been loaded up into a civilian pickup truck and taken, apparently, across that parking lot to safety and they are being led led to away to the triage area, to determine the extent of their injuries and get them the proper equipment. we're hitting the top the hour. it's 4:00 eastern time. it's 1:00 in the west right now. if you are just joining us, we're covering a mass shooting at the state disability office in san bernardino, california. undetermined number of people hit, undetermined number of shooters. police still trying to secure the area. s.w.a.t. teams going room to room inside the buildings inside that office complex or campus if you will, looking for shooters, victims, and securing against any kind of devices that may be there. a number of people safely evacuated from the building. others injured. taken to triage areas a few blocks away where they were then

transferred to hospitals, some in ambulances, some by helicopter. we have lost our aerial shots for now because authorities have asked -- requested that news helicopters move away from the scene s we have, of course, complied. they are obviously cognizant of anything that might betray the tactics or what the s.w.a.t. teams are actually doing right now inside the buildings as they try to secure the situation. in the bottom of your screen, you see knbc reporting as many as 3 day. we have some fatalities. nbc's miguel almagear joins us on the phone right now. >> reporter: there are several police helicopters on the air. they have told our affiliate to back their helicopter away. they are searching for a suspect. i can tell you officers here on the ground, even several blocks away are heavily armed.

they have rifles, shotguns, and they are trying to keep the public back as far as they can. there are several ambulances here on scene so clearly this is still a very active scene here lester as police are trying to coordinate their response from here. >> and what about people who are trying to get to the scene? i can only imagine if you've been watching tv or you know someone that works in this building, your desire would be to check on your loved one. have you seen people coming here? >> reporter: certainly, lester. there are dozens and dozens of people at the edge of the street, as close as they can get, at least through police. waiting for any type of information. it's unclear if these are possible parents or family members of the victims, potential victims or know people who work inside this building, the area is lined here with pedestrians who are clearing looking and anticipating more information about the scene here. >> we want to go to tom costello in washington. the president has been notified what's going on. members of congress, leadership have responded.

what about federal law enforcement? to what extent do we know they might be getting involved here? >> fbi and atf is all right -- already on the scene and responding. the assistant director of the field office is personally responding. to pick up on the conversation you were having earlier about mass shootings in this country, when you were talking to clint van zandt, "the washington post" pointing out that this would be believe it or not the second mass shooting today alone. there was another one earlier today in savannah, georgia, in which one person was killed and three people were injured, and we have count of about 375 people killed so far this year in mass shooting incidents in this country alone. and by the way, today is the 18th anniversary of that high school shooting at paducah, kentucky, and in that particular case, a 14-year-old killed three

suspects, injured five. he went to prison. he's now 32 years old. >> tom costello. let's go back to the scene. miguel, you have more news? >> reporter: we know that the s.w.a.t. team had been here for some time. there's also a heavy presence from the bomb squad. we just saw three bomb squad technicians in three different vehicle roll past us at a very high speed. they are certainly trying to get to the crime scene here. we had heard reports that it's possible the suspects may have left some type of explosive devices in the building. police certainly taking that very seriously as those officers now move in. >> that jibes with what we heard a while ago. they are looking for secondary devices, i'm not sure his terminology, if he's referring they had found other devices, but nonetheless they have got to look for anything suspicious and that is standard protocol in these sorts of situations. we are all, of course, anxious to hear about injured, about

casualties, about whether the shooter or shooters are in custody, but those answers will come slowly as was pointed out. it's all right now about the safety of those who are working this scene and anyone -- any innocent person who may still be in there. and so we will watch this unfold. the helicopters have been asked -- i believe this is tape you're looking at. the helicopter has been asked to move back to allow the police to do what they do and to do their tactic kal maneuvers as they search room to room, floor to floor, inside that facility. if you were with us very early in the coverage, the initial reports we were getting from police, one to three suspects. some of the radio traffic seemed to indicate multiple suspects. we don't know that to be the case. we have to assume this came from people, witnesses who were there, who were coming out, as to what they heard or what they surmised from what they heard, but police have to go on every

possibility, including the worst possibility that there was more than one shooter and that they are still inside that facility, and there goes the caution we're seeing and the methodical nature to how they respond. san bernardino police there along with county sheriff and other law enforcement agencies have responded here. some members of s.w.a.t. teams, we're told, coming in on their time off, their day off to join here in this search. we saw some of them go by in one of those armored bear cat vehicles much like we saw play out only a few days ago in colorado springs at the shooting there. this is a situation that these departments have practiced and have planned for and they are carrying it out, unfortunately, under these horrible circumstances. in terms of casualties, again, knbc reporting at least 20 injured, at least 3 dead. the only indication we have officially is that they have some fatalities. the spokesman declined to offer

