SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — A heavily armed man and woman dressed for battle opened fire on a holiday banquet for his co-workers, killing 14 people and seriously wounding more than a dozen others in a precision assault, authorities said. Hours later, they died in a shootout with police.

Authorities were trying to determine a motive, which could include workplace violence or terrorism.

Wednesday’s shooting happened at a social services center for the disabled where the suspect’s colleagues with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health were renting space for a celebration. It was the nation’s deadliest mass shooting since the attack at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, three years ago that left 26 children and adults dead.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan identified one dead suspect as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, the other as Tashfeen Malik, 27, his wife or fiancee. Burguan said Farook was born in the United States; the chief said he did not know Malik’s background.

The attackers invaded the Inland Regional Center about 60 miles east of Los Angeles around 11 a.m., opening fire in a conference area where county health officials were having an employee banquet, said Marybeth Feild, president and CEO of the nonprofit center.

“They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission,” Burguan said.

Farook attended the event before leaving — and returning to kill.

Co-worker Patrick Baccari said he was sitting at the same table as Farook, who suddenly disappeared, leaving his coat on his chair. Baccari said when the shooting started, he sought refuge in a bathroom and suffered minor wounds from shrapnel slicing through the wall.

Baccari described Farook as reserved and said he showed no signs of unusual behavior. Earlier this year he traveled to Saudi Arabia and returned with a wife, later growing a beard, Baccari said.

The FBI is investigating several possible motives, including workplace violence and terrorism, according to David Bowdich, assistant director of the bureau’s Los Angeles office. He did not elaborate.

Farook was a restaurant inspector for the health department, according to public records. Police chief Burguan said he had been a county employee for five years.

The couple dropped off their 6-month-old daughter with relatives Wednesday morning, saying they had a doctor’s appointment, Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said after talking with family. Farhan Khan, who is married to Farook’s sister, told reporters he last spoke to his brother-in-law about a week ago. He said he was in shock, condemned the violence, and had “absolutely no idea why he would do this.”

About four hours after the morning carnage, police hunting for the killers riddled a black SUV with gunfire in a shootout 2 miles from the social services center in this Southern California city of 214,000 people. Farook and Malik were found with assault rifles and semi-automatic handguns, and were wearing “assault-style clothing” with ammunition attached, authorities said.

Television news helicopters captured the aftermath, as officers slowly approached the mangled SUV.

In the morning, as the day’s first bursts of gunfire echoed through the large three-building complex, some people locked themselves in offices, desperately waiting for police and texting or making hushed phone calls to loved ones.

“People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office,” Terry Petit’s daughter, who works at the center, texted him.

Petit choked back tears as he read his daughter’s words for reporters outside the center, where social workers find jobs, housing and transportation and provide other services to people with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Olivia Navarro said her daughter, Jamile Navarro, a case manager at the social service center, called her and whispered that she was hiding in a locked room.

“I said, ‘All right, I’ll be there, turn off the lights, don’t make a sound,'” Navarro said. “And that was it.”

Her daughter survived.

That the violence happened at a place dedicated to helping people with developmental disabilities — even if they were not targeted — made it even harder for some to comprehend.

“These are all disabled kids, very disabled,” said Sherry Esquerra, who was searching for her daughter and son-in-law, both of whom work at the center. “She gets all the services she possibly could for these kids. So I just don’t understand why somebody would come in and start shooting.”

According to its web page, the center has a client base of more than 30,000 people and their families. It is a privately run nonprofit, the largest of its kind in California with about 670 employees.

FBI agents and other law enforcement authorities converged on the center and searched room to room for the attackers. Triage units were set up outside, and people were wheeled away on stretchers.

Seventeen people were wounded, according to authorities. Ten were hospitalized in critical condition, and three were in serious condition, Fire Chief Tom Hannemann said.

Others were marched from the building, hands raised so police could search them and make sure the attackers weren’t trying to slip out.

They had indeed escaped. One witness, Glenn Willwerth, who runs a business across the street, said he heard 10 to 15 shots and then saw an SUV with tinted windows pull out “very calmly, very slowly” and drive off.

As the manhunt dragged on, stores, office buildings and schools were locked down in the city, and roads blocked off.

With police looking for a dark SUV, officers staking out a home in the nearby city of Redlands saw a vehicle matching that description. Public records show the home is a possible residence of a family member of Farook.

Authorities pursued the SUV, and a gunbattle erupted around 3 p.m. One officer among nearly two dozen involved in the shootout suffered a minor injury.

A fake bomb — a metal pipe stuffed with cloth — was thrown from the SUV during the chase, said Agent Meredith Davis of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Three explosive devices — thought to be real and all connected to one another — were found at the social service center and later detonated by a bomb squad, police said.

