Authorities have responded to reports of a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California on Wednesday. At least 20 victims have been injured by three shooters, according to initial reports.
Updates on San Bernardino shooting
Reports of the mass shooting first hit the wires around 2 p.m. ET. The official San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Twitter account has confirmed there is an active shooter in the area. San Bernardino is 60 miles east of LA.
The San Bernardino Fire Department has confirmed that a shooting occurred in the 1300 block of Waterman Avenue, near Orange Show Road.
Sgt. Vicki Cervantes, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino Police Department, has stated to the media that up to three shooters were reported inside the Inland Regional Center.
Officers are currently searching the building complex door-to-door.
The suspects are heavily armed and may be wearing body armor. A possible explosive device has also been found and has been preventively detonated by a robot with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s a very active scene,” Cervantes noted. “It’s very fluid.”
A several block area around the Inland Regional Center has been blocked off to traffic. Of note, the Inland Regional Center provides a variety of services to disabled people and others with special needs.
UPDATE: There have been 14 confirmed fatalities and 17 wounded in the San Bernardino shooting. The LA times is also reporting that a black SUV with three men it is reported to have driven off shortly after the shooting. Of note, Waterman Avenue has direct access to Highway 10.
UPDATE: Two suspects — a man and a woman with assault rifles and tactical gear — who were driving a black SUV have been killed in a shootout with police. Authorities are still searching for a third suspect.
Witness testimony in San Bernardino shooting
According to one man whose his wife worked in the Inland Regional building told KABC-TV that at least one gunman walked into the center at began open fire around 11 AM. She managed to lock herself in her office.
“They saw bodies on the floor,” he said.
Possible terrorist attack?
Although there has been no official confirmation yet, given the scale of the shooting and that there are at least three shooters with long guns, it seems that we might be dealing with a terrorist incident on U.S. soil this time. Law enforcement has refused to speculate at this time.
The FBI has stated that it is not confirmed yet, but there is a possibility that the Wednesday shooting east of LA was terrorism related.
ValueWalk will continue to update this breaking story.
