Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Thursday that the suspects in the mass shooting in San Bernardino Wednesday were in possession of thousands of rounds of ammunition. The question that remains unanswered is why they killed 14 people and injured 21 others.
Two officers were among the injured. Both are recovering. There were a total of 300 officers that responded to the shooting rampage.
The suspects were tracked down and located in their rented Ford Expedition near the scene of the shootings.
The chief said, “I can confirm that the suspects were wearing the black style tactical gear that we talked about yesterday.” In the confrontation that followed, the chief said, “We had seven police agencies that were involed in that shooting.” He said officers fired 380 rounds at the suspects. The suspects fired 76. The suspects were killed.
The chief said those suspects also had hundreds of additional rounds of ammunition in their vehicle and in their home where police also found tools that the chief said could be used in assembling explosives. Twelve pipe bombs were also found in the home.
Authorities are trying to determine a motive for the shootings. President Obama said Thursday, “At this stage we do not yet know why this terrible event occurred.”
The president said officials do know the suspects were equipped with weapons and had additional weapons at their home but investigators do not know why.
The president said, “We do not know what their plans were. It is possible that this was terrorist related but we don’t know. It’s also possible this was workplace related.”
He added, “At this point this is now and FBI investigation,” and offered condolences to families of the victims.
The two people police say are responsible for the attack that killed 14 and injured 21 others are identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, his wife or fiancee.
Police say they opened fire on a holiday banquet for Farook’s co-workers. Hours later, Farook and Malik died in that shootout with officers.
Wednesday’s shooting happened at a social services center for the disabled.
Farook, born in the United States, was a restaurant inspector for the health department. The couple had reportedly dropped off their 6-month-old daughter with relatives Wednesday morning, saying they had a doctor’s appointment. The husband of 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.”
Federal authorities said 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.
Authorities said the shooters were organized and appeared to have been on a mission. A third person who was seen running away from the scene was in custody.
Hundreds of police officers swarmed a six-block area of San Bernardino in pursuit of the suspects. At least 10 of the 17 wounded were critically injured.
The shooting began around 11 am local time Wednesday. Investigators are looking into the possibility that a workplace dispute may have led to the assault.
Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said the suspects fled in a dark colored SUV and that no weapons were recovered at the scene. San Bernardino police Sgt. Vicki Cervantes told KCBS-TV that the shooters were wearing “military-style” attire.
About 4½ hours after the shootings, police checking a lead in the nearby town of Redlands began chasing a car believed to be related to the incident, Burguan said. The chase led back to San Bernardino, where the two suspects were killed.
Directly following the mass shooting, firefighters set up a triage center on the S. Waterman Ave. where they were treating the wounded on the street. Some people were brought to the triage center via pick-up truck transport.
People were being escorted from the building where the gunfire was reported – all with hands up as police made sure a gunman was not among them.
NBC News quotes a man identified only as Jim, a sales person at nearby Structural Material Company, as saying, “There’s plenty of police activity, a lady ran into our bathroom and said somebody was shooting there. He said he didn’t hear any shots. “I’ve never seen so much police activity.”
One witness said, “Pray for us.”
President Barack Obama has been brought up to date on the shootings. 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.
California Senator Dianne Feinstein addressed the shootings in a tweet that said, “Absolutely heartbreaking.”
Marybeth Feild, the president and CEO of the social services center where gunfire erupted says, the focus is on a building that houses at least 25 employees as well as a library and conference center. She said, “the incident is in the conference area” that an outside group was renting Wednesday. She said she was not at the center, which serves people with developmental disabilities and does not know what outside group rented the facility.
Paul Lacroix said his son was able to escape after gunfire erupted. 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. Lacroix said his son and colleagues were ordered to exit with their arms up and nothing in their hands.
San Bernardino is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/Shootings-Reported-in-San-Bernardino-360088721.html
Two arms each?
The only question I have is: were they CA compliant – 10 round mags?