suicide bombers was actually turned away by security officials at the stadium.

>> but it also gives the public the comfort level. people are uneasy. so right after an event like this, they feel confident when they see police officers, armed police officers. >> we're expecting to to hear from the san bernardino police some time in the next few minutes. we're coming up now on it's about 4:45 in the east coast, 1:45 in the west. this situation started to unfold coming up on three hours ago in san bernardino, california at the inland development center, the center for the developmentally disabled where one to three shooter mace have gone inside. up to 12 people have been killed. according to reports from hospitals in the scene, at least ten others injured. right now taken to hospitals, being operated on right now. and this situation still being described, brad garrett, former special fbi agent, still being described as an active shooter situation on the scene. and of course the officials in the entire region dealing with the pocket that the shooters may have escaped in a black suv.

>> because they don't really know the answer to that, george. until every room is cleared at this facility, it maybe even some surrounding buildings, they don't know really what they have. is there a deceased and/or active shooter secreted some place within the building? did all one or three of them leave? so three hours later, it's not the place you want to be if you're the police on the scene. but that's what you're stuck with. >> maybe you can't answer this question, but how unusual has it been there have not been any other reports of the black suv being seen. ray kelly was talking about the ubiquity of closed circuit cameras along many of our public roadways, if they were still driving around, wouldn't somebody have picked it up by now or not necessarily? >> well, maybe. george, bad guys regularly that are organized will take one car to a scene, dump it a short

distance away and get into another vehicle. so is that suv parked behind some business down the road from the crime scene? maybe. so now they're in some other vehicle, traveling to another location. >> and perhaps, again, we don't know whether it was one, we don't know fit was three. we don't know if some are still inside that building. but you had been talking before also that the authorities have to be especially careful about the possibility of a planted explosive device on that scene. >> yes. and it sounds like to me they're still concerned about that. the number of the people that are still on this scene clearly suggests to me that they just don't have it cleared yet. they don't know if they have explosives. let's say some of the witnesses actually saw them with potential explosives. until they can figure out what that is and neutralize it, they're going to have to treat this as an ongoing scene. >> but what more can they be doing right now? we know they've again door to

door. we know there are hundreds, literally hundreds of police and fbi agents on the scene right now. it appears that dozens of people have been evacuated from those buildings. there hasn't appeared to be any activity, any sounds of shots fired. for at least the last two hours. what exactly would be going on inside that compound now? >> the only thingy think of, george, they're still not comfortable that they know exactly how many shooters they had originally. is there one still left in the building? that is the problem. when you have a scene where you don't have it cleared. you don't have it cleared of explosives. you don't visit cleared of bad guys. then you have to treat it like there is somebody still in that building that could harm you or a device could harm you. so that's going to take a period of time. when you start thinking about janitor's rooms, storage rooms, the basement, the roof, all of those things have to be cleared. and if you look at this

building, it's of reasonable size. so that's what is going on there. >> that's what is going on there. and pierre thomas, now we do know that federal officials have been alerted. the fbi going on the scene as well, trying to see if they can figure out anything more about those who might be responsible. >> exactly, george. and you have some very critical decisions being made right now as well. what to do about malls in the area. it's hard to sort of shut down society even when you have an incident like this. and they have to make a lot of difficult decisions. the fbi, hs, atf, all these federal agencies are involved and everyone is consulting what to do next. as brad said, they have to glean as much information from the scene to see if it points them in particular direction. >> we are awaiting to hear from the police on the scene. we expect to hear from the police chief relatively soon. it's supposed to happen around 4:45. again, the shooting at the inland regional center in san

bernardino, california. a center for the developmentally disabled. apparently there was some kind of an event, some kind of a banquet taking place there this morning. officials believe that was the focus of the shooters as we watch the police helicopter go over the scene. up to 12 people have been killed by one to three shooters. some reports that the shooters may have escaped the scene in a black suv. reports also of ten people injured in local hospitals. some of them critically. some of them being operated on right now. and we're joined here by the former chief of the new york city police ray kelly. this whole area now being controlled by the san bernardino county sheriff's department with a host of federal and state agency joining them. >> yeah. exactly. it's a coordinated effort. you have a lot of resource there's. the fbi certainly brings extra keys and sophisticated equipment to the scene. you the manpower from the sheriff's office. and the search now has obviously

