Transcripts For WHDH 7News At 430 PM 20151202

Police briefing very soon, so youll want to stay with us for that and perhaps well get some of these questions cleared up as to exactly what happened, and i think its 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 thats 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 havent 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 didnt appear to be a panic. They had their hands up. Police. This appears to be a textbook triage setup 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. Its probably not out of the question that some people were simply hurt in a panic to get out, but well find out. Well 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. Weve heard no further 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 whats transpiring here in california, and house leadership has as well. Everyone waiting to find out into motion here, what the nature of this crime is or was. The motivation, who may be involved, so many questions, and were 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. Were told is already on the scene. Atf is also assisting. They put on this be on the look black suv, possibly a yukon. That coming from federal authorities, confirming that socalled 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 dont know whether thats 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. Developing in california. We dont know, i stress that, we dont know if theres terrorism nexus, but clearly were 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 electricityrelated . Distributor terrorist related or a lone gunman . Were told police are going to be scheduling a News Conference. Ron allen is at the white house. 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. President just said. My hope is that were able to contain this particular shooting and we dont 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 doesnt 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 dont 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 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. Conversation. The president hoping this will spark more conversation and years old yesterday. That was in paducah, kentucky. It occurred 18 years old yesterday. Not today, but he is in Prison 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 were 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 dont 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 hasnt texted within probably the last 15, 20 minutes. 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 dont 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. Shes scared. She texted me she was there on lockdown. They cant leave. They are basically stuck at the building. But shes okay . Yeah. Yes. Shes very shaken up. Thats great to hear. 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 wasnt 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 couldnt find them, and so thats when i had talked to her and she was kind of whispering, she couldnt 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. 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 im like, well, i know shes a College Student and shes an intern and i know she is she interns at that facility, but i didnt 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 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. Im like thank god. I wanted to see for my own eyes. Yeah. I get it. I get it. Its so scary. And how does she sound . She sounds very scared. But she sounds good. Its just its very hard and for me and for her to deal with because shes there as a social worker to help people and for place where you are there to help people, its just i dont get it. I just dont get it. As you noted, she had the word being filtered among those who were rescued with her is that its 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 didnt know and i had not seen it, so ive just been kind of texting her back and forth. Thats what she had told me. And i dont know where shes 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, im 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 im glad shes fine, and thank you so much for sharing your story with us. 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 thats unverified information. Thats at least the word that these individuals who are saifle now secure in buildings on that in that office park there have heard. Now. Hes still on the phone being, i San Bernardino. What can you tell us . Still a very active crime scene. Weve seen Police Officers 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, were expecting a press briefing from the San Bernardino county sheriffs office. We hope to be able to fill in the blank areas, lester. Lets 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 theres two points here, lester. One is you want to make sure that everybody is safe. And you want to make sure theres not any active threat. Very methodical search thats slow, its very tedious. Its got to be done. The second piece, of course, is when youve got everybody secured, youve 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 youve got to start piecing this together so you can identify who these people are. Law enforcements top priority is going to be stopping people from any other attacks where they might hurt any other american citizens, lester. 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 bluntly explain to them there may still be a shooter on the scene before i can deal with it. Thats part of the reality. Its the safety of going forward. Thats absolutely right. The safety of victims and try to eliminate the threat and ensure theres nobody else there thats 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 weve had is verified. Weve 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 lets be really brutally honest here. We all know that terrorism is hovering in the back of our minds and its hard for us to say those words out loud sometimes but when you hear stand up federal Law Enforcement in a different kind of a way, a different posture as we watch this play out . Weve certainly noted earlier this is way too early to make that determination. I can tell you thats exactly what they are thinking. State, federal, local authorities, thats 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 come to mind . Active shooter, when you think about terrorism, when you are trying to put fear in the hearts of people, its 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 thats 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 thats an area thats 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 were 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 what you saw and heard . Apparently, we lost her. Well 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. Lets 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 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, theres 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 were hearing from one person who was in the building who was 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 worstcase. 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 people who were sheltering right now. Lets 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, thats where this scene is, and thats how close the school is. I would say its approximately less than one mile, so no doubt they are definitely concerned about the children and the taf at this school. Thats 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 were hearing are still out there, unaccounted for. Were waiting for a press conference from the san that should start moment yarl and we will we dipped into knbc as they pointed out this school is on lockdown. Theres nothing happening there that were 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 evolving. Danger. The News Conference is going to lets take you there. In the event that you have information for investigative leads. The number that will be manned by the Sheriffs Department will you can also call 180078crime if you wish to remain anonymous. Ill 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, ill 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 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 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 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 its 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 darkcolored 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, im going to turn it over to the sheriff for a couple of comments. Thank you, chief. Were 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 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