SAN BERNARDINO, CA (RNN) - Police and fire officials responded Wednesday to reports of a shooting involving 20 victims at a center that holds classes for people with developmental disabilities, according to the fire department.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department tweeted city police confirmed an active shooter, with one to three suspects and multiple victims. They described the scene as "still active" at 12:39 p.m. PT.
"We don't know where those shooters are," said San Bernardino Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes to KABC. "They are heavily armed and they are possibly wearing body armor and things of that nature. It is not a safe area to be. It's very dangerous, and the fewer innocent people we have in here the better."
Police have not confirmed how many victims are dead or wounded. The shooting happened at the Inland Regional Center. FBI and ATF are reportedly on the scene, and SWAT started a room by room search of the building.
Officials reported on scanner traffic that a "suspicious device" was found near the scene. Law enforcement could be seen walking the area, and a helicopter landed at a golf course located across the street from the center.
Marcos Aguilera told KABC that he spoke to his wife, who works at the center. He said she described a man opening fire next to her office.
"They locked themselves in, in her office. They saw bodies on the floor," he said.
Aguilera said she was able to escape the building. People could be seen being evacuated, and authorities set up triage areas to tend to the wounded.
Schools and businesses nearby have been placed on lockdown. Reporters on the scene said at least nine ambulances had arrived.
Public information officers for the fire department posted the initial information on the shooting to Twitter at 11:14 a.m.
The Inland Regional Center provides care for more than 30,200 people and their families in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, according to its Facebook page. San Bernardino is located 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and has an estimated population of 213,708.
The incident joins multiple mass shootings in the U.S. in 2015. Robert Dear is accused of killing three people and injuring nine others in a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, CO, on Friday.
http://www.kpho.com/story/30651547/fd-reports-mass-shooting-in-california#ixzz3tCQWL3pz
If only the people with developmental disabilities had guns
