US AUTHORITIES ARE struggling to decipher why a young couple burst into a holiday party in California and killed 14 people in a rampage bearing chilling hallmarks of both workplace rage and a pre-planned terror attack.
The suspects – Syed Farook, 28, and his 27-year-old wife Tashfeen Malik – were killed in a shootout with police after yesterday’s carnage at a social services centre in San Bernardino, about an hour’s drive east of Los Angeles.
Seventeen people were wounded in the attack – the deadliest US mass shooting since 2012 when 26 people including 20 children were shot dead at an elementary school in Connecticut.
Police today confirmed they had found 12 pipe bomb type devices in the couple’s home.
The attackers also left a device at the social service centre where they opened fire. The device consisted of 3 connected pipe bombs with a remote control that apparently did not work.
Meanwhile, terrifying video has emerged showing staff of the Inland Regional Centre being escorted from the building by SWAT team personnel.
In the footage, captured by Gabi Flores, who works at the centre, a police officer can be heard saying:
Everyone, try to relax. I’ll take a bullet before you do, that’s for damn sure. Just try to be cool.
Terrorism
US President Barack Obama said the motive for the attack was not yet known but a terror attack could not be ruled out.
“At this stage, we do not yet know why the terrible event occurred,” said Obama, who has repeatedly called for tougher gun laws. “We don’t know at this point the extent of their plans. We do not know their motivations.”
“It is possible that this was terrorist-related. But we don’t know. It’s also possible that this was workplace-related,” the president said.
Investigators were combing the scene of the crime and a home in the nearby town of Redlands, hunting for clues as to why Farook, a US citizen who worked for the local county as an environmental inspector, and Malik unleashed the bloodshed.
“We don’t have the motive at this point,” San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan said. “We have not ruled out terrorism.”
Farook had worked for the San Bernardino county health department for five years and neither he nor his wife were known to law enforcement.
The couple, who dropped off their baby daughter with Farook’s mother shortly before the rampage, were dressed in military-style gear and carried assault weapons and semi-automatic handguns as they burst into an auditorium rented out for the holiday party at Inland Regional Center.
Burguan said Farook had attended the party organised by the health department and left after an apparent dispute, only to return a short time later with Malik.
“Based upon how they were equipped, there had to be some degree of planning that went into this,” Burguan said.
“I don’t think they just ran home and put on these tactical clothes, grabbed guns and came back on a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
Prayers
Public representatives were quick to tweet their condolences and prayers, but commentators pointed out that many who were sending their condolences have repeatedly voted against gun control laws.
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.
Police say the couple had 1,600 bullets on them when they were gunned down while fleeing. Another 3,000 rounds were found at their home.
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