a number. noting they are still getting a handle on exactly what they are seeing here. you've seen a number of people in these videos on stretchers and some being walk in. they were apparently carried from the scene. we don't know if they had come out of the building on their own. they were scooped up into civilian vehicles or what have you, but clearly this medical triage facility or makeshift facility was set up in the street there and that is where they were initially brought. we believe all of those who were brought there at least to that point have been removed to hospitals, either via helicopter or ambulance and are receiving treatment. what we don't know and frankly what we fear for is what officers may find inside the building. there's only a rough description of a shooter who was reported to be wearing tactical gear, perhaps ballistic vest. as far as a weapon, it would

seem to be something capable of pumping out bullets at a rapid fire. we're watching knbc's coverage out of los angeles. let's dip back in and listen. >> i don't know if she heard gunshots or somebody told her. she immediately went and hid in a back office somewhere with some other people and they locked themselves in and they hid. >> again, to reiterate what he just said, he got word that his daughter is safe. she was escorted out of the building but she was hiding in there. >> hiding in the back office with a few other people. imagine there being in the workplace doing your job and all of a sudden you are hearing multiple gunshots being fired off. >> yes, absolutely terrifying. we're hearing that the san bernardino board of supervisors is holding an emergency meeting. that will take place actually it's just getting under way. we're told 1:00 today to talk about this shooting and we're also told that san bernardino county plans to issue a statement after that meeting. >> and again, loma linda hospital -- >> we're going to cut away from knbc's coverage right now.

we're joined on the phone by olivia bozak. can you hear me okay? >> yes, i can. >> tell us what you know right now. >> so what we know is that this incident really happened around 11:00 today. it's around two hours ago. there's an active shoorth at the -- shooter at the inland regional center. that's a place where they do training for news

that there are deaths but i haven't confirmed anything from san bernardino pd. they haven't told us of any casualties there. >> we had heard the 1 to 3 suspects earlier. they are clearing this building. are there indications that the shooters are still there or is this a precaution and the belief is they made their escape? >> they don't know yet. that's why they are still doing their -- the systematic search of the building, once they determine that, i'm sure they will provide another update. she just went on the news right now and she was saying they don't have much to update. it's multiple fatalities. we don't have a number yet and a lot of people are injured. >> we've seen pictures of some of the injured people. do you know if those are people who ran out of the building and were rescued? >> i'm not sure if they were in the building at the time or outside of the building. >> and how many people would have been in this building at this time? do we have any idea? >> i don't think -- we don't know the number of people

because it's three rather large buildings. i don't know about the employee numbers. >> san bernardino pd is obviously the lead law enforcement here because it's in their community. your folks supporting them. are your s.w.a.t. teams on the ground there as well? >> yes, they are. our s.w.a.t. teams as well as multiple nearby agencies and other counties that are coming to help us. >> okay. all right. olivia bozek, thank you for joining us. if you have more information, we would love to hear back from you. >> okay thank you. >> confirming largely what we have heard so far, and as many as three suspects in this. there are multiple victims. there has been a loss of life, but we don't have numbers right now. the s.w.a.t. team is clearing. this is a far back picture now as the choppers have moved pack pointing in the direction of that facility right now where those s.w.a.t. teams are making

their way through the buildings and clearing and making sure there's no suspects or any explosive devices or booby traps of any kind. we had a description of one suspect wearing body armor and tactical gear. all of this right now is very murky. the first order of business in these cases is to secure the area and make sure no one else is hurt. so a lot of answers are going to have to wait in terms of numbers of casualties. s.w.a.t. teams not only from san bernardino pd but also the san bernardino sheriff have joined in this operation to work their way around. as you can see, you know, the way that complex is laid out, numerous buildings there, a large parking lot, many of those who evacuated out were brought across to that golf course you saw just a moment ago and the camera pushing into the intersection that seems to be largely the command post of this

operation. people are now being led out. many of these may have been some of those who were evacuated from the building. they are trying to clear their area. at the same time they are trying to stop people from coming there who want to check on loved ones. you know, the nature of these sorts of things has changed in this era of rapid communications and some of the first things we see are tweets reportedly coming from inside these locations, and, of course, the ability to text loved ones and friends, get often very fast word of something like this happening, and we've certainly been monitoring some of those. clint van zandt is with us. clint, as we noted, the helicopters have pulled back. again, in this era of rapid communication, it has to be a real concern from law enforcement as we're doing a delicate tactical operation like this that the suspect or suspects are keeping a very close on the information as well

