CountyNews is offering the following rundown on coverage to date of yesterday’s tragic events in San Bernardino. As readers are surely aware, the shooting impacted a County facility and reports indicate the key suspect may have been a county employee. Here’s what we know as of this afternoon.
At approximately 11 a.m. Wednesday, two shooters opened fire on a holiday party for county health workers at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. Police responded to 911 calls quickly but not before the shooters left 14 dead and 21 more injured as of this morning. The suspects fled the scene in a black SUV that authorities found later that day. A chase ensued and after a gunfight two suspects were shot and killed. One officer was injured with a non-life threatening injury.
The two suspects killed in the shootout have been identified as Syed Bizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Farook had been at the holiday party before leaving after an altercation and had been a health inspector in the office for five years. Investigators have yet to announce a motive for the attack.
San Bernardino is the deadliest shooting in the US since Sandy Hook in 2012.
Government officials have given statements on the matter. San Bernardino Mayor R. Carey Davis stressed the importance of uniting as a community. San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors Chairman James Ramos offereda brief statement. Governor Jerry Brown offered his support in bringing the attackers to justice. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the heroic work of the first responders. Senator Barbara Boxer implicated Congress as morally liable on the Senate floor this morning. Boxer's call for change was supported by her fellow Senator Dianne Feinstein.All this on top of the outpouring of support from other officials around the state and the country.
San Bernardino comes on the heels of more mass shootings both domestic and international with the Planned Parenthood shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado less than a week ago and the Paris terrorist attacks in mid-November.
Also, it follows headlines regarding the newest development in California gun control, as Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom made an October announcement for a new firearms-control measure to be put on the 2016 state ballot. The proposed measure would strengthen gun control by banning possession of high capacity magazines in addition to requiring background checks for those buying ammunition.
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department has positively identified all the victims of the shooting. Federal investigators are locating those who were last in contact with Farook, who recently traveled to the Middle East and is reported to have been married to Malik, a Pakistani national, who seems to have been the other perpetrator.
The CountyNews write up can be found here.