KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
We are continuing to follow events after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Earlier today, three shooters opened fire on a center that serves people with developmental disabilities. Fourteen people have died, and 17 have been injured. In addition, police have killed two suspects, and we have a report that a third person is in custody. Here's David Bowdich with the FBI speaking at the latest press conference.
DAVE BOWDICH: This is a very fluid, active investigation. We are still gathering facts. All the heads of agencies that we have here we are still gathering some of these facts ourself because this scene is strewn throughout the city and into another city.
MCEVERS: Joining us from the studios of KVCR in San Bernardino is reporter Matt Guilhem. And Matt, tell us more about this investigation.
MATT GUILHEM: Well, it looks like now at the present, the two suspects he said are dead. We have one male and one female, and it looks like a third person was seen running from the scene. They may have been - they've been detained, but it's unclear as to whether or not they are involved in today's incident. And also it looks like the San Bernardino police are working in conjunction with Redlands PD, a neighboring community, and are serving a search warrant in that community in connection with today's events.
MCEVERS: And Redlands is the town where police had the standoff with these suspects. You were actually at one of the hospitals when a suspect was brought in. What did you see?
GUILHEM: Yeah, I was at the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center earlier today, and we were standing there waiting for some sort of press conference. And out of two police vehicles, they brought somebody who was in handcuffs and looked rather roughed up, and he was taken out of this police vehicle and put into a wheelchair and taken into the hospital. No word on who that is or what his injuries were, but it was happening during this seeming, you know, fracas that was going on.
MCEVERS: So is there a sense that this is an additional suspect in addition to the two who were killed and the one who is in custody?
GUILHEM: We do not know who this possible person was.
MCEVERS: OK, and what is the situation in the neighborhood where the shooting took place in San Bernardino?
GUILHEM: Right now the area around Waterman Avenue, which is a big arterial street in San Bernardino, about a block above and a block below the scene today, completely blocked off by law enforcement. You've got to go around. The freeway exits to Waterman is also shut down. They are not letting anybody into that area.
MCEVERS: And you were also at a debriefing at a local church. What was happening there?
GUILHEM: So earlier today, they were loading people that had been sort of sheltering in place at the Inland Regional Center onto school buses in the middle of street, and they were just all being taken on there and driven off, and we weren't sure where they were going. They were taken to a local church, where, I guess, police were telling - debriefing them on the situation, what they'd been through, and loved ones were picking them at this church.
MCEVERS: And were you able to talk to some of these people?
GUILHEM: I was not able to make contact with them.
MCEVERS: And so what are police saying now? I mean, they've given this briefing. They've explained the situation with these suspects who've been killed. Is there going to be another briefing? What are they saying about the investigation now?
GUILHEM: Pretty much what you are hearing is the same thing we're hearing here on the ground is that this is a very fluid situation, no word on a motive. The closest thing to that is that we have word from law enforcement. They say that it appears the shooters, quote, "came prepared to do what they did." They had assault rifles and handguns, and that's really all we know right now.
MCEVERS: And quickly, what's the situation for people like there in San Bernardino? Is it still tense? Are people relaxing now, going home, sheltering in place?
GUILHEM: I think we're past the sheltering-in-place stage, but I think people are definitely on edge. Something like this I don't think has ever happened in San Bernardino, and it's just very jarring for a community like this to experience it as I'm sure it is for everywhere.
MCEVERS: That's KVCR reporter Matt Guilhem in San Bernardino, Calif. Thank you very much.
GUILHEM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