widened. you can get probably to mexico in three hour time from san bernardino. so these individuals could have gone a long way aways. so you have to spread that information, anything you have. i'm assuming what they're also doing is questioning the witnesses in the hospital, people who were wounded, who are able to speak. one of the things you do is go right there and try to get immediate information. >> you know, one of the debates we've also been having in this country in the wake of these shootings and other incidents of violence is whether or not it's necessary for these local police departments to have so much military-style equipment. here is a situation where it's absolutely called for. >> yeah. i think you can keep it perhaps at a centralized location. but i think the optics sometimes cause problems when you have some civil disturbances. but certainly here and on the vehicle probably be very important. >> because of the possibility of explosives on the scene. brian ross, our chief investigative correspondent as

well, this comes in the wake of so many isis-inspired attacks around the world. but as you were telling us before, actually before -- hold that right now. we have an eyewitness on the scene right now, glen willworth. we want to go to him. glen? >> hello? >> hi, glen. it's george stephanopoulos here. tell me where you were and what you saw. >> yeah, my business is located right across the street from the inland regional center. i had -- there was a guy that was come running over to our place looking for shelter that was filling up his water truck at a fire hydrant. as he came over and said he thinks people are getting shot over here, i grabbed my sidearm, i holstered up and ran out to the general area. i went over to where his water truck was and posted up there. it was a good spot right in between the regional center and my business where my employees were. >> what could you see? >> so i stayed there.

i heard about ten, 15 shots go off. sounded like, you know, sounded like they were assault rifle shots. and by then i could tell that there was some movement going on through the trees. it's very heavily treed here. and i then saw somebody -- there was a lot of people running around too, trying to get away from the area. somebody got into a black suv that was parked right up where the shooting was, and then they pulled away. >> one person? >> very slowly and calmly. i could not tell. the windows were blacked out. i couldn't tell how many people were there. they drove right towards me. and then they veered directions and they changed and went through the parking lot, went out the back exit. very slow, very calm. >> very calm. did you see -- did you see any of them, or did you see the individual he got into the car? >> no, no. you could just see movement. because like i say, there is a

lot of trees, and these type of trees, they're very shade type trees there is a lot of brush. and, you know, bushes and stuff in the way. it was very difficult to see what was going on. all i know is if anyone was coming towards my building, that it was going to be a problem. >> right. and you had several employees in the building, correct? >> absolutely. yeah, i have 12 employees. in fact, we're still locked down. they're not letting them leave yet. i'm outside right now. i'm directly next to the regional center. i just talked with the sheriffs here to see if we can get passage for my employees to be able to go home. >> what did the sheriffs tell you is happening right now? >> you know, honestly, they don't -- they don't seem to know a whole lot. in fact they just -- told me that they were going to have to get some authorization and they don't know who to talk about it. so i'm still waiting to find out. >> so right now your employees across the street, they're still in lockdown across the street. you're looking in on the regional center.

how many buildings -- was it three buildings in the center? >> there is about three buildings, yeah. and we're at the back side of it. that's why we're behind the police lines. you know, we don't see a whole lot. you might be able to hear the alarms going off. but i just -- i walked down here to talk to somebody because i'm a couple hundred yards away from the front of the regional center here. so come up this far to speak with somebody. >> can you see what is happening inside the regional center right now? >> there is nothing, nothing. there is nothing going on. i don't see anybody going in or out or anything. but again, i'm at the back of it right now. >> so there is -- it's not surrounded? it's not surrounded by police? you don't see police moving in and out at this point? >> oh, there is plenty of police presence there is political all around it. but they're ought on waterman. the street is kind of blocked off both directions to and from it. this is a circle here. so there is only two direction in and out here.

