After Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, there’s still a lot of questions—but here’s what we know (and what police have released to the public) already:
14 people have been killed at the Inland Regional Center, a nonprofit that works with people with developmental disabilities. The shooting happened during their Christmas party.
Both suspects fled the scene, but were killed in a shootout.
Police have confirmed that there were two shooters: Syed Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27. A third person was suspected of being part of the crime, but was ultimately deemed to be uninvolved.
Farook attended the Christmas party at the Inland Regional Center, but left early after becoming angry.
Farook was described as a “very religious” Muslim—and he’s become dramatically more religious in the past two years. A neighbor described Farook like this: “He was quiet but always polite. Maybe two years ago he became more religious. He grew a beard and started to wear religious clothing. The long shirt that’s like a dress and the cap on his head.”
Farook recently traveled to Saudi Arabia—a country that churns out radical Islamic terrorists. He came back with Malik, who he met online. Farouk was an American citizen, Malik was not.
Farook had worked for the state government, and occasionally would have business at the Inland Regional Center, where the tragedy occurred. Though, at one point, he threatened to shoot up the place after getting into a fight with a coworker, it’s uncertain whether or not this was workplace violence or a terrorist attack.
However, it looks increasingly like terrorism: Farook and Malik were well-armed, set booby traps in their home, and wore tactical gear.
Democrats are already politicizing the tragedy. Obama, in an interview on Wednesday night, said there are more “steps we can take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don’t happen as frequently.” Hillary Clinton called for increased background checks.
