Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik fired at least 65 bullets when they stormed an office holiday party in San Bernardino on Wednesday, killing 14 people and injuring 21 others.
Hours later, Farook and Malik exchanged hundreds of rounds with police officers in a firefight on San Bernardino’s streets, launching bullets into homes and terrifying residents who had already been rocked by the mass shooting earlier in the day.
While the number of bullets fired might seem overwhelming, San Bernardino police Chief Jarrod Burguan said Thursday that the suspects, who died in the gun battle with officers, could have delivered far more harm if given the chance.
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Police discovered a veritable armory when they searched Farook and Malik’s Redlands home, recovering a dozen pipe bombs, 2,000 9-millimeter handgun rounds, 2,500 .223-caliber assault rifle rounds and “hundreds of tools” that could have been used to make additional explosive devices, Burguan said.
“Certainly they were equipped and they could have continued to do another attack … we intercepted them,” he said.
Farook and Malik used two assault rifles and two semi-automatic handguns in the attack on the party, all of which were purchased legally, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. A federal law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times that the guns were bought at Annie’s Get Your Gun, a firearms retailer in nearby Corona that advertises itself as a “family-friendly gun store.”
An employee who answered the phone at the store on Thursday morning declined to comment.
As authorities continued to probe the backgrounds of the husband and wife responsible for America’s deadliest mass shooting since 2012, investigators and legislators from California to Washington, D.C., tried to understand what motivated the shooters.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday morning, President Obama said the FBI was now leading the probe into the attack at the Inland Regional Center. Investigators have yet to rule out terrorism as a motive, but police have also said that Farook was involved in a dispute at the party for employees of the San Bernardino County Health Department shortly before gunfire broke out.
“We do know that the two individuals who were killed were equipped with weapons and appeared to have access to additional weaponry at their homes,” Obama said. “But we don’t know why they did it. We don’t know at this point the extent of their plans. We do not know their motivations.”
During a news conference Thursday, Burguan said the suspects had 1,400 assault rifle rounds and 200 handgun rounds in their car as they fled from police. The couple fired 76 rounds at officers during the shootout, and officers shot 380 rounds in return. Burguan said he believed the suspects shot first.
Despite uncertainty about the motive for the attack, Burguan said the cache of weapons and ammunition found at the couple’s home obviously suggests it was preplanned.
Farook and Malik were the lone suspects in the shooting, officials said. Farook was born in Illinois, but recently traveled to Saudi Arabia and returned with a woman he met online. He had worked at the health department as an inspector for five years.
Malik was born in Pakistan, according to a federal law enforcement source who requested anonymity. She was in the country legally on a visa, according to Burguan.
Caption What happened in San Bernardino, a timeline
Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik fired at least 65 bullets when they stormed a conference room in San Bernardino on Wednesday, killing 14 people and injuring 21 others as they enjoyed a holiday party.
Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik fired at least 65 bullets when they stormed a conference room in San Bernardino on Wednesday, killing 14 people and injuring 21 others as they enjoyed a holiday party.
Caption What happened in San Bernardino, a timeline
Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik fired at least 65 bullets when they stormed a conference room in San Bernardino on Wednesday, killing 14 people and injuring 21 others as they enjoyed a holiday party.
Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik fired at least 65 bullets when they stormed a conference room in San Bernardino on Wednesday, killing 14 people and injuring 21 others as they enjoyed a holiday party.
Caption Backlash against neighbor of San Bernardino shooting suspects
Backlash against a Muslim neighbor living near the two suspects of the mass shooting in San Bernardino.
Backlash against a Muslim neighbor living near the two suspects of the mass shooting in San Bernardino.
Caption Mothers talk about children’s safety during San Bernardino shooting
Two mothers discuss the school lockdown and their children’s safety during the shooting in San Bernardino on Wednesday.
Two mothers discuss the school lockdown and their children’s safety during the shooting in San Bernardino on Wednesday.
Caption LAPD Chief Beck talks SB deadly mass shooting, search for police impersonator, Commander Smith becoming Green Bay Police Chief
This segment aired on the KTLA 5 Morning News on December 3, 2015.
This segment aired on the KTLA 5 Morning News on December 3, 2015.
Caption Luis Gutierrez talks about his wife, who saw San Bernardino shooter
Luis Gutierrez discusses what his wife saw at the location of the mass shooting in San Bernardino.
Luis Gutierrez discusses what his wife saw at the location of the mass shooting in San Bernardino.
On Thursday, a federal law enforcement source told the Los Angeles Times that while investigators have yet to establish a clear motive in the shooting, they are leaning toward a possible “combination of terrorism and workplace” conflict.
“We’re very involved in terms of trying to see if the motive was something inspired by a terrorist organization or directed by a terrorist organization, or whether he was self-radicalized,” the source, who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said.
Investigators also believe the couple had a familiarity with weapons and military-style tactics.
“We want to know how they acquired that,” the source said.
Farook and Malik were not known to federal investigators prior to the attack, the source said.
Shortly before the shooting, the couple left their young daughter with the child’s grandmother in Redlands, saying they had a doctor’s appointment, according to Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles.
They headed to the regional center soon after.
The grandmother grew panicked when news of the shooting broke and began frantically calling Farook and Malik, but they did not answer, Ayloush said.
As expected, the shooting is already a new chapter in the ever-divisive national gun debate. The president said Thursday that it was still “too easy” for people who want to kill large numbers of people to get access to high-powered weapons in the U.S.
“We’re going to have to, I think, search ourselves as a society to make sure that we can take basic steps that would make it harder, not impossible, but harder for individuals to get access to weapons,” he said.
Farook and Malik used a pair of .223-caliber assault rifles and two semi-automatic handguns in the shooting, Burguan said.
The couple was dressed in “assault-style” clothing when police closed in on their Redlands home Wednesday afternoon, roughly four hours after the shooting. The couple fled, sparking a vehicle pursuit that ended back in San Bernardino. Both were killed in a shootout that involved roughly 20 police officers.
One officer was shot and suffered injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening, according to Burguan.
Burguan said San Bernardino County coroner’s officials will begin to release the names of those killed in Wednesday’s attack “fairly soon.”
Relatives of the victims were still trying to process how an event meant to celebrate a holiday turned into a bloodletting.
Terrorism ‘possible’ in San Bernardino shooting, Obama says, but ‘we don’t know’
President Obama said Thursday he doesn’t know the motivation for the brutal slaying of 14 people in San Bernardino as he called on lawmakers and citizens to help stop a seeming epidemic of mass shootings.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, a bleary-eyed Obama said he had just received a…
President Obama said Thursday he doesn’t know the motivation for the brutal slaying of 14 people in San Bernardino as he called on lawmakers and citizens to help stop a seeming epidemic of mass shootings.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, a bleary-eyed Obama said he had just received a…
(Christi Parsons)
Julie Swann-Paez, an inspector with the health department, was supposed to receive an employee of the year award at the party, according to relatives. But she was shot twice when Farook and Malik stormed the conference room, suffering a shattered pelvis and other serious injuries.
“Love you guys,” she said in a group text message to her family. “Was shot.”
Article source: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-san-bernardino-shooting-main-20151203-story.html
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