2 suspects killed in gun battle after mass shooting in San Bernadino
A man and a woman connected to a mass shooting that left 14 people dead and 17 wounded in San Bernardino were killed in a firefight with police officers after a car chase Wednesday, authorities said.
Two law enforcement sources identified one of the suspects as Syed Farook. Two separate law enforcement sources said one of the suspected gunmen was an American citizen, but declined to identify them.
Public records show a person named Syed R. Farook was employed by the San Bernardino County Health department as an environmental health specialist, but it was not clear if that was the same person involved in the shooting.
The identity of the man and woman killed by police was not immediately known.
Police tracked the alleged assailants to a home in the Redlands around 3 p.m., touching off a dramatic televised car chase that ended in a shootout on the streets of San Bernardino, according to city police chief Jarrod Burguan.
A police officer was also wounded in the gun battle, but is expected to survive.
A federal law enforcement source told The Times the suspects hurled what were believed to be pipe bombs at police during the vehicle pursuit. Burguan said police recovered one device, but it turned out not to be an explosive.
A third person was detained in the area where the pursuit ended. That person�s
connection to the shooting was unknown.
The chase came four hours after assailants opened fire at a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center, a social services office that aids people with developmental disabilities.
A senior federal official who is monitoring the case said investigators believe one of the shooters left the party after getting into an argument and returned with one or two armed companions. Local officials at an evening news conference said it was not clear whether the people involved in the dispute were the same people involved in the shooting.
The shooters carried long guns and wore masks when they opened fire around 11 a.m. in a large conference room where San Bernardino County health department employees were gathered, according to witnesses and officials.
In an exchange overheard on a law enforcement radio channel, an official can be heard telling a dispatcher Farook was at the meeting, referring to where the shooting took place, and then left "out of the blue."
Farook "was acting nervous" and left the building approximately 20 minutes before the gunfire erupted, according to the recorded transmissions.
A black sport utility vehicle was seen fleeing from the office complex where the shooting occurred. Shortly before 3 p.m., police began pursuing a black SUV in San Bernardino.
TV footage showed dozens of heavily armed police officers approaching the SUV, and officers in tactical gear could be seen stalking through a San Bernardino neighborhood.
A body could be seen lying in the street near the vehicle. Blood was pooling nearby and a weapon was lying just feet away.
The motive for the attack remains unclear.
"Is this a terrorist incident? We do not know," said David Bowdich, assistant director of the FBI's Los Angeles field office.
Burguan said that at least one device police believed to be an explosive was recovered at the center, where authorities were expected to remain for several hours. Earlier in the day, a federal law enforcement official told The Times a robot had been used to dispose of a potential explosive device.
The shooting rippled across San Bernardino. All county schools, as well as city government buildings and courthouses, were on lockdown as police continued to search for the assailants. School officials, however, stressed students had not been in danger and were dismissed on the regular schedule.
During a news briefing, Burguan said information about the party being the focus of the attack was ";preliminary" and he declined to comment on a motive for the shooting.
"We have no information at this point to indicate that this is terrorist related, in the traditional sense that people may be thinking," Burguan said. "Obviously, at a minimum, we have a domestic terrorist-type situation that occurred here."
Hundreds of people were on the grounds at the time of the attack, Burguan said. Inland Regional Center officials said the conference room where the party was taking place can hold up to 200 people.
Dorothy Vong, a nurse who was working in a nearby building, captured the tension in a video.
As law enforcement officials sprinted toward the scene, someone can be heard saying, "Oh, that is scary."
"They're all geared up!" someone else says. "Rifles and everything!�
In the background, someone laughs. Then the reality sets in.
Carlos Ortiz's son Kevin Ortiz was shot twice in the leg and once in the shoulder.
Carlos Ortiz, 54, was among a dozen people holding hands in a prayer circle outside Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where numerous victims were taken.
"Kevin called me immediately after he got shot and said 'I've been shot three times, Dad. I'm in pain. Don't worry. There's a policeman with me."
Seconds later, the phone call ended.
Times staff writers James Queally, Richard Winton, Brian Bennett, Louis Sahagun, Rong-Gong Lin II and Taylor Goldenstein contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 11:29 PM with the headline "2 suspects killed in gun battle after mass shooting in San Bernadino ."