UPDATE: San Bernardino Shooting Investigated as Act of Terrorism
- By Sydny Shepard
- Dec 02, 2015
[December 4, 2015 1:30 p.m.]
David Bowdich, Assistant Director of FBI Los Angeles Office confirmed that the FBI is now “investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism.”
Police are working to recover evidence from smashed cell phones and social media to discover trends in their digital fingerprints that may lead authorities to what motivated the couple to kill 14 and injure 21 others during a holiday party.
This is an ongoing investigation. Please stay tuned to learn the latest on this story.
[December 4, 2015 12:00 p.m.]
Police were able to confirm the number of injured has risen from 17 to 21. They also talked about plans to identify the 14 dead victims to the public as the day goes on.
Authorities talked extensively about the amount of ammunition the couple had. Police found 12 pipe bombs, 2,000 9-mm rounds, 2,500 .233 rifle rounds and hundreds of tools in the couple’s Redlands home.
Officials were able to confirm that the black SVU had, in fact, been rented up to four days ago and was one of the key elements that led police to the Redlands home.
Two officers were injured in the shootout. One police officer sustained a bullet wound to the leg and will be released from the hospital today, while the other has cuts on his leg from the window glass on the car. Both injuries are not life-threatening.
FBI and police are still searching for a motive.
[December 3, 2015 8:00 a.m.]
A holiday party turned deadly when a couple, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tasheen Malik, entered Inland Regional Center dressed in black, carrying semi-automatic rifles and unleashed a massacre that killed 14 and injured 17 more, the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since Sandy Hook.
It was around 11 a.m. when Farook and Malik opened fire on a conference room that Inland Regional, a facility for the developmentally disabled, had rented out for a Christmas party for the San Bernardino Public Health and Safety group.
Within minutes, officers stormed the building searching for an active shooter. They counted the dead and shuttled the wounded out to triage. They began evacuating the building and clearing the facility room by room. Bomb squads were brought in as suspicious packages were found.
Farook and Malik slipped away in a black SUV.
Police acted quickly throughout the day, keeping tabs on every lead that seemed to be helpful. A tip that led them to a Redland home was the big break.
Acting on information that quickly pointed to Farook, police went to his home in the Redlands with a search warrant. It was then that a black SVU drove past police, slowly at first and then quickly sped away. Law enforcement took up pursuit, as the SVU raced back in the direction of San Bernardino.
While Malik drove, Farook fired out the windows of the vehicle.
Some 21 officers returned fire. When the SVU came to a halt, it was riddled with bullet holes. The couple inside was dead; their bodies found dressed in “assault-style clothing,” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said. “Dark kind of tactical gear.”
An officer was wounded in the shootout, but his injuries are not life-threatening.
Authorities also found a third person who was running away from the scene after the car came to a halt. While the person is detained, they are not sure if he or she is involved.
Police carefully scoured the car, looking for any evidence that may lead to a motive, but instead they only found more questions.
While at Inland Regional, they did stash three explosive devices, rigged to a remote-controlled toy car, that did not go off. In their SVU, authorities found the controller to the car.
Also found in the SVU were two .223-caliber rifles along with two pistols. The guns were legally purchased three or four years ago.
Authorities are now investigating and collecting evidence from three or more crime scenes in the area, the conference center, the SVU and the couple’s home in Redlands, hoping to find something that will explain the carnage.
Meanwhile, the lives of the loved ones of those slain in the rampage will never be the same.
[December 2, 2015 2:00 p.m.]
San Bernardino Fire Department units were responding to a report of a “20-victim shooting” in early December, authorities said.
The incident was tweeted by the Fire Department shortly before 11:15 a.m. and police were able to confirm that there was active shooter in the area of Park Center Circle by 11:30 a.m.
Law enforcement warned people to avoid the area due to heavy police activity and a “hard closure” was in effect at Orange Show Road and Waterman Avenue.