Updated: 7.20am
LOCAL POLICE HAVE confirmed that 14 people are dead and 17 injured after a shooting at a social services centre that serves people with disabilities, in the California city of San Bernardino.
The city’s police chief Jarrod Burguan told reporters that the attackers “came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission” but would not comment on whether the shooting was being regarded as a terrorist attack.
After 11pm Irish time last night, two individuals were separately shot dead by SWAT teams engaged in a high-speed pursuit of a black SUV identified as a possible escape vehicle.
Burguan identified the woman killed in the gun battle as 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik.
The other suspect was previously identified as 28-year-old Syed Farook. Relatives have said the two were married.
Farhan Khan, who is married to Farook’s sister, told reporters yesterday that he last spoke to his brother-in-law about a week ago. He said he was in shock and had “absolutely no idea why he would do this”.
A third person who was spotted running near the gun battle was detained, but police said it was unclear if that person had anything to do with the crime.
According to the LA Times, Sgt Vicky Cervantes earlier stated that the shooters were heavily armed and could be wearing body armour.
In a press conference at midnight Irish time, Cervantes said police and suspects exchanged gunfire, leaving at least one suspect “hit” and an officer with non-life threatening injuries.
Live aerial TV footage appeared to show a motionless suspect lying in a pool of blood in a residential neighbourhood on San Bernardino Avenue, while a SWAT team secured the SUV yards away.
According to its Facebook page, the Inland Regional Centre has 670 staff and cares for 32,000 people.
The centre serves “individuals with developmental disabilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties”.
They held their Christmas party on Tuesday, and posted this video of staff and patients enjoying themselves:
Several law enforcement agencies converged on the scene after 11am local time (7pm Irish time) and triage units were being set up in the area.
The FBI and ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) have confirmed that their agents were called to the scene.
The White House says President Barack Obama has been briefed on the fatal shooting by the Department of Homeland Security, and asked to be kept updated.
In an interview with CBS News this evening, he offered his condolences to the victims and their families, but noted:
We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world.
Law enforcement agents heard on a local police scanner radio have confirmed that an EOD sweep (explosive ordnance disposal) was performed inside the centre, after reports that a suspicious object was earlier found.
Some people were seen being wheeled away on trolleys, while others walked quickly from a building with their hands in the air. They were searched by police before being reunited with loved ones.
Terry Petit said he got a text from his daughter saying she was hiding after gunfire erupted at the social services facility where she works.
Petit choked back tears as he read the texts for reporters outside the center. He said she wrote:
People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office.
Marcos Aguilera’s wife was in the building when the gunfire erupted. He said a shooter entered the building next to his wife’s office and opened fire.
“They locked themselves in her office. They seen bodies on the floor,” Aguilera told ABC7, adding that his wife was able to get out of the building unharmed.
The president and CEO of the social services centre, Maybeth Feild, said the focus of the attack was on a building that houses at least 25 employees as well as a library and conference centre.
Contains reporting by the Associated Press.
Originally published: 2 October, 7.55pm
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