as to their whereabouts. >> well, they are lester. we've seen too many situations where we've had perhaps hostage or barricade situations where the subject or subjects are inside of the barricaded situation, watching on television, watching the tactical teams move, trying to get into position to come in and make that rescue. right now, there are multiple sources giving out a description of an suv, a black suv that was allegedly seen leaving the area with upwards of three people. as you and i previously discussed, that number is really influx right now. whether people saw three get in, whether they saw one get in, or whether like in the case of the d.c. sniper and everybody saw a wiet van that had nothing to do with the situation, we don't know, but there's enough police cars on the street right now, lester, they need to look for something and one of the things they are looking for is that black suv on the chance that it

may be related to this situation. >> you are watching nbc news live coverage of the mass shooting in san bernardino, california. some stations will return to regular programming. for others, nbc news coverage continues. and again this is the scene from san bernardino. you see school buses now lined up. we can only presume they are there to take some of those who were evacuated to a safer, more secure location. their cars undoubtedly left in the parking lot as they were hurried to safety. this happened about 11:00 this morning pacific time. a gunman or gunmen burst into this facility in san bernardino for the developmentally disabled and opened fire. a number of people hit. authorities do acknowledge there has been a loss of life, a number of people injured, but there are no firm reportable numbers other than what the reporters on the scene have said. there are at least three bodies

and a reporter observing 20 people injured there in that triage center. nbc's tom costello continues to watch along with us. what do you have, tom? >> our justice producer mike kosner says a bolo has been issued. that stands for be on the lookout. that goes to law enforcement agencies throughout the region. looking for a black suv, possibly a yukon. that's coming from u.s. federal authorities. a bolo has been issue for a black suv, possibly a yukon in that general vicinity. we do not know how many suspects may be in that vehicle, but that at the moment appears to be what police are looking for and as we mentioned earlier, neighboring l.a. county and the l.a. county counterterrorism unit both now have been stood up and are standing by and looking for this vehicle as well. generally, when these bolos go out and anybody who has ever listened to a scanner or anybody who has ever worked in a

newsroom knows that very often you'll hear an alert go out over the radio in which dispatch will say attention all cars, prepare to copy information on a bolo. be on the look out. in this case, in san bernardino. they would proceed to give that information to all the officers listening on the radio at the same time it's transmitted over the computer terminals in every police car, in modern-day policing today. very often you would have that kind of information transmitted instantly to thousands of law enforcement officers on the streets and they begin aggressively looking for that vehicle. that is the word we're getting from federal authorities. a bolo is issue and they are looking for a black yukon in that general area. in the meantime, i would tell you lester to pick up on our conversation about the fda's concerns over the rising number of mass casualty incidents, one

analyst said as more and more notable and tragic events occur, we think we're seeing more marginalized individuals who are seek being inspiration for past attacks. this is the copy cat syndrome they are concerned about. one incident begets another benets another. that seems to be a pattern they have seen over the next 20 years or so. >> we have on the phone larry becker. he's a spokesperson for loma linda medical center. can you tell us what you have received in term of casualties to your hospital? >> sure. sure. absolutely. we have received four adults patients so far here at the medical center. we have received word that we should expect three more on the way. we have a lot of people standing by ready to help. >> can you tell us, are these gunshots wounds? >> i can't confirm -- i don't know what the nature of the

wounds are, but all of these people have come from the area. >> i know there's a network of hospitals in that area. do you know how many hospitals are receiving casualties from this event? >> i don't know of other hospitals specifically that are receiving them, but i suspect that there are one or two others fairly close to the area that might be. >> and what does this mean in terms of your hospital? when something like this happens, how does the word filter down and what goes into motion? >> when we get word on something like this from wherever, from law enforcement or as things start to arrive, we immediately go into an emergency situation here in our er, and we start calling people in, and, you know, we are fully staffed and ready to take care of these people as they arrive. >> of the four adults that you received, do you have conditions listed on any of them? >> you know, i don't have any condition updates right now. >> i understand. treating your patients is

obviously the priority. larry becker, thank you very much. we'll check in with you again if that's okay. >> that's fine. >> he's with loma linda medical center in southern california. noting they have received four adult patients related to this incident, and they are expecting three more. typically, in a mass casualty situation, there will be other medical facilities receiving patients. we'll try to get a handle on that and let you know as we learn more. this is, again, the pictures, live pictures from the ground near the inland regional center. this developmental disabilities center. the command post set up a few blocks away. that is an earlier map showing you the scene right there. you can see the sprawling parking lot. a number of buildings involved and they are being searched right now by s.w.a.t. teams, their first order of business right now is to secure the

