A swat team arrives at the scene of a shooting in San Bernardino, California. (Photo courtesy: Doug Saunders/Los Angeles News Group via AP)
San Bernardino, United States:
A young couple who killed 14 people in a mass shooting in California had amassed a huge arsenal and carefully planned their attack, authorities said on Thursday, refusing to rule out terrorism.
Syed Farook, 28, and his 27-year-old wife Tashfeen Malik died in a ferocious shootout with police after Wednesday's rampage at a holiday party in San Bernardino, about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles.
The attack, which left 21 people wounded, was the deadliest in the United States since the 2012 massacre at a school in Connecticut that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.
San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan said Farook and his wife -- who dropped off their baby daughter with Farook's mother shortly before the killings -- fired between 65 and 75 rounds during the attack at a social services center that required "a degree of planning.
But just the latest mass shooting in the United States could have been worse, after Burguan revealed that explosives rigged to a remote-controlled car were found at the scene of the carnage but the device failed to go off.
Another 1,600 rounds of ammunition were found on the couple and in their bullet-riddled black SUV after a police chase and shootout in which they died. Two police officers were wounded in the rapid exchange of gunfire on a quiet residential street, though neither seriously.
About 5,000 additional rounds, 12 pipe bomb-type explosive devices and bomb-making material were also found at the home the couple shared.
"Nobody just gets upset at a party, goes home and puts together that kind of elaborate scheme," Burguan said, after indications that Farook had attended the party organized by the health department and left after an apparent dispute, only to return a short time later with Malik.
"There was some planning that went into this."
US President Barack Obama, who ordered flags on government buildings, embassies and military installations to be flown at half-staff until Monday, cautioned 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 on the Republican-controlled Congress to pass tougher gun control measures.
"It is possible that this was terrorist-related, but we don't know. It's also possible that this was workplace-related."
The FBI also cautioned that it was "way too early" to speculate on the motive.
Muslim Vigil
Media reports said Farook, who is US-born and worked for the local county as an environmental inspector, had met his Pakistan-born wife during a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2013 and may have been radicalized.
Burguan said Farook had brought his wife back to the United States in July last year and that both had had no previous brushes with the law.
CNN quoted law enforcement officials as saying he had been in touch via social media and by phone with international terror subjects known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The couple were dressed in black 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.
Farook's brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, said he had no clue what prompted the carnage.
"I am in shock that something like this could happen," a visibly shaken Khan told a press conference organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which denounced the killings.
Local Muslim officials in San Bernardino said a prayer vigil would be held at the local mosque later Thursday to honor the victims.
"We condemn this senseless and horrific act of violence in the strongest possible terms," said Ahsan Khan, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community chapter in Los Angeles.
"Our community has been in San Bernardino County for nearly three decades, and yet have never seen such depravity."
'American Dream'
Local media quoted one of Farook's co-workers as saying he and his wife seemed happy and appeared to be "living the American dream."
"He never struck me as a fanatic, he never struck me as suspicious," Griselda Reisinger, who worked with Farook until changing jobs in May, told The Los Angeles Times.
Witnesses at the original scene recounted barricading themselves in offices and hiding as the sound of gunfire erupted, before the couple made their escape, sparking a massive hunt for the pair.
Although officials have yet to release the identity of their victims, some names have begun emerging on social media.
"My husband, Nicholas Thalasinos, was killed in the shooting," wrote Jennifer Thalasinos, a teacher, on her Facebook page.
According to the site Mass Shooting Tracker, the latest attack brings to 352 the number of mass shootings in the United States so far this year. A mass shooting is defined as four or more people shot in one incident.
Syed Farook, 28, and his 27-year-old wife Tashfeen Malik died in a ferocious shootout with police after Wednesday's rampage at a holiday party in San Bernardino, about an hour's drive east of Los Angeles.
The attack, which left 21 people wounded, was the deadliest in the United States since the 2012 massacre at a school in Connecticut that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.
San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan said Farook and his wife -- who dropped off their baby daughter with Farook's mother shortly before the killings -- fired between 65 and 75 rounds during the attack at a social services center that required "a degree of planning.
But just the latest mass shooting in the United States could have been worse, after Burguan revealed that explosives rigged to a remote-controlled car were found at the scene of the carnage but the device failed to go off.
Another 1,600 rounds of ammunition were found on the couple and in their bullet-riddled black SUV after a police chase and shootout in which they died. Two police officers were wounded in the rapid exchange of gunfire on a quiet residential street, though neither seriously.
About 5,000 additional rounds, 12 pipe bomb-type explosive devices and bomb-making material were also found at the home the couple shared.
"Nobody just gets upset at a party, goes home and puts together that kind of elaborate scheme," Burguan said, after indications that Farook had attended the party organized by the health department and left after an apparent dispute, only to return a short time later with Malik.
"There was some planning that went into this."
US President Barack Obama, who ordered flags on government buildings, embassies and military installations to be flown at half-staff until Monday, cautioned 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 on the Republican-controlled Congress to pass tougher gun control measures.
"It is possible that this was terrorist-related, but we don't know. It's also possible that this was workplace-related."
The FBI also cautioned that it was "way too early" to speculate on the motive.
Muslim Vigil
Media reports said Farook, who is US-born and worked for the local county as an environmental inspector, had met his Pakistan-born wife during a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2013 and may have been radicalized.
Burguan said Farook had brought his wife back to the United States in July last year and that both had had no previous brushes with the law.
CNN quoted law enforcement officials as saying he had been in touch via social media and by phone with international terror subjects known to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The couple were dressed in black 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.
Farook's brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, said he had no clue what prompted the carnage.
"I am in shock that something like this could happen," a visibly shaken Khan told a press conference organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which denounced the killings.
Local Muslim officials in San Bernardino said a prayer vigil would be held at the local mosque later Thursday to honor the victims.
"We condemn this senseless and horrific act of violence in the strongest possible terms," said Ahsan Khan, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community chapter in Los Angeles.
"Our community has been in San Bernardino County for nearly three decades, and yet have never seen such depravity."
'American Dream'
Local media quoted one of Farook's co-workers as saying he and his wife seemed happy and appeared to be "living the American dream."
"He never struck me as a fanatic, he never struck me as suspicious," Griselda Reisinger, who worked with Farook until changing jobs in May, told The Los Angeles Times.
Witnesses at the original scene recounted barricading themselves in offices and hiding as the sound of gunfire erupted, before the couple made their escape, sparking a massive hunt for the pair.
Although officials have yet to release the identity of their victims, some names have begun emerging on social media.
"My husband, Nicholas Thalasinos, was killed in the shooting," wrote Jennifer Thalasinos, a teacher, on her Facebook page.
According to the site Mass Shooting Tracker, the latest attack brings to 352 the number of mass shootings in the United States so far this year. A mass shooting is defined as four or more people shot in one incident.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
