San Bernardino Mass Murderers Left Behind a Baby and an Arsenal of Ammunition and Pipe Bombs
The couple believed to be behind yesterday’s murderous San Bernardino rampage left behind at least 14 dead people, a six-month old baby and a slew of weapons before they both died in a shootout with police.
Authorities say Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, dropped their baby off at Farook’s mother’s house, telling her they were going to a doctor’s appointment. Then they both donned black tactical gear and, armed with assault rifles and several bombs, murdered at least 14 people.
It’s still unclear what motivated the deadly rampage, but police today confirmed a few key details: Farook, a former city inspector, showed up at the San Bernardino County Public Health Department holiday party, which was held in a rented conference room at a center for the developmentally disabled. Though Farook no longer worked for the city, the New York Times reports, he had attended the party the year before and “did not appear out of place.”
For a while at least: “He did leave the party early under some circumstances that was described as angry or something of that nature,” San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said during a press conference Thursday.
Shortly thereafter, Farook returned to the party with his wife, armed with two .223-caliber assault rifles and two 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistols, which were all reportedly legally purchased. The pair “sprayed the room with bullets,”—approximately 65 to 75 rifle rounds—and fled the scene in a rented black Ford Explorer.
They fired another 76 shots at police during the ensuing chase and died during the shootout.
At the press conference, Burguan also elaborated on what authorities discovered in the aftermath of the attack: “1,400 rounds for the assault rifles and over 200 rounds for the two handguns” inside the couple’s rental car. In the home the couple shared together, authorities discovered another “2,500 rounds for the assault rifles, more than 2,000 for the pistols, several hundred rounds for a .22-caliber rifle,” 12 pipe bombs and more bomb-making material. They also left behind at the crime scene 3 bombs wrapped together and “equipped with a remote control” that “apparently failed to detonate.”
“Clearly they were equipped and they could have done another attack,” Burguan said.
Reports that a third person seen fleeing the scene was involved were apparently unfounded: “We did ultimately determine that he was not involved in the incident,” Burguan clarified. “He is not a suspect.”
The FBI is reportedly investigating the attack as a possible terrorism case, according to the New York Times, which cites the couples’ “extensive arsenal, their recent Middle East travels and evidence that one had been in touch with people with Islamist extremist views.”
Still, authorities say they’re “not ready to call it terrorism” yet. And, as the Los Angeles Times points out there’s evidence to suggest Farook, who was born in Illinois, may have just been familiar with violence: 2006 divorce filings indicate Farook’s father viciously abused his mother in front of their children.
In essence, authorities still have no idea why the couple launched their attack: “We do not yet know the motive; we cannot rule anything out at this point,” David Bowdich, the assistant F.B.I. director in charge of the Los Angeles office, tells the New York Times. “We don’t know if this was the intended target or there was something that triggered him to do this immediately.”