scene. we don't know what they have found so far inside that building in terms of any other possible casualties or anything, a suspect or suspects have left behind. i keep saying suspects because the initial reports and we heard a moment ago, they are still looking at the possibility of one to three suspects, and also there was a be on the look out, a bolo alert for a black suv that may be related to this. let's step back into the coverage of knbc now. >> such a tense situation this morning. words of shots fired came at 11:04 this morning and it was an active shooter situation. the word went out. law enforcement responded. you are looking at pictures of people who were inside the inland regional center. this is where it all happened and these were employees and perhaps clients who were being evacuated from the building this morning, and it is a very difficult process. >> let's take you out to the scene live here right now, and

that picture there pretty new of a school bus, and from what i understand they are possibly loading folks from inside the building on to that bus, taken to the shell station that megan showed us live from the chopper. over fair oaks avenue in pasadena. a s.w.a.t. situation that she says could be related to what is happening here in san bernardino. folks are being told to stay away from that area, though we don't have specifics there for you. a s.w.a.t. situation happening on fair oaks avenue in pasadena and megan reyes on her way to the scene in news chopper 4. >> she told us about 10 minutes away. there are different reports about what happened here. we did hear that some witnesses reported seeing a black yukon leaving the scene here. we're not able to confirm ha

with san bernardino police. at this point they are not confirming any details for us. other than to tell us this is an active shooter situation and asking people to stay away from the scene. they are asking family members to respond to the hernandez center at 222 north lugunda avenue. we don't know at this point what is going on in pasadena, although the early word is it is believed to be connected to this active shooter situation in inten. very -- san bernardino. very unusual. obviously, you can't help but think about the instances that have been happening globally when we talk about the terror events in paris and everyone on heightened alert because of -- >> we've been listening briefly to coverage on knbc in los angeles of this shooting in san bernardino, this mass shooting, and you heard them mentioning a situation that may be taking place in pasadena, california,

involving a s.w.a.t. operation that may -- may be related to this. pasadena about a little over an hour's drive from san bernardino. it's there in the los angeles area. we don't know the connection right now, but as you heard knbc is reporting that. we will follow that. they have got someone en route there and we'll hear from them very shortly. whether these dots are connected or not, we should learn before long. the latest reports we're getting now from san bernardino itself, a police spokesperson telling our sister network cnbc, the attackers just went in the doors and began shooting and noted what -- that there's at least 100 officers on the scene there who have -- many of them have secured the perimeter while the s.w.a.t. teams work the actual buildings themselves doing this methodical clearing operation. we don't know what they have found in terms of casualties

inside. we know there are reports of at least 20 people who were injured. we heard from the hospital in the area that has received four adult patients and expects three mors. presumably, other hospitals will be receiving casualties as well. authorities have confirmed there are deaths. we don't know how many. let's go back to knbc. >> i can't really tell you. i only heard shots. i didn't see anything. >> what have you heard? >> just gunfire. >> and that there from someone shortly after the shooting, that sound being shot rolled by our photographer there on the scene, alex vasquez. didn't see a gunman, heard multiple shots. obviously still trying to process that -- what happened. she's being ushered out of that building. >> we're getting a little more information about the situation in pasadena. nbc 4 reporter gadi schwartz

tells us there's a perimeter being set up at the waterman discount mall which is near schools. we know this is fair oaks avenue. and we're getting word that this could be related to the s.w.a.t. -- the active shooter situation taking place here in san bernardino at the inland regional center. >> we're also getting word that there are u.s. marshalls being dispatched to the scene as well. the waterman discount mall, north waterman avenue, east olive street to the north and ninth street there to the south. it's near roberts elementary school which is to the south as well as sierra high school. >> a lot of schools in that area. >> so, again, that there a second scene, we're getting that information there from our nbc 4 reporter. megan reyes live overhead. we'll get to her shortly. >> lester holt back in new york as we continue to cover this

unfolding situation in southern california. the shooting at 11:00 a.m. pacific time at a developmental disabilities office complex in san bernardino and now as you heard we're getting reports of about an hour away in pasadena, reports of a s.w.a.t. operation, the waterman discount mall has been -- a perimeter has been set up around it. we're not clear what the link, if any, is. stay with us as we try to work our way through this. but in the meantime, sean henry, joins us here in new york. sean, put your federal cap on right now. if you are watching this play out in san bernardino, you are hearing same reports of something may be playing out at or near a mall an hour away. what's happening at the federal level? >> on the heels of what we've seen in the last couple of weeks in paris and belgium, certainly concerns this may be