it's a all off of the waterman street here. >> you haven't seen them go inside the building or try to take anything out of the building? >> oh, i did. i saw them go in. they stormed it. i seen s.w.a.t. go in. i was right here when they went in. i saw them up on the roof. i saw them clearing out. >> about how long ago was that? >> that was probably, oh, gosh, i don't know what time it is. probably around 11:00 i guess. >> so that was right at the beginning. shortly after you heard those 10 to 15 shots? >> yeah. there was more shots than that going off. but while i was posted up, they probably had 10 or 15 of them go off. just before the shooting ended. >> could you tell how long the shooting lasted? about how many minutes? >> i couldn't say how long it was going on before the guy came rushing over to our place seeking shelter. all i know is what happened when the guy came over to our place looking for a place to hide. that was when i went out. so i wanted to make sure nothing came our direction. >> and then after you went out, that's when you heard the 10 to

15 shots, and nothing after that? >> yeah. i stayed there the whole time, even after the -- even after all the shootings stopped, the only thing i saw moving vehicle wise was that black suv. and i was still posted up by the water truck. and i watched that vehicle leave. i did try to look inside, but it was about a good 20, 25 yards away from me. so i couldn't see anybody inside. >> glenn, thank you very much. we want to go to the scene now where the sheriff and the police chief are going to be holding their press conference. >> brad thoms. >> i would like to provide you with a telephone number in the event that you have information for investigative leads. the number that will be manned by the sheriff's department will be 1-866-346-7632. you can also call 1-800-78-crime if you wish to remain anonymous. i'll make a couple of quick

introductions. we have the chief jared mcwan from the san bernardino police department to my right. sheriff john mcmahon to my left here. and the assistant director of the in charge of the l.a. office of fbi david aboutige. >> with that i will hand it over to chief bergwan. >> good afternoon, everybody. this originally started off at 11 thank morning, late this morning, early afternoon. we received a call here at the inland regional center, 1400 block of south waterman of a shooting. it was quickly amounted to what was an active shooter situation there was a massive law enforcement response that initially was officers from our department that responded, and then very quickly as word spread through the region a massive aid response from virtually every law enforcement agency in the immediate area, to include the sheriff's department, fontan

that police department, the california highway patrol, probation department, parole, a number of agencies responded. what we have so far is information up to three people had entered the building and had opened fire on people inside of the building. we do have some preliminary numbers of upwards of 14 people that are dead, and upwards of 14 people that are injured. we think those are pretty reliable, but keep in mind those are potentially subject to change. they are preliminary numbers. the 14 that are wounded have been taken to various area hospitals. in addition to the law enforcement response, there was a massive medical aid response from san bernardino city fire department, other area fire departments, as well as the ambulance and american medical response. as officers initially arrived on scene, they went into the active shooter protocols, the things that we train for. they immediately entered the building in search of the suspects. initial information is that the

suspects -- i'm sorry, that the suspects were potentially still inside of the building. it is massive facility, employees several hundred people, and it's taken a long time to clear the building. in fact, i think we still have assets inside that are completing that clearing process. information that i think is probably the most reliable at this point is that the suspects have fled, potentially in a dark colored suv. we do not have any identification on who those suspects are. we do not know what the motive is for the shooting at this point. so with that i'm going to turn it over to the sheriff for a couple comments. >> thank you, chief. we're working closely with the san bernardino police department and the unified command as well as our federal partners to make sure that we have the resources we need to thoroughly investigate this event. our officers are working hand in hand with members of the san bernardino police department as well as the other agencies to

search the building as the chief indicated. that search is still ongoing. we have also because of the information that the suspects may have fled the area, we have also shut down and locked down the courts and the local city and county buildings in the general area around san bernardino. we have an increased law enforcement presence at all the high profile area, including hospitals. we've been in contact with the school district, and their school police chief to take care of the school side of things. we continue to make sure that we do everything we can to keep the public safe. we've been in contact with the board of supervisors. they've pledged their full support and the resources that they have to help solve this as well. we will work together to 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 boutige,

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 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 t