JARROD BURGUAN: The information we have is that they came prepared to do what they did as if they were on a mission.
KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:
Those are the words of San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan describing the shooters who opened fire at a social services center in this city about an hour east of Los Angeles. The attack left at least 14 people dead and 14 people wounded, and the shooters remain at large. NPR's Shereen Marisol Meraji is in San Bernardino and joins us now. And, Shereen, can you tell us what is the latest there?
SHEREEN MARISOL MERAJI, BYLINE: Well, I'm here with the press scrum and a press conference just ended, oh, I would say about 30 minutes ago. And what we know is what you just said - 14 people are confirmed dead, at least 14 injured. Police are getting information from eyewitnesses as I'm speaking to you, so all of the information is very fluid. There's up to three shooters is what the police chief said. They came prepared. They had long guns, not handguns. So far, there have been no weapons recovered, no arrests. They're actively pursuing these shooters. And, you know, there's no motive right now, as far as we know...
MCEVERS: So you say police - go ahead. You say police are still there interviewing witnesses. What else is happening there?
MERAJI: Well, 70 schools were on lock down and - so nobody's able to come in, nobody's able to go out at the time. And I actually - when we were walking up - ran into people who were really worried about the workers who work with their autistic child. And they have been calling and trying to figure out where these workers at the Inland Regional Center where the shooting took place - if they're safe, where they are because they're like family members to them. So they were incredibly worried and just asking anyone for information.
MCEVERS: And so tell us about the Inland Regional Center. I mean, this is a place for people with developmental disabilities, right?
MERAJI: Correct. You know, the family that we ran into who were worried about the workers - sorry, there were some police cars that just went by. Their son, who's six years old, is autistic, and so, yes, this is a place that helps developmentally disabled people, children, autistic children. Supposedly, there are 600 workers that work at the center. They serve about 30,000 people around this region. And there's a lot of concern in the community for the people who work in that building.
MCEVERS: We had heard from the police earlier. Are there plans for them to give more updates as the afternoon goes on?
MERAJI: Yes, they said that they were going to update the press every hour on the hour. And what we've heard from people is that this is just so surreal. It is an absolutely beautiful, sunny day here in San Bernardino, and people are just saying they can't believe what just happened.
MCEVERS: That's NPR's Shereen Marisol Meraji speaking to us from San Bernardino, Calif. Thank you so much.
MERAJI: You're welcome. 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.
