'My son had been shot': Scenes of worry after shooting

COLTON, Calif. — As night fell over the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton — one of two hospitals treating victims of Wednesday's mass shooting in nearby San Bernardino — a cluster of people stood outside the after-hours entrance to the emergency room, frustrated and growing cold.

Most had been locked out after the hospital, some time in the evening, abruptly shut its doors to people entering the ER as a security measure. No one would be allowed in until morning unless previously cleared, a guard stationed repeatedly told would-be visitors.

One of those was Tina Marie Ortiz, who said her son, Kevin Ortiz, had been shot five times while attending an event at the Inland Regional Center on Wednesday morning. At 11:22 a.m., she had received a call from her husband — "that there was an incident and my son had been shot."

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Tina Marie calculated how long it would take for her to rush from her job in Burbank to Arrowhead Regional in Colton, about 60 miles away. It could be more than two hours in traffic. She didn't care.

"My thing was to get over here as fast as I could," she said.

Tina Marie arrived at 1:30 p.m. to find that her son had been shot five times — "twice in one leg," she said, patting her left leg, "and once in the other." Kevin also had been struck in the shoulder and arm, she said.

As of Wednesday evening, Kevin Ortiz was in stable condition after undergoing surgery, his mother said. He had been able to recognize and speak to his mother, she added, but as far as what had taken place at Inland — or why — "he has no idea."

At some point, Tina Marie Ortiz left the hospital room with Kevin's aunt to pick up some dinner, takeout from El Pollo Loco — only to find they were locked out when they returned to Arrowhead Regional. After pleading with security guards and a lengthy process to confirm their identities, they were allowed to re-enter at 10:15 p.m.

A few miles away, police sirens blared as they entered the emergency driveway of the Loma Linda University Medical Center, escorting people into the facility that was treating five adult victims of the shooting.

According to the hospital’s emergency management system Wednesday evening, two people remained in critical but stable condition and two others in fair. Staff was still accessing one person at the time of the update.

The hospital received word of the shooting, which took place about 7 miles away at about 11 a.m. Wednesday and prepared for an influx of patients. At about 2:30 p.m. the building and the surrounding university complexes were put on alert in response to a bomb threat.

The interior and exterior of all buildings were searched; classes were canceled and students were advised to leave public areas. The threat was deemed not credible at about 3:30 p.m. and the alert was lifted.

Security remained throughout the evening at the doors of the emergency room. People exiting the escorted cars were rushed beyond a door. Some were in tears.

Inside the waiting room, the urgency was juxtaposed with business as usual: coughing patients checked in sat by the walls painted of Noah’s Ark and animals standing in twos.

Back outside, wrapped in a scarf and big coat, Vicente Gonzalez shifted his weight from foot-to-foot to keep warm and possibly entertained. He had been standing in the crisp 53 degree weather for almost seven hours in the hospital parking lot. The 28-year-old talked with his white-haired father who is sat in a wheelchair next to their parked car.

The word ‘Emergency’ glared red a few feet away, as Gonzalez’s young niece and nephew played tag and warned people walking by of cars trying to pass.

“Watch out!” the two-year-old girl in a pink sweater squealed. “You have to be careful!”

The people that passed, cried, but didn’t fail to give a half-hearted attempt to smile at the toddlers as they continued on.

“It’s just terrible. I feel bad for the families and friends I’ve seen here today,” Gonzalez said as he stared off at the hospital.  “I grew up in San Bernardino. I’ve seen violence…but nothing on this scale.”

Gonzalez and his family heard of the shooting as they were arriving to the hospital with his niece who was having complications with her pregnancy.

He said since their arrival, the parking lot has been a constant active scene of ambulances, police cars, and escorted vehicles.

“It’s been a tough day. My heart and prayers go out of those who are here tonight under bad circumstance,” he said.

His father, Eveardo Gonzalez, 61, shook his hanging head and said, “It’s been a very, very sad day.”