A third person who was spotted running near the gunbattle was detained, but Burguan said it was unclear if that person had anything to do with the crime. At a late-night news conference, Burguan also said that early witness accounts of three shooters were probably wrong: “We are reasonably confident at this point that we have two shooters and we have two dead suspects.”

President Barack Obama urged the country to take steps to reduce mass shootings, including stricter gun laws and stronger background checks.

“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,” Obama told CBS.

Federal authorities said that the two assault rifles and two handguns used in the violence were purchased legally, but they haven’t said how and when they got into the hands of the two shooters.

The social services center has two large buildings that require a badge to get in, said Sheela Stark, a member of its board of trustees. However, the conference room that hosts public events such as Wednesday’s banquet is usually left open when visitors are expected.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The latest on reports of an active shooter at a social services facility in San Bernardino, California (all times local — California is three hours behind Maine):

UPDATED 5:50 P.M.: Police say a person was detained who was seen running near a gunbattle between officers and two suspects of a deadly shooting at a Southern California social services center.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan also said at a news conference Wednesday evening that it was not clear if that person is connected to shooting that killed at least 14 people at the Inland Regional Center.

Burguan says two suspects, one male and one female, are dead. Police stopped the SUV they were riding in, which led to a pursuit and shootout.

UPDATED 5:45 p.m.: Police say two suspects, one male and one female, are dead after the shooting at a Southern California social services center.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan also said at a news conference Wednesday evening that authorities found what they believe is an explosive device at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Bomb squads were working on it.

The FBI says it’s a possibility that the shooting is “terrorism.”

Burguan says the suspects were wearing “assault-style clothing” and were both armed with assault rifles and handguns.

UPDATED 5:35 p.m.: A witness says he saw a black SUV pull slowly away from a Southern California social services center where gunmen opened fire as people ran frantically from the building.

Glenn Willwerth says he locked up his paper business across the street and went outside with a gun. He heard 10 to 15 shots and saw an SUV with blacked-out windows drive away.

Authorities say at least 14 people were killed and more than a dozen others injured at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Willwerth described seeing people carry one injured woman out. He also saw a pair of empty boots on a sidewalk, followed by a trail of blood.

Police say a gunbattle between occupants of an SUV and police not far from the original shooting scene left one suspect shot. Another is possibly “outstanding.”

UPDATED 5:05 p.m.: Police are serving a search warrant on a home in Redlands, California, in connection with the deadly shooting at a social services facility in neighboring San Bernardino.

City spokesman Carl Baker says Redlands police are assisting San Bernardino police in the search connected to the Wednesday morning shooting that killed at least 14 people and wounded more than a dozen others.

An Associated Press reporter watched as a half-dozen vehicles carrying helmeted police drove into the area. One officer carrying an assault rifle ordered reporters to clear the area, and an armored vehicle parked outside a row of homes.

The action followed a gunbattle between occupants of an SUV and San Bernardino police not far from the original shooting scene.

UPDATED 4:35 p.m.: The San Bernardino County Department of Public Health has confirmed that several of its employees were inside a social services facility when gunmen opened fire.

The department says on a verified county Twitter account that it’s not releasing any more information because of the ongoing investigation and out of respect for the victims.

Authorities say the shooting killed at least 14 people and wounded more than a dozen others at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

The health department says it will be providing services to its employees and their families.

Center President and CEO Marybeth Feild said earlier Wednesday that the department was renting out a conference area at the center for a banquet when the attack took place.

UPDATED 4:20 p.m.: Gov. Jerry Brown says the shooting at a social services facility in Southern California is a brutal attack.

He said in a statement that “California will spare no effort in bringing these killers to justice.” The governor was scheduled to light the Capitol Christmas tree Wednesday evening, but his office said the ceremony will be canceled.

Authorities say gunmen killed at least 14 people and wounded more than a dozen others at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes says one suspect was shot in a gunbattle with officers and there is still possibly a suspect “outstanding.”

Armored police vehicles are surrounding a dark-colored SUV with shattered windows on a residential street.

UPDATED 4:15 p.m.: Police say one suspect in the deadly shooting at a social services facility in Southern California has been shot in a gunbattle with officers.

San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes said Wednesday that there is still possibly a suspect “outstanding.”

Cervantes would not elaborate, and the condition of the suspect was not known. She says an officer was hurt in the shootout and went to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

Armored police vehicles are surrounding a dark-colored SUV with shattered windows on a residential street.

Authorities say gunmen killed at least 14 people and wounded more than a dozen others at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

UPDATED 3:30 p.m.: Police say shots have been fired and a suspect is down near a dark-colored SUV.

