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[h=4]Couple slays 14 in murderous rampage at Calif. meeting[/h]SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A 28-year-old disgruntled health inspector and his wife went on a murderous rampage at a holiday party inside a social service center Wednesday, killing at least 14 people before
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Police said a man and a woman suspected of carrying out a deadly shooting in San Bernardino, California were killed in a shootout with police. A third possible suspect was being detained. A motive for the shooting has not been reported. (Dec. 2) AP
Armored vehicles surround an SUV following a shootout in San Bernardino, Calif., Dec. 2, 2015.(Photo: KTTV via AP)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A 28-year-old health inspector and the woman he lived with went on a murderous rampage at a meeting inside a social service center Wednesday, killing at least 14 people before fleeing and dying in a gun battle with police.
Syed R. Farook and Tashfeen Malik, 27, opened fire inside the Inland Regional Center and injured at least 17 others. The motive is unknown, although police say Farook had attended the routine meeting, left in a fit of anger, and returned with Malik. The couple - who met online and who became acquainted in Saudi Arabia - were decked out in body armor and armed with assault rifles and handguns.
Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said that following the late-morning massacre, the pair fled in a dark-colored SUV but were shortly tracked down by police, who riddled the vehicle with bullets. Both Farook and Malik died at the scene.
Burguan said that although initial reports indicated that as many as three shooters may have been involved, "we are confident now" that Farook and Malik acted alone. He said Farook and Malik were "either boyfriend-girlfriend or husband and wife."
Chris Nwadike, who worked with Farook as a restaurant inspector associated with the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, said that Wednesday's meeting was one of two "general education" meetings the department holds each year. The meeting was routine, in which employees were to be given employee rewards and other recognition.
USA TODAY
Timeline of events in San Bernardino, Calif., shooting
Nwadike said he was sitting at a table with Farook, who he knew from around the office. He said that at some point, more than 30 minutes before the shooting, he and his co-workers noticed Farook had left. They noticed because the meeting organizers were handing out "clickers" - the sort that might be used to register votes during a presentation - and someone asked that they leave one for Farook. He also said Farook left something behind at his seat.
"He left and he didn't come back," Nwadike said.
Nwadike said the meeting was on a 15-minute break when the shooting happened. Many of the participants were outside of the meeting room. Nwadike said he was in the bathroom. "If everybody was there, it could have been a total massacre," he said.
While in the bathroom, Nwadike heard the shooting begin. He heard one especially loud boom and thought that something had fallen.
"The very first one was a big blast; we thought that something may have fallen down," he said. "That was followed by gunfire. He said that he and the others in the bathroom laid down on the floor and remained there until police officers escorted them out of the building. He did not go back into the meeting room. He said he had no idea how many shots were fired; "there were quite a number of shots."
Nwadike said he did not see any sign that Farook was upset, and did not see him argue with anyone.
"I have not at any time noticed any sign that he would do anything like that," he said. "I can't understand why."
One officer was wounded in the ensuing pursuit and shootout with police, but the injuries were not life-threatening.
"There was a third person seen running away, that person has been detained," Burguan said. He said it was not clear if the person was involved in the massacre. He also said there still might be a suspect at-large, and searches were continuing in the city 60 miles east of Los Angeles.
It was the nation's deadliest shooting since a gunman killed 26 people in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012.
Officers searching the building later found an explosive device that had not detonated.
USA TODAY
Tears at Calif. hospital after mass shooting
Doyle Miller, the owner of the two-bedroom home where Farook resides in Redlands, Calif., said Farook has lived there for five or six months. Miller said Farook moved in with his wife and a "young child," who he thinks was just a baby. He said a grandmother also apparently lived there, though he wasn't sure if it was Farook's grandmother or the child's.
Miller said he only met Farook once and had no problems with him; "the only thing we complained about is that he didn't take care of the back yard."
Farook's brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, said at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) press conference Wednesday evening: "On behalf of my family we all are shocked. We are completely shocked and had no idea."
Authorities are tracing the origin of the four weapons recovered — two assault-style rifles and two handguns — from the two dead suspects, a federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY. The official, who is not authorized to comment, said investigators are focusing on an incident, perhaps a workplace dispute, before the shooting in which one person became angry and left a gathering of employees. The person later returned with two others.
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San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan holds press conference at 10:15pm Wednesday, (Pacific time) December 2, 2015, and tells press that one of the shooters was a county employee and the other a woman. Video by Tom Tingle/Arizona Republic Tom Tingle/The Republic
It was not immediately clear, according to the official, what prompted the apparent dispute. And it was not known whether the person who left the gathering had gone to the location to scout the target as part of a detailed plan to launch the attack.
Accounts of the pre-shooting dispute were being provided to investigators by witnesses who appeared to have consistent recollections of the events as they unfolded, the official said.
Federal authorities were not ruling out the possibility of terrorism, the official said, largely because of what appears to be detailed planning involved in the attack, including the number of suspects involved, the tactical clothing worn by the suspects and the attempted plan for escape. The involvement of a woman in the attacks also marks a very rare turn for similar domestic shootings, which typically involve male gunmen.
As police closed in, the suspects hurled what initially appeared to be explosives from their SUV — but they may not have been bombs, just items disguised as explosives in an attempt to distract pursuing investigators.