terroristed-related. we have heard about the thoughts and concerns that isis may be looking to create multiple shootings. this is too early to make that determination right now. law enforcement is concerned about that. there are a couple of things happening on the ground right now. when you talk about s.w.a.t. officers at the mall area, there may have been a call for some type of event there. in abundance of caution, they may have scrambled folks there. at the site where we saw the shooting today where they got people shot and killed, they are still looking to see if there are any other subjects in that area. they are looking to collect intelligence on witnesses on the ground, they are looking to do something that might help them to identify who these subjects are. >> sean, let me just interrupt you for a second. i want to quickly update. we're hearing from our station in los angeles, that the situation in pasadena is not related. again, not related. we'll find out more about that in a minute. that's important. continuing your thought, the initial report, one to three

suspects. when you hear multiple suspects, does that not take this out of the category of the kind of shootings, mass shootings we've dealt with primarily in this country? >> i think when we've seen some of the mass shootings we've seen recently domestically that when we see theaters or schools, we've looked at people who have been mentally ill, people who have been struggling, somebody who might have had a personal vendetta. when you talk about multiple shooters, it certainly conjures up the thought this was something planned and organized. it's not spur of the moment. these are people who had a very definitive mission. historically in the past, when we've seen multiple shooters in incidents, we've seen bank robberies and those sorts of things. that doesn't appear fob the case here. police are going to be concerned. federal authorities, they are going to look at terrorism first because that's where you default to unfortunately in this day and age and they will work with the intelligence and back away from that as this gets teased out, lester. >> all right, shawn.

we're hearing words like terrorism and stuff like that, we don't know. we don't know exactly what's going on here. any number of possibilities. the report of one, perhaps three shooters. police right now are trying to secure this facility where it happened. the reports are someone came in. i think cnbc had interviewed a police spokesman, said gunmen, more than one gunman burst into a room and began firing. that's according to a police spokesperson. we don't know if there was inside. there's a report to be on the lookout for a dark-colored suv that may be related to this. you may have heard a moment ago about a separate situation going on in pasadena. we can tell you that's not related to what's happening in san bernardino. we're trying to wait for information as it comes in. we are told there may be a police briefing very soon, so you'll want to stay with us for that and perhaps we'll get some

of these questions cleared up as to exactly what happened, and i think it's a fair question for anyone in that area to ask, is this over? are there individuals on the loose? are people in danger elsewhere as a result of what happened here? and i think that's an urgent question that people will rightfully want to know the answers to and hopefully we will get it. because of the operation to secure this center, we haven't learned a lot about the number of casualties. their first order of business was to get in, secure these rooms, secure any potential devices that may have been left behind by the perpetrators and perhaps find the suspects themselves, if they are still on the property there. a number of people were led out safely from these buildings. they were evacuated. they didn't appear to be a panic. they had their hands up. they moved out as requested by police. this appears to be a textbook triage set-up was put in place

there to deal with the injured and get them to the appropriate hospitals and the appropriate treatment. we talked to the folks at loma linda medical center. they have received four adult patients, three more, the spokesman unable to tell memorandum if all those were gunshot wounds. it's probably not out of the question that some people were simply hurt in a panic to get out, but we'll find out. we'll get those numbers when we can. this happened as we said about 11:00 in the morning. there was a report at one point of a vehicle that might be connected to this. we've heard no further information on that or a description of the gunmen or

brought out earlier. they are zornlinging people from coming down, trying to check on loved ones for obviously reasons that the area needs to be secured, and they just want to get as many people to safety as they can while they try to figure out exactly what it is that they are watching here. we had reported earlier that the president has been notified by homeland security officials, so he is aware of what's transpiring here in california, and house leadership has as well. everyone waiting to find out exactly what has been triggered into motion here, what the nature of this crime is or was.

the motivation, who may be involved, so many questions, and we're all eagerly waiting for answers. this is an area along waterman road we believe in san bernardino. san bernardino is east of los angeles. a rather large city. kind of there in the central area of southern california. tom costello has been gathering information for us from his perch in washington. what do you have, tom? >> the latest information we really have from federal authorities. they are really giving the lead to this to the authorities on the ground, to the local authorities in san bernardino many but the fbi field director in l.a. we're told is already on the scene. atf is also assisting. they put on this be on the look out alert recently looking for a black suv, possibly a yukon. that coming from federal authorities, confirming that so-called bolo, be on the look