It’s unclear if the suspect is related to the deadly shooting Wednesday at a social services facility in Southern California. Police have said that the suspects may have fled in a dark SUV.

San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes said she knew of no officers who were injured in the shootout.

Television footage showed armored vehicles blocking the SUV on a residential street.

UPDATED 3:20 p.m.: Police are pointing guns at a dark-colored SUV with shattered windows on a residential street.

Police have said that the suspects in the deadly shooting Wednesday at a social services facility in Southern California may have fled in a dark SUV.

Officers were keeping their distance, pointing their weapons at the vehicle, while more police raced to the scene.

Local media said there appeared to be a person on the ground but it was unclear who they were or what their injuries may be.

UPDATED 3:10 p.m.: A board member of a Southern California social services center where gunmen killed at least 14 people says she has been trying to reach more than a dozen colleagues and workers but has only heard back from one.

Sheela Stark of the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino says she’s watching television to find familiar faces at the scene.

She says the center has two large buildings that require a badge to get in. However, the conference room where many public events take place — including a banquet Wednesday — is usually left open when they are expecting visitors.

Marybeth Field, the president and CEO of the center, says the shooting happened in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was having a banquet.

The center employs more than 600 people.

UPDATED 2:55 p.m.: Authorities say 10 of the 14 people wounded in a deadly shooting at a Southern California social services center were taken to hospitals in critical condition.

Fire Chief Tom Hannemann says three people were in serious condition. Authorities say an additional 14 victims were killed in the gunfire at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

The chief says firefighters were on the scene within seven minutes of the 11 a.m. Wednesday call and transported all the injured by 11:30 a.m.: Authorities say they are looking for up to three shooters and a motive is not yet known.

UPDATED 2:45 p.m.: President Barack Obama says there’s a pattern of mass shootings in the U.S. that has no parallel elsewhere in the world.

Obama commented on the mass shooting at a California social services center in an interview with CBS News. Authorities say at least 14 people were killed and the motives of the shooters are not yet known.

Obama says there are steps the U.S. can take to reduce the frequency of mass shootings.

Obama is calling for the country to come together to make mass shootings a rare occurrence. He says the U.S. should never think mass shootings are a normal part of life.

UPDATED 2:30 p.m.: Police say the attackers who killed an estimated 14 people at a Southern California social services center came prepared with long guns.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan declined to say what kind of weapons they used at the Inland Regional Center. Burguan says a motive wasn’t yet clear, but that the shooters “were on a mission” and “came in with a purpose.”

He says police are looking for up to three shooters.

The attack was concentrated in one area of the building where most victims were shot, while hundreds of other people weren’t injured.

Burguan says it’s too early to say whether the attackers targeted that area or chose it out of convenience or at random.: The president and CEO of the center says the shooting happened in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was having a banquet.

UPDATED 2:20 p.m.: The president and CEO of the Southern California social services center where gunmen opened fire says the shooting happened in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was having a banquet.

Marybeth Feild of the Inland Regional Center was not at the facility but says she is in contact with many employees. She says they told her the shooting happened Wednesday during a banquet for the health department.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan estimates at least 14 people have been killed and about 14 wounded. Burguan says police are looking for up to three shooters.

He noted that most people were killed and wounded in same area. Authorities say bomb squads checked unidentifiable items in the center, but they didn’t know if the gunmen brought those items.

UPDATED 2:10 p.m.: Police say that the suspects in the deadly shooting at a social services facility in Southern California may have fled in a dark-colored SUV.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at a news conference Wednesday that he estimates at least 14 people have been killed and about 14 wounded. He says the wounded have significant injuries that may be related to gunshots.

Burguan says they are looking for up to three shooters.

Authorities have locked down courts and increased police presence at other public facilities but didn’t know the motive of the attack.

UPDATED 2 p.m.: Police estimate that at least 14 people have been killed and more than a dozen wounded in the shooting at a social services facility in Southern California.

Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at a news conference Wednesday that the number of fatalities was a preliminary number and could change.

He says up to three shooters entered the building and opened fire at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

UPDATED 1:55 p.m.: Police say no one is in custody after a shooting at a social services facility in Southern California and they are searching for suspects.

San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes confirmed to The Associated Press that multiple people were shot and some were killed Wednesday. She says there are reports from witnesses of between one and three shooters.

She says it is still an active situation and authorities have not located any suspects.

As far as she knows, police are still trying to clear the complex. All the roads surrounding the shooting scene are closed off, and police are warning people about the shooting.

UPDATED 1:50 p.m.: At least 10 people have been taken to hospitals for treatment after the shooting at a social services facility in Southern California.

