SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Investigators on Thursday hunted for a motive in the backgrounds of a husband and wife suspected in a shooting rampage that left 14 dead and 17 others wounded here, while federal agents traced the origins of the four guns recovered from the suspects — at least two of them bought legally — and officers combed through a sprawling set of crime scenes for evidence.
The suspects, identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27 — armed with .223-caliber assault rifles and semiautomatic handguns and wearing masks and body armor — are believed to have opened fire at a social services center here around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, unleashing the deadliest mass shooting since the assault on an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., nearly three years ago. They died hours later in a shootout with the police on a residential street
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed that it had traced all four guns, and that two were purchased legally by someone linked to the investigation. But the agency would not identify the buyer, identify which two weapons those were, or say where they were bought
Officials said the two assault rifles were variants of the AR-15, the semiautomatic version of the military M-16 rifle; one was made by DPMS Panther Arms, and the other was a Smith & Wesson M&P model, a designation meaning military and police. A senior law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of not being identified, said one handgun was made by Llama, and the other by Smith and Wesson.
California is among a handful of states that ban the sale or possession of many assault weapons, including the most common models, although people who owned those firearms before they were banned are allowed to keep them. It was not known where and how the suspects obtained their weapons, which might have been sold originally in other states, and might have gone through multiple owners. Overall, California has the strictest gun laws in the nation, according to the most recent report card by the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Mr. Farook had been at a holiday party at the center for the county health department, where he worked as an environmental inspector. He soon left in anger after a dispute of some sort, Chief Jarrod Burguan of the San Bernardino Police Department said, only to return alongside Ms. Malik. Hours later, the couple were killed during the shootout.
“We don’t have the motive at this time,” Chief Burguan said. “We have not ruled out terrorism.”
David Bowdich, assistant director of the F.B.I’s Los Angeles office, said the agency was investigating several possible motives, including terrorism.
Chief Burguan said: “There had to be some degree of planning that went into this. I don’t think they just ran home and put on these tactical clothes.”
Through the night, investigators scoured at least three sites looking for clues: the scene of the shooting at the Inland Regional Center, a sprawling facility that provides services for thousands of people with disabilities where the holiday party was held; the site about two miles away where the couple died in a shootout; and a townhouse in nearby Redlands.
Officers used a crane to break through windows and the door at the small townhouse and set off controlled explosions inside the home, fearing the suspects could have left explosives behind. Bomb squads had also disposed of explosives the suspects left behind them at the regional center.
By late Wednesday, none of the victims of the attack had been publicly identified.
Most of the carnage unfolded in a single room of the Inland Regional Center, the police said, which was filled with people with whom Mr. Farook had a personal connection. While shots rang out, others in the building cowered and hid, sending text messages or making frantic calls.
As the suspects fled in a black sport utility vehicle, large parts of the city were paralyzed. Residents were told to remain indoors, and government buildings, stores, offices and at least one school were either closed or put on lockdown. Yellow school buses filled with survivors of the shooting were escorted by police vans to meet anxious relatives at a church.
Late Wednesday afternoon, dozens of heavily armed police officers in tactical gear descended on a residential neighborhood in pursuit of the attackers. Witnesses described a wild scene as dozens of officers closed in on a vehicle, with hundreds of shots fired as the people in the vehicle fought the police.
Chief Burguan said there were at least 20 officers involved in the gun battle.
The chief said that a third person had fled the scene and been taken into custody, but that the police did not know his role, if any. A police officer was wounded in the shootout and was being treated at a hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening.
In a year repeatedly marked by such massacres, San Bernardino joined a tragic roster that includes Charleston, S.C.; Roseburg, Ore.; and Colorado Springs, where just five days earlier a gunman killed three people and wounded nine at a Planned Parenthood clinic.
Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/us/san-bernardino-shooting.html
