Two suspects involved in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. Wednesday are dead with a possible third detained by police.
The shootings, which left 14 dead and 18 wounded, occurred at the Inland Regional Center. The facility, located about 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, provides services to individuals with developmental disabilities in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
The shooters were identified as 27-year-old Tashfeen Malik and 28-year-old Syed Rizwan Farook. The two are believed to have been married or engaged, according to San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan, who updated reporters late Wednesday evening.
Farook, an environmental specialist in San Bernardino County’s public health department, had departed angrily from a holiday party for county employees held at the Inland Regional Center. A motive for the shootings has not yet been determined, but Burguan said some planning was likely involved on the part of the shooters who came into the facility armed with assault rifles and clothed in tactical gear.
Devices believed to be explosives were left at the scene and have since been disposed of by bomb squad team members. “We have not ruled out terrorism,” Burguan said.
Police are urging people to stay away from the area, with businesses and residents on alert.
Two major retail properties are located within a three-mile radius of the crime scene, which is likely to be compressed into a smaller area by early Thursday as officials continue their investigation, according to Burguan. One of those malls is the Carousel Mall, a property that’s suffered from high vacancies over the past several years. The other, located just a few blocks away, is Macerich’s Inland Center mall. The center, anchored by Sears and Macy’s, shuttered its doors Wednesday. A note posted earlier in the day on its Web site said it expected to reopen Thursday at 9 a.m.