14 dead, more than a dozen wounded in California shooting

(AP) — As many as three gunmen believed to be wearing military-style gear opened fire Wednesday at a Southern California social services center, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than a dozen others in what authorities described as a targeted mission.

Hours later, officers blocked a dark SUV that appeared to be riddled with bullet holes on a residential street in San Bernardino.

Police shed no light on a motive for the nation's latest mass shooting, which came five days after a gunman opened fire at Planned Parenthood in Colorado, killing three.

Witnesses said several people locked themselves in their offices, desperately waiting to be rescued by police, after gunfire erupted at the Inland Regional Center, which serves people with developmental disabilities.

The attack took place in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was renting space to hold a banquet, said Marybeth Feild, president and CEO of the center.

FBI agents and other law enforcement authorities converged on the center and searched room to room for the attacker or attackers, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said.

"The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world, and there's some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently," Obama said.

Terry Petit said his daughter works at the center, where social workers find jobs, housing, transportation and provide programming for people who have disabilities ranging from autism to cerebral palsy to epilepsy.