Another federal official who also could not comment publicly said no explosive devices were recovered in the vehicle where the bodies of two of the suspects were recovered. Authorities, however, were examining an apparent explosive device at the location of the mass shooting.
"The information we have is they came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission," Burguan said, adding that they were "equipped to get away."
Burguan said police have not determined a motive for the rampage. Agents from the FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshal's Service had joined the investigation
David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said it was too early to determine if the attack was terrorism-related.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint," he said of the investigation.
Many of the injured were taken from the building on stretchers and strapped into gurneys. Loma Linda University Medical Center and Arrowhead Regional Medical Center said they received multiple patients from the shooting.
Marybeth Field, president and CEO of the Inland Regional Center, said the incident took place in a conference area that a county group had rented. She said about 25 employees work in the building, which provides services for people with developmental disabilities.
Terry Petit said his daughter texted to say she was hiding after gunfire erupted at the social services facility where she works. Petit choked back tears as he read the texts for reporters outside the center. He said she wrote: "People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office."
Many area residents and concerned friends and family members congregated about a quarter-mile from the scene of the attack, near a gas station. Meredith Wiresinger said she had two friends in the center when the tragedy took place.
"Thankfully they are OK. But you can see the fear from people who don't what has happened to their loved ones," she said. "You hear about tragedy, but today we are seeing it in real life and on people's faces. They've got to get these guns off the street."
Wilbert Aquino picked up his 10-year-old daughter from a nearby school.
"We are just going to go home and stay there and wait until we hear more," he said. "Thankfully, she is OK, but I'm sure the kids are scared."
California Gov. Jerry Brown ordered that flags at the Capitol be lowered to half-staff.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families and everyone affected by the brutal attack," Brown said in a statement. "California will spare no effort in bringing these killers to justice.".
According to its Facebook page, 670 Inland Regional Center staff members provide services to more than 30,200 people in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The center's clients range from toddlers to seniors.
In Washington, a White House spokesperson said President Obama had been briefed by Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco about the shooting and has asked to be updated on the situation as it develops.
"We don't know that much yet," Obama told CBS News. "It's still an active situation."
The president said we do know that "we have a pattern of mass shootings" in the United States that have no parallel in other countries in the world. He again called for "common-sense gun safety laws" and improved background checks
"It doesn't happen with the same kind of frequency in other countries," Obama told CBS.
Stanglin and Bacon reported from McLean, Va. Contributing: Brett Kelman and Anna Rumer, The (PalmSprings, Calif.) Desert Sun, reported from San Bernardino; Liz Szabo and Brad Heath from McLean,Va.
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Bystanders react to California shooting | 00:34USA TODAY talks to bystanders on the scene of the San Bernardino mass shooting. Jefferson Graham reports. Sean Fujiwara, USA TODAY
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Calif. police: Shots fired, suspect down near SUV | 01:04Aerial video shows massive police activity in San Bernardino, California. Police say one suspect is down. It was not immediately clear whether the incident is related to a mass shooting that killed at least 14 earlier Wednesday. (Dec. 2) AP
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Worry, confusion for families after Calif. shooting | 01:08As many as three gunmen believed to be wearing military-style gear opened fire Wednesday at a Southern California social services center, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than a dozen others, authorities said. (Dec. 2) AP
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Police chief: 14 dead in Calif. shooting | 01:45The San Bernardino, California chief of police says at least 14 people were killed and at least 14 more were injured in a mass shooting at a social services center. Police were still searching for as many as three gunman. (Dec. 2) AP
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Obama: 'We have a pattern now of mass shootings' | 01:52President Barack Obama is calling Wednesday's mass shooting in Southern California part of a pattern of shootings in the U.S. that "has no parallel anywhere else in the world." (Dec. 2) AP
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.San Bernardino Police search for suspect after mass shooting | 00:33Officers in San Bernardino, Calif., responded to an active shooter situation. Multiple people are dead and injured.
Video provided by Newsy Newslook
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Mass shooting reported at California Social Services facility | 00:41Police in the Southern California city of San Bernardino were responding Wednesday to reports of a mass shooting at a social services facility. USA TODAY
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Raw: Victims treated in Calif. shooting incident | 01:33Aerial video shows victims being treated and taken to ambulances following reports of an active shooter situation in San Bernardino, California. (Dec. 2) AP
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Police respond to active shooter in Calif. | 00:56Police in San Bernardino, Calif. were responding to reports of an active shooter at a social services facility. (Dec. 2) AP
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.San Bernardino County Sheriff confirms active shooter | 01:40Bloomberg's Mark Crumpton reports that there's an active shooter near Orange Show Rd. and Waterman Ave., the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a tweet, citing the San Bernardino Police Department. Bloomberg
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.Emotional dad: Daughter 'hiding' from shooter | 01:23Relatives describe hearing from loved ones from inside a social services facility in San Bernardino, California where police are responding to an active shooter. (Dec. 2) AP
MASS SHOOTING IN SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF.'Moment of Silence' at DC Tree Lighting | 00:49The mass shooting in California has intruded on a normally festive event in Washington - the annual lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree. (Dec. 2) AP
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