14 DEAD IN SAN BERNARDINO MASSACRE: MULTIPLE SHOOTERS, 2 SUSPECTS DEAD

San Diego social services centers closed through Friday as precaution after attacks

By Miriam Raftery

Updated December 3, 2015 with additional information on the shooters.

December 2, 2015 (San Bernadino) – Suspects armed with assault weapons, wearing body armor and masks opened fire inside the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, a a government facility that provides services to the developmentally disabled.

At least 14 people are dead and 17 more are wounded, National Public Radio reports. Some of the victims were attending a holiday party in the building. The suspects also planted three bombs strung together that a robot was deployed to destroy. 

Suspects fled the scene in a black SUV.  Later a police pursuit ended in a firefight and the fatal shooting of two suspects outside a residence in Redlands. One was a man identified as Sayed Rizwan Farook, 28, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago.  The other was his wife,Tashfeen Malik, 27, who was born in Pakistan and recently lived in Saudi Arabia.  A third individual attempted to flee and has been detained.

Farook, a U.S. citizen, has been described by family as a devout Muslim who met his wife online while she was living in Saudi Arabia.  The couple left their six-month-old infant with a grandparent before the massacre. Farook worked for the County Health Department as a restaurant inspector, attended a holiday party for the depatment in the building and left abruptly, returning to open fire later on. Coworkers have described him as quiet and said they had no reason to be suspicious of him. Authorities have said his job was not in danger and he recently took paternity leave as a new father.

Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, at a news briefing Wednesday stated , “Obviously, at a minimum, we have a domestic terrorist-type situation that occurred here” though it is not yet known whether the massacre was orchestrated by any domestic or foreign terror organizations. By Thursday morning, authoriteis still had no motive and said the couple left no note, though terrorism or workplace violence are both being examined as potential motives.  The Council on American Islamic Relations has denounced the shootings.

10 News reports that all five Regional Center locations in San Diego and Imperial Counties  will be closed until Friday as a precaution.  The San Diego center’s spokesman, Ron Plotkin, voiced “shock and horror” at the tragic mass shooting, adding “Our hearts are open with supportive prayers to those in the cross-hairs of this senseless, horrific event.'' 

The shooting bgan about 11 a.m., with employees sheltering in place while police searched the premises for the gunmen.  Some texted family members.  A shutdown of businesses nearby and surrounded streets took place as a  massive law enforcement contingent of local, state and federal agencies responded. Schools, government buildings and courthouses were placed on lockdown during the search.

Some shooting victims were transported to Loma Linda Medical Center, where doctors continued treating patients despite a bomb threat,  and others to a medical facility in Arrowhead.

House Speaker Paul Ryan asked those gathered for the lighting of the National Christmas tree to pause for a moment of silence.

But others  contend that action, not since or prayers, is what’s needed to stem the tide of violence. The San Bernardino massacre was the 355^th mass shooting in the past year.

President Barack Obama reacted to the tragedy by calling for firearms reforms.  “We have a pattern of mass patterns now in the United States that is unparalleled anywhere in the world,”  he said early this afternoon, when shooters’ identities were not yet known. 

The President said there are “steps we could take” to make such shootings less likely in the future including  "common sense gun safety laws" and "stronger background checks," as well as barring people on the no-fly list from buying firearms.  Obama urged lawmakers to come together on a bipartisan basis to implement these reforms.