out, went out in the local area as well. the very first thing, of course, on the federal level that they worry about is whether this is in any way tied to terrorism and we simply don't know whether that's the situation or whether we are dealing with a lone gunman, but i would also remind us, all of us that it was of course just before thanksgiving that federal authorities advised police departments across the country just be aware of what is developing in europe. at the time, of course, in response to the attacks in paris and the manhunt in brussels, only insofar as advising police departments to essentially be on your guard, be on the look out, and be aware. they stressed there was no information that would suggest that we are looking at any sort of a terrorism attack in the united states. that was literally last week in the days running up to thanksgiving. so now we have this situation developing in california. we don't know, i stress that, we don't know if there's terrorism

nexus, but clearly we're looking at a mass casualty situation on the ground with local police scrambling to find the shooter or shoorths and federal authorities asking the questions at the moment that nobody has the answer to, is this electricity-related? distribut-- -- terrorist relate lone gunman? >> we're told police are going to be scheduling a news conference. ron allen is at the white house. we've noted the president has been notified. have we heard from him yet? >> yes, he has. he happened to be doing an interview with one of our colleagues at cbs news. the situation is very fluid. here's more of what the president just said. >> my hope is that we're able to

contain this particular shooting and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know that 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. >> the president there is sounding like this was a shooting incident, a mass shooting incident, not necessarily a terrorism incident, but again we don't know the detail of that as of yet. the president still waiting for word about what happened as these events continue to unfold. we know the president has been very, very concerned about this issue, speaking out on it as recently as yesterday in paris at that climate conference.

at the same time he says that we do less and certainly should do more, he says to stop these kinds of mass shootings. we know that the president and his team at the white house have been looking through various executive actions that he might take, administrative actions he might take in the interest of gun safety, but at this point the last guidance from the white house there is not imminent on that front. this may drive that conversation. the president hoping this will spark more conversation and mostly some years old

yesterday. that was in paducah, kentucky. it occurred 18 years old yesterday. not today, but he is in prison and these numbers from the centers for disease control put this into perspective. the number of violent gun deaths

between 2005 and 2013, according to the cdc, 279,000 in the united states, 279,000, and in the united states so far this year, 375 victims of gun violence in terms of mass shootings. that puts it in context, the total number of individuals that we're looking at right now, lester. >> this taking place at the inland regional center in san bernardino. we have on the phone with us now patrick simpson. his daughter is an intern at that facility. and we understand that she is still hidden inside and is texting you and before we continue with this conversation, we don't want to do anything that puts her in jeopardy but can you characterize what you are hearing from your daughter and is she okay? >> she seems to be okay. she hasn't texted within probably the last 15, 20 minutes. i talk to her on the phone about an hour, maybe an hour and a half ago. she was -- when i called her, of course, when i got her text, and

i heard what was going on. i called her and she grabbed the phone and she was whispering and said they was in -- she was in a room with nine other people and she was at the building where this all happened and they moved them into a safe room, i guess, and now -- and after that, i got a text that they moved her to another building. i don't know what the facility is like, but they moved her to another building and her car was at the location where everything happened. >> when you say they moved her, the police have now reached her in that group and moved them to another building? >> yes. the police have reached her and i guess she is safe. she's scared. she texted me she was there on lockdown. they can't leave. they are basically stuck at the building. >> but she's okay? >> yeah. yes. she's very shaken up. >> that's great to hear. can you tell us what she heard? did she characterize what she saw or heard during all of this? >> she had gone to the -- to the

specific building where the shooting was actually happening to drop off some papers or pick up some papers. i wasn't clear on exactly what happened, and i guess she had just gotten there as everything had just happened, so thankfully she was not right smack in the middle of it, but the minute she walked in, they grabbed everybody and moved them to another room, when everything was happened, and i guess she told me it was three men in masks and they were in the building and they couldn't find them, and so that's when i had talked to her and she was kind of whispering, she couldn't speak because they had to put her in an actual safe room. >> this is important. three men in masks. did she see them or that was the word that was being filtered to those in the building? >> that was the word that she was being filtered from the people in the room that she was in with. >> i can't think of anything more painful than to be a parent in a situation like that. did you hear from her first or did you hear about this news and

then reach out to her? >> no, i heard about it on the news, and then i saw it. someone sent me a link or something that was going on and i'm like, well, i know she's a college student and she's an intern and i know she is -- she interns at that facility, but i didn't know it was the actual building, so i was just freaked out, and then she texted me, and then when i did talk to her for just a minute, i'm like send me a picture. take a picture of you so i can see that you are okay and send it to me. she goes, and she did. i'm like thank god. i wanted to see for my own eyes. >> yeah. i get it. i get it. >> it's so scary. >> and how does she sound? >> she sounds very scared. but she sounds good. it's just -- it's very hard and for me and for her to deal with because she's there as a social worker to help people and for this to come and happen at a place where you are there to help people, it's just -- i don't get it. i just don't get it.

