Three gunman opened fire on a holiday party that San Bernardino County employees were attending Wednesday, according to a man who received a call from his daughter while she hid in a restroom to the sound of gunfire outside.
Mark Stutte, who works in information technology for the county’s public health department, said his daughter called him from the scene, at the Inland Regional Center.
Federal and local investigators were responding there after multiple shots were reported about 11 a.m. Police said they had received reports of up to 20 victims, but an exact number of those injured or killed was not available by early afternoon.
Stutte was off Wednesday, but his daughter Miranda, a county vector control technician, was attending the event, he told KTLA in a live phone interview.
“It was a like a Christmas party, an award party that we were having,” Stutte said.
“She went to the restroom and she called me. She was huddled up in the restroom, and three gunman came in and they started shooting people — colleagues that I work with,” Stutte said.
Miranda happened to have gone to the restroom before gunfire erupted, Stutte said. She did not see the shooters, but heard the shots, he said.
“It was really, really super scary,” he said, audibly crying. “I’m far away; I couldn’t do anything for her.”
Stutte called 911 after talking to his daughter, and was told police were responding.
Miranda was safe and waiting to talk to investigators at the nearby golf course, Stutte said.