Pak-origin couple kills 14 X-mas revellers
Highlights
At least 14 people were killed and 17 were severely injured in a mass shooting that took place at a social service centre on Wednesday in San Bernardino, a city in California State.
California (Agencies) : At least 14 people were killed and 17 were severely injured in a mass shooting that took place at a social service centre on Wednesday in San Bernardino, a city in California State.
A heavily-armed man and woman, wearing military-style clothing, opened fire at the Inland Regional Center, which helps adults with disabilities. Hours later they were gunned down when police confronted them in their getaway vehicle. One police officer was injured.
The latest shooting rampage at a holiday party on the campus of an agency that serves the developmentally disabled marked the deadliest U.S. gun violence since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, in which 27 people, including the gunman, were killed.
A Los Angeles-based Muslim advocacy group claimed that they knew one of the attackers and had identified him as one Syed Farook (28). The group also identified the woman attacker as Farook’s wife, Tashfeen Malik (27). Both left behind a six-month-old daughter and were married for two-years.
At a news conference called by the Los Angeles area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a man who identified himself as Farhan Khan said his sister was married to Farook. Khan said he had no idea what might have motivated Farook to carry out the attack, and said his relative was a U.S. citizen.
“Why would he do that? Why would he do something like this? I have absolutely no idea, I am in shock myself,” Khan said. Farook and his wife have been missing since Wednesday morning, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR in the Los Angeles area.
According to county documents, Syed Farook was as an employee of the San Bernardino County Environmental Health Department. Staff members from that department had gathered on Wednesday for the party where the shooters opened fire.
The police said they also detained an individual seen running away from the vehicle, but investigators were not immediately sure that person was involved in the case, Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said. Burguan confirmed that the two suspects who were killed were armed with assault rifles and handguns and were dressed in “assault-style” clothing. The police chief said he knew of no possible motive for the attack.
After initial concerns that there could have been a third shooter, police are now confident there were only two. Hours after the attack began, following a chase and a shootout with at least 20 police officers, the two suspects were dead. One officer suffered injuries that are not life-threatening.
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