San Bernardino County announced on its Twitter account that six people were being treated at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, which is run by the county.

A spokeswoman for Loma Linda University Medical Center says four patients were taken to its trauma center.

Spokeswoman Briana Pastorino says she didn’t know their conditions. She says the hospital expects to get three more patients.

Authorities say multiple people were shot and some were killed Wednesday at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

UPDATED 1:30 p.m.: Marcos Aguilera says his wife was inside a social services facility in Southern California when gunfire erupted but she got out of the building unharmed.

He told KABC-TV that a shooter entered the building next to his wife’s office and opened fire.

Aguilera says they locked themselves in her office and saw bodies on the floor. He says his wife saw ambulances taking people out of the building on stretchers.

Authorities say multiple people were shot and some were killed Wednesday at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told KCBS-TV that police were searching for more than one gunman. She didn’t have specific numbers on the number of dead and injured.

UPDATED 1:20 p.m.: A hospital says it’s received four patients in its trauma center after a shooting at a social services facility in Southern California.

Briana Pastorino, spokeswoman for Loma Linda University Medical Center, says she didn’t know their conditions. She says the hospital expects to get three more patients.

Authorities say multiple people were shot and some were killed Wednesday at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

Police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told KCBS-TV that police were searching for more than one gunman. She didn’t have specific numbers on the number of dead and injured.

Gov. Jerry Brown’s press office said on Twitter that the governor has been briefed and “is closely monitoring this disturbing and ongoing situation unfolding in San Bernardino.”

UPDATED 1:05 p.m.: Police confirm that people have died in the shooting at a Southern California social services center.

San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told KCBS-TV on Wednesday that “there are multiple casualties and there are some confirmed fatalities.” She says she doesn’t have specific numbers.

She told the television station that it appears there was more than one shooter. She believes they were wearing “military-style” attire.

UPDATED 12:55 p.m.: Paul Lacroix said his son was able to escape after gunfire erupted at a Southern California social services center.

Lacroix told reporters Wednesday that his son texted him and told him alarms started going off and they got word there was shooting. He said his son was sheltered with a group of people before they managed to get out.

Authorities say multiple people were shot at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Police were searching for one or more gunmen.

Lacroix said his son and colleagues were ordered to exit with their arms up and nothing in their hands.

UPDATED 12:40 p.m.: The president and CEO of the Southern California social services center where gunfire has erupted says the focus is on a building that houses at least 25 employees as well as a library and conference center.

Marybeth Feild of the Inland Regional Center says “the incident is in the conference area” that an outside group was renting Wednesday. She says she is not at the center, which serves people with developmental disabilities and does not know what outside group rented the center.

Feild says people served by the center also would have been in the building, which is in San Bernardino, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

UPDATED 12:30 p.m.: President Barack Obama has been brought up to date on the shooting at a Southern California social services center.

The White House says he was briefed by his homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco, and has asked to be kept informed as the situation develops.

Authorities say multiple people were shot Wednesday at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Police were searching for one or more gunmen.

UPDATED 12:25 p.m.: Police say they are searching for one or more gunmen after a shooting at a social services facility in Southern California.

San Bernardino Lt. Rich Lawhead said Wednesday that multiple people were shot at the Inland Regional Center.

Several law enforcement agencies converged on the scene in San Bernardino, and triage units were being set up in the area.

Some people were seen being wheeled away on gurneys, and others filed out of a building with their hands up.

The facility serves individuals with developmental disabilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

UPDATED 12:15 p.m.: Terry Petit says he got a text from his daughter saying she was hiding after gunfire erupted at the social services facility in Southern California where she works.

Petit choked back tears Wednesday as he read the texts for reporters outside Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

He says she wrote: “People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office.”

Police searched people filing out of a building with their hands up before they reunited with loved ones.

Ambulances and law enforcement vehicles are racing through the area with sirens blaring.

UPDATED 11:58 a.m.: A gas station manager near the site of a shooting in Southern California says there is a flood of police activity in the area.

Ana Fuentes, manager of a Shell station about a block from the scene, estimates that there are about 150 police officers flooding the area.

She said she hasn’t gotten any instructions to stay inside but that customers coming in told her about the shootings at Inland Regional Center. The center says on its website that it provides social services to people with developmental disabilities.

Dozens of people filed out of the scene, holding their hands in their air. Other people were seen being wheeled away on gurneys.

UPDATED 11:40 a.m.: Police in San Bernardino, California, are responding to reports of an active shooter at a social services facility.

Lt. Rich Lawhead said Wednesday there are reports of multiple victims.

No arrests have been made.

Sgt. Vicky Cervantes says police are working to secure the scene in the inland region east of Los Angeles.