It was pure carnage

SAN BERNARDINO, California (AP):

The first officer on the scene of a deadly shooting at a holiday party in California described seeing unspeakable carnage and "pure panic" on the faces of the injured.

San Bernardino police Lt Mike Madden, a 24-year veteran, said at a news conference last night that he and other officers had to pass people who were injured and needed help to try to stop the attack at a social service

centre.

He described victims moaning and wailing and fire alarms going off in a conference room where the county health department was holding a holiday luncheon. He said the situation was surreal.

Police Chief Jarrod Burguan says most of the people killed and injured were San Bernardino County employees. He says 12 of the 14 killed were county workers and 18 of the 21 injured.