>> as you noted, she had -- the word being filtered among those who were rescued with her is that it's three men in masks. have they heard anything in terms of the number of people who might have been hit? >> she told me she thought 12 people were killed, and i didn't know -- and i had not seen it, so i've just been kind of texting her back and forth. that's what she had told me. and i don't know where she's getting that information from. but, you know, my whole thing was are you okay, is everything okay with you, and -- >> of course. >> and she texted me a little bit ago. they are still on lockdown. >> listen, patrik, i'm glad she and the group she was with are safe for now. it sounds like the police have them in a safe position. my heart goes out to you and your daughter, but i'm glad she's fine, and thank you so much for sharing your story with us. >> thank you, thank you. >> and, again, put into perspective the information that

patrik is sharing there, hearing from his daughter who was among those who took shelter in place, apparently been moved to another building. she heard, apparently the word there among people rescued, it was three men in masks. she also apparently heard, again, from being in there that as many as 12 people killed but we cannot confirm that and i just share that to put it in perspective from that interview that's unverified information. that's at least the word that these individuals who are saifle now secure in buildings on that -- in that office park there have heard. let's good back to miguel right now. he's still on the phone being, i believe, he's at the scene in san bernardino. what can you tell us? >> still a very active crime scene. we've seen police officers continue to pour in this area, lights and sirens on. we saw members of the bomb squad still pouring into this area.

several police helicopters flying over scene. the crowd is growing larger, anxious family members and folks of people who worked inside that building. in a few minutes, we're expecting a press briefing from the san bernardino county sheriffs office. we hope to be able to fill in the blank areas, lester. >> let's go back to shawn henry formerly with the fbi who is joining us here in new york. shawn, we were talking to that father, his daughter has been moved from one building to the next. describe to you if you can, this process of trying to secure a facility of that size. >> i think there's two points here, lester. one is you want to make sure that everybody is safe. and you want to make sure there's not any active threat. by going room to room, doing a very methodical search that's slow, it's very tedious. it's got to be done. the second piece, of course, is

when you've got everybody secured, you've got the victims that appear to be safe, you want to collect intelligence. you want to start learning what they saw, what they heard. you want to start looking at videotapes that might be in the buildings or out on the street and surrounding building because wuf are the -- you've got to start piecing this together so you can identify who these people are. law enforcement's top priority is going to be stopping people from any other attacks where they might hurt any other american citizens, lester. >> all they want to do is to be taken to safety. as you said, this sense of a threat may still be out there. you know, in speaking to the s.w.a.t. leader who ended the siege at the bataclan in paris, he described people coming in and people clamoring for help and bluntly explain to them there may still be a shooter on the scene before i can deal with

it. that's part of the reality. it's the safety of going forward. >> that's absolutely right. the safety of victims and try to eliminate the threat and ensure there's nobody else there that's posing danger to the victims as well as to the first responders, lester. >> again, that interview, and i want to keep stressing that, you know, only so much of what we've had is verified. we've heard from patrik simpson, hearing that there were three masked men that were involved in this shooting. when you hear that number three, as we noted before, it takes it certainly out of the norm of many of the domestic shootings we have heard about, and let's be really brutally honest here. we all know that terrorism is hovering in the back of our minds and it's hard for us to say those words out loud sometimes but when you hear three individuals, does that stand up federal law enforcement in a different kind of a way, a different posture as we watch this play out?

>> we've certainly noted earlier this is way too early to make that determination. i can tell you that's exactly what they are thinking. state, federal, local authorities, that's what they are thinking particularly when you see multiple shoorths. in the past, people who are mentally ill, disgruntled, you are talking one shooter. you try and locate these people so you can mitigate the threat going forward, lester. >> you think to yourself why a developmental disabilities facility. no matter what the motivation ultimately may be, why a place like that? when you look at terror, we often think of protecting landmarks, you know, places that we know a lot of people would gather. when you look at this as a potential target, does anything come to mind? >> when you think about an active shooter, when you think about terrorism, when you are trying to put fear in the hearts

