SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities are trying to determine a motive for Wednesday’s deadly shootings in San Bernardino, California, which could include workplace violence or terrorism.
Police say a heavily armed man and woman dressed for battle opened fire on a holiday banquet for his co-workers. They killed 14 people and seriously wounding more than a dozen others in a precision assault. Hours later, they died in a shootout with officers.
Wednesday’s shooting happened at a social services center for the disabled.
San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan identified one dead suspect as 28-year-old Syed Rizwan Farook, the other as Tashfeen Malik, 27, his wife or fiancee. A neighbor says Mr Farook recently traveled to Saudi Arabia, and when he returned he was married.
The U.S.-born Farook 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 say that the two assault rifles and two handguns used in the San Bernardino massacre were all purchased legally in the United States — two of them by someone who’s now under investigation.
Meredith Davis of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives says investigators are now working to make a connection to the last legal purchaser. She says all four guns were bought four years ago but she’s not saying whether they were purchased out of state or how and when they got into the hands of the two shooters.
Davis says California requires paperwork when guns change hands privately but many other states don’t. She also says the rifles involved were .223-caliber — powerful enough to pierce the standard protective vest worn by police officers, and some types of ammo can even plow through walls.
(Staff and wire reports)