Contrary to earlier reports of three shooters, they are likely the only two suspects, according to the Associated Press, and they both were killed in a shootout with police.
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Police later identified the suspects as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, who were believed to be married.
Mr. Farook was an environmental health specialist for the San Bernardino County government, which gave him access without suspicion to the building where the pair killed 14 people and wounded 17 others.
The home is where officers initially saw a vehicle matching the description of the suspects’ SUV in the hours before the final gun battle that killed them.
The father of a woman hiding in a social services facility in southern California tearfully readout a text message he received from his daughter as two attackers stormed the building with assault rifles and handguns.
As the investigation continues to unfold, authorities have not ruled out terrorism as a motive. The shooters “came prepared to do what they did”… there was “some degree of planning” behind the attack, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said.
According to police, Farook was attending a holiday party at the Inlands Regional Center earlier in the day when he became upset.
“We have no information at this point to indicate that this is terrorist related, in the traditional sense that people may be thinking”, Burguan said.
Farook’s brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, said he had no idea what prompted the carnage.
The LA Times reported that San Bernardino police were investigating whether the shooting was connected to a possible workplace dispute.
Farook was born in the U.S.to a Pakistani family and had been a San Bernardino County employee for five years, according to authorities.
FBI officials investigating the Inland Regional Center shooting have suggested the incident may be considered an act of domestic terrorism – though no such classification has been made official.
Meredith Davis of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives says investigators are now working to make a connection to the last legal purchaser.
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“There are some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don’t happen as frequently”.
