(TNS) -- More than 20 people were shot, many fatally, Wednesday at a social services office in San Bernardino, and officials said they were looking for one or more “active shooters.”
The San Bernardino Fire Department said the shooting took place on Waterman Avenue near Orange Show Road.
Sgt. Vicki Cervantes, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino Police Department, told reporters at the scene up to three shooters were reported inside the Inland Regional Center. Officers have not secured the building and are going door to door.
The suspects, she said, are heavily armed and were possibly wearing body armor.
“It’s a very active scene,” Cervantes said. “It’s very fluid.”
Television news footage showed police officers and firefighters at the scene as well as people being escorted out of the area.
Officials said they received a call about a shooting about 11 a.m. PST.
One man whose his wife worked in the building told KABC-TV that at least one gunman walked into the center and opened fire. She was able to lock herself in her office.
“They saw bodies on the floor,” he said.
The Inland Regional Center provides services to disabled people and others in need.
The organization’s website states: “Inland Regional Center was built on the foundation of three core values — independence, inclusion and empowerment. In following these core values, we hope to help provide each individual with a service system that helps identify and eliminate barriers for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families so they can closely live a typical lifestyle.”
The shooting rippled across San Bernardino, which is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
Tom Brown said he and countless other employees and customers at San Bernardino Golf Club were on lockdown Wednesday.
“We’re not allowing anyone on the golf course. We got a big helicopter sitting in the middle of the No. 1 fairway,” Brown told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re several hundred yards away from the area. We can see fire and SWAT from here but we’re not allowed to go any farther.”
Brown said his co-worker said she heard gunshots nearby.
Meanwhile, the bus company that provides transportation for San Bernardino City Unified School District is offering its buses to transport victims and witnesses to the shooting, said district spokeswoman Linda Berdere.
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