POLICE are attending a shooting at a social services facility for disabled people in California.Fire officials in San Bernardino said it was responding to a “20-victim shooting incident”, and it was working to clear the scene.
ABC News reports that there are 12 people dead, but police have not confirmed that number.
It is still a “very active scene”, and police are trying to secure the building, said a police spokeswoman.
There may be up to three gunmen, she said, and they were heavily armed and possibly wearing body armour. The gunmen may have fled the scene in a black SUV.
One man received a text from his daughter that said she was hiding inside the building where she works.
Terry Petit told reporters his daughter wrote him saying: “People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office.”
President Barack Obama has been briefed on the shooting, White House officials confirmed.
A local reporter tweeted that people are being evacuated from the Inland Regional Center, a medical and health organisation.
The organisation administers help to people with disabilities like autism and other mental health problems.
The shooting is happening less than a week after a shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado left three dead and nine wounded.
People are seen being wheeled away on stretchers, with medics and police officers in attendance.
CNN reports that area hospitals are receiving patients from the shooting.
An employee of the centre told CNN that the building was holding an event for county personnel inside an auditorium when the shooting occurred.
Representatives from the FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are on the scene. No arrests have been made yet.
There are also unconfirmed reports of an explosive device at the scene.
Witnesses told CNN they heard rapid shooting coming from nearby the building.
Police confirmed a report that the suspects entered a conference room in the building and started shooting but had no further details.
There are three buildings on the campus with more than 600 employees total, said Kristin Myricks, an employee of the centre who did not go to work today.
The facility has had active gunman training in the past. Badges are needed to enter the facility.