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Published On: Thu, Dec 3rd, 2015

San Bernardino terrorist attack: Syed Farook, Tashfeed Malik identified as two Muslim suspects killed by police

Two suspects died in a gun battle with police Wednesday hours after authorities say they were part of a group that entered into a holiday party at a center for people with developmental disabilities (Inland Regional Center) and killed 14 people. Seventeen people were wounded, according to authorities. Ten were hospitalized in critical condition, and three were in serious condition, Fire Chief Tom Hannemann said.

Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, has been identified as the couple killed by police after a shootout in the wake of the terrorist attack. Detectives followed tips and leads to the black SUV. A device that looked like a bomb also flew out of the vehicle, Meredith Davis with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives told CNN affiliate KCAL/KCBS.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan told reporters they were armed with “assault-style rifles and handguns.” A law enforcement official told CNN the rifles were AR-15s or similar style weapons, while some reports claim they were AK-47s.

UPDATE: The pair were armed with two rifles and two semiautomatic handguns. The rifles were a .223-caliber DPMS Model A15 and a Smith and Wesson M&P15. One of the handguns was manufactured by Llama, and the other by Smith and Wesson.

The man and the woman were dressed in what Burquan said was “assault-style clothing,” describing it as “dark, kind of tactical gear.”

“They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission,” Burguan said.

Investigators also discovered homemade bombs, but were unsure what the devices were made of, but that they are “leaning a little bit more toward a pipe bomb-type design.” Bomb squad officers disposed of three devices a couple of hours ago, Burguan said in a news conference late Wednesday.

Syed Farook

Syed Farook

“We believe that those were explosive devices,” Burguan said.

Survivors of the mass shooting told of hiding in offices, bathrooms and closets, texting their loved ones that they feared they were next to be shot.

The pair were married two years ago, according to Malik’s brother, Farhan Khan. The family has not been able to track down recently named suspect Syed Farook or his wife since Wednesday morning, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR (the Council on American Islamic Relations).

CNN reports that one of the suspects, Syed,  is an inspector with the county health department, who abruptly left the event at the Inland Regional Center before the shootings.

Farook had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia and returned with a woman he’d met online. The couple had a baby and appeared to be “living the American dream,” said Patrick Baccari, a fellow inspector who shared a cubicle with Farook.

Baccari and Christian Nwadike said Farook, who had worked with them for about three years, rarely started a conversation. But he was well-liked.

They and other colleagues said Farook was a devout Muslim who rarely discussed religion at work.

His father confirms Farook is a very devout Muslim: “He also identified his son as “very religious. He would go to work, come back, go to pray, come back. He’s Muslim.”

 

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About the Author

- Catherine "Kaye" Wonderhouse, a proud descendant of the Wunderhaus family is the Colorado Correspondent who will add more coverage, interviews and reports from this midwest area.

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    […] didn’t stop them in Boston, laws didn’t stop them in San Bernardino, where you had every type of gun control law you can have,” LaPierre said to Dickerson. “And […]

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    […] last time the Senate held votes on gun legislation was last December, a day after a Muslim husband-and-wife killed 14 people in San Bernardino, targeting a Christian-themed Christmas party. All four proposals were […]

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