Overview
The 2015 San Bernardino Shooting was a mass shooting that occurred at the Inland Regional Center, a not-for-profit agency providing services to people with developmental disabilities, in San Bernardino, California in early December, 2015.
Background
On December 2nd, 2015, the married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and wife Tashfeen Malik left their six-month-old daughter with Farook’s mother before traveling to the Inland Regional Center wearing ski masks, camouflage and armed with two AR-15 rifles and two semi-automatic pistols. The two opened fire on people in attendance of a holiday party for the San Bernardino County Department of Health, killing 14 people and injuring 21 others. The pair fled the scene and were pursued by law enforcement, ending in a shootout on East San Bernardino Boulevard approximately 1.7 miles away. Both suspects were killed and one officer was injured in the conflict.
Notable Developments
Shooters Identified
That evening, police identified the deceased suspects as Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Farook was a 28-year-old American citizen and son of Pakistani immigrants and Malik was a 27-year-old woman originally from Pakistan who Farook met during a trip to Saudi Arabia in the spring of 2014. The couple had a six-month-old daughter
Motive
The motive for the attack is currently under investigation. On December 2nd, rumors circulated that Farook was in attendance of the holiday party prior to the shooting and angrily left before returning with weapons and tactical gear. The following day, the FBI revealed that Farook had been in touch with people being investigated by the agency for international terrorism. Additionally, 12 pipe bombs and tools that could be used to construct various explosives were discovered in Farook’s home. That day, CNN[2] reported that Farook had been “radicalized” according to law enforcement officials. The FBI is currently treating the attack as a possible terrorism case.[4]
Online Reactions
On December 2nd, the KPCCRadio YouTube channel uploaded video footage of survivors being directed by police officers inside the Inland Regional Center following the shooting (shown below). The following day, Redditor CarlosWeiner submitted the footage to the /r/videos[3] subreddit, where it gathered upwards of 3,100 votes (83% upvoted) and 620 comments in less than 24 hours.
On Twitter, the misspelled hashtag #SanBernadino began trending worldwide. Additionally, the hashtag “#America_Burning” was tweeted by supporters of ISIS.
On December 3rd, the New York Daily ran the front page headline “God Isn’t Fixing This,” which featured tweets by Republican politicians mentioning “prayers” for victims of the shooting, referring to the statements as “platitudes” (shown below).
Search Interest
Not available.