of people, it's about getting to them where they are most vulnerable. we saw in paris was restaurants and sporting event, at a concert area, where people are out to relax and be entertained, and that's the areas they specifically chose, an area like this, for people who are disabled, obviously not very clear until we start to put the pieces of this together. but that's an area that's not going to be protected. you do have lots of people who are congregating there at that time of the day, you know, they are in a vulnerable position. >> yeah, understood, and again we bring this up. we hate to give in to the world of speculation. at the same time we recognize that people really need to know does this danger exist beyond what we're looking at right here and we hopefully get those answers at a news conference that should be starting any time. i want to go to sally mcgee. can you tell us where you were during the shooting, sally and what you saw and heard? apparently, we lost her. we'll try to get her back and

get her account of what she may have seen or heard. but, again, as we noted from our conversation there a moment ago, you know, all these things have to be considered and looked at. was this someone disgruntled, was this someone with a greater agenda and we hope to get those answers. let's go to tom costello. >> lester, just to put a little bit more light on this confusion as to whether there is more than one suspect. i can tell you i was listening to the san bernardino radio traffic, the sheriffs department responding immediately, and very early on the initial officers on the scene said that they had reports of three suspects. probably that information coming from the people who were inside this facility reporting as many as three suspects. so when you wonder -- when you ask, how do we have a discrepancy or how do we not know how many suspects, from the very earliest calls on this, the

radio traffic from the officers on the scene said they may have as early as three suspects. then the bolo going out, the alert for all of southern california law enforcement to be on the look out for this black suv and what federal law enforcement agencies are telling us may be a yukon of some sort or that type of a vehicle, has been, according to federal law enforcement sources, really the focus and the center of the investigation as they try to identify who may be responsible for this, but, yes, in these instances, mass casualty instances, you know, there's very often so much confusion in the first early moments and hours of an incident, and that is why from the very earliest moments of this call, the officers on the scene were being told there may be as many as three suspects who are on the loose right now. >> and certainly jibes with what we're hearing from one person who was in the building who was in a safe place right now, her father said that she believed she heard that there were three masked men. i will also point out we were

sitting here last week covering the shooting in colorado springs and there were very similar scanner traffic reporting there might be a second shooter on the roof and in that case it was one. as we all know, as we go through these things, information changes. police can only act on information they have at this moment and they only consider the worst-case. the father i was spoke -- speaking to, his daughter was in the building where this shooting took place. was moved into a room. police moved them into another room into another building. that indicates there are still people not evacuated. they are essentially sheltering in place. imagine the job now of police trying to make sure that they got -- they have covered the idea of more suspects, but certainly wanted to protect people who were sheltering right now. let's go to knbc now and they are reporting on something

happening at the schools there. >> tippecanoe is to the west of it. they are really strict on us showing the scene. right there, on the top of the screen, that's whe this scene is, and that's how close the school is. i would say it's approximately less than one mile, so no doubt they are definitely concerned about the children and the taf at this school. that's why they put it on lockdown. there is a lot of law enforcement personnel. this is the intersection at tippecanoe and central avenue. they have law enforcement personnel at the intersection, only letting parents in, making sure sure these children are not released and walk away on their own. >> the shooters, anywhere from one to three is the numbers we're hearing are still out there, unaccounted for. we're waiting for a press conference from the san bernardino police department. that should start moment yarl and we will --

>> we dipped into knbc as they pointed out this school is on lockdown. there's nothing happening there that we're aware of. it is in the same area with the possibility of the shooters or shooter is still out, it makes good sense they are in a lockdown situation in that school right now. police dealing with every eventuality, every possibility, every scenario here as they try to secure this area. they have got hundreds of people who were apparently inside that building. many have been evacuated. they got people coming to check on loved ones. they have got of course the media, law enforcement, in a situation that may still be evolving. may still have an imminent danger. the news conference is going to begin. let's take you there. >> in the event that you have information for investigative leads. the number that will be manned by the sheriffs 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 san bernardino police department standing here 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 bowdich. with that, i'll hand it over to the chief. >> good afternoon, everybody. this originally started off at 11:00 this 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 apparent that we had what amounted to 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, we had a massive mutual aid response from virtually every law enforcement agency in the immediate area to include the sheriffs department,

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

they immediately entered the building in search of the suspects. the initial information is that the suspects were potentially still inside of the building. it is a massive facility. employs 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 of comments. >> thank you, chief. we're working closely with the san bernardino police department in a 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 areas, 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 have pledge 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 bodich,

assistant director of the fbi say a few words. >> thank you, sheriff. the fbi is here with our state the fbi is here with our state and local partners as well as our partners from the atf. we are here to assure that all the wounded are extracted, and ultimately, public safety is the number one goal at this point. and 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 our local partners. we take the presumption that it may be, it may not be, but we will work hand in hand with them from the beginning. if things change, we are here from the get wl