A spent cartrdige lies on the ground near the scene of the shooting in San Bernardino.
Mario Anzuoni / Reuters
When Diana Perez heard the first shots on Wednesday, she thought someone was setting off fireworks for one of the annual holiday parties at the Inland Regional Center.
“The first thought was not, ‘shooter’ it was ‘fireworks,’” said the 28-year-old, who works at the center and spoke to BuzzFeed News by phone. “Then I looked out the window and there were, I think it was at least two men, who were dressed in dark vests and carrying big guns.”
Perez saw them enter “Building Three" at the Inland Resource Center, a space she said was often left unlocked and used to hold conferences and events. And then, within seconds, there was a barrage of gunfire.
Local police said most of the 14 people killed and 17 injured were part of a holiday party for hundreds of county government workers. On Wednesday night, more than 10 hours after the shooting took place, conflicting reports were still surfacing over the shooters and their potential motivations.
Police SWAT team units on an armored vehicle arrive outside the center.
Reuters
Police named Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27 — both killed in a shootout with authorities after a brief car chase — as two of the suspects who opened fire inside the building. They are believed to have been in a relationship, and possibly married, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said.
Farook was at the holiday party, but left "under circumstances that were described as angry" prior to the shooting, Burguan said. According to one version of events, supported by an unnamed federal officer quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Farook and at least one other person returned to the party and opened fire.
Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images
While some eyewitnesses reported two gunmen, others said that as many as three assailants opened fire. Police said they were still investigating the cause of the argument, and trying to assess if the shooters had any outside help.
“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.”
Eyewitnesses told BuzzFeed News that the attackers appeared well-trained on their assault rifles.
Denise Peraza, 27, said that when the doors to the conference room opened, two men dressed in black and wearing face masks opened fire for 30 seconds.
"The guys opened fire for 30 seconds, randomly, then paused to reload and began firing again.”
“Everyone dropped to the floor,” Peraza told her relatives, who relayed the conversation to the Times. “The guys opened fire for 30 seconds, randomly, then paused to reload and began firing again.”
Peraza was hiding under a desk when she was hit with a bullet in her lower back. She called her sister from her hospital bed to say that she would be OK.
Diana Ramos, 19, of San Bernardino told BuzzFeed News her 25-year-old sister, Esly Ramos, was a social worker with an office on the second floor of the building. At 10 a.m., Esly texted her sister "happy birthday." An hour later, she sent a second text: "There's a shooting going on outside. Don't tell mom. There's a man shooting outside the building."
Ramos told her sister that the gunshots were coming from next door.
Teresa Hernandez ® hugs Monique Gutierrez at the Rudy Hernandez Community Center as they wait for a relative.
Alex Gallardo / Reuters
“They put desks by the door so nobody could come in...it's scary to think that one moment your sister is texting you happy birthday and then the next moment she says there's a shooting outside."
A former employee who was with the survivors of the shooting on Wednesday relayed how they remembered Farook leaving the party just as they were getting ready to take a group photo.
“He came in late, looked a little upset…anxious, he wasn’t happy,” the former employee told BuzzFeed News on condition that he not be named because he did not have permission to speak with the media.
Witnesses said one of the shooters had pointed the gun at some people without shooting, but appeared to be deliberately shooting others.
"We left messages, texts, everything. Haven’t heard from her. I'm petrified. I'm worried and scared."
Ramos, Ortiz, and Peraza consider themselves lucky that they knew where their family members were. On Wednesday afternoon, Sherry Esquerra waited nervously outside a community center set up to reunite families with victims, as the hours passed without word on the whereabouts of her daughter, Shawna Timmons, and her son-in-law, Daniel Timmons.
"We left messages, texts, everything. Haven’t heard from her,” Esquerra told reporters at the scene. "I'm petrified. I'm worried and scared. I just want them to find out something. I know if she could text me or call me she would, and that makes me so much more worried.”
Buses filled with dozens of survivors of the shooting were still arriving at makeshift meeting points at nightfall. With each buses arrival, family members would rush forward and embrace their loved ones.
A crowd gathers behind police line.
Frederic J. Brown / AFP / Getty Images
“It’s been the longest day. At least my daughter sent a text, so I knew she was OK. I pray for those that are still waiting for their loved ones,” said Manuel Ortiz, whose daughter was one of the last pulled from the building as she barricaded herself and a co-worker in a closet. “I pray for the police who got my daughter and others out safely.”
According to local police, it took four minutes from the first 911 call for the first police officers to reach the scene. Chief Berguan said the suspects may have already fled the scene in a dark-colored SUV by the time police arrived.
"They came prepared to do what they did as if they were on a mission. They came in with a purpose," Berguan added, noting that the shooters were armed with long guns rather than handguns.
"They came in with the intent to do something."
Both shooters were armed with what Burguan said was essentially .223-caliber assault rifles — one a DPMS model A-15, the other a Smith & Wesson M&P-15 model. They were also armed with semi-automatic handguns, he added, and wearing tactical clothing.
Tactical teams clear the bullet-ridden SUV after a shootout.
KABC-TV
More than four hours later, as a special squad worked to clear the party hall of several explosive devices, officers engaged the SUV in a brief chase. On a residential street, a hail of gunfire erupted, sending bystanders and unsuspecting motorists scurrying for cover.
And then, almost as quickly as the attack unfolded, Farook and Malik were dead, their bullet-ridden SUV on full view of television news helicopters overhead.
A third person seen running away from the scene of the gun battle was detained, but Burguan said it was not yet clear if he was involved. Still, he added, it was possible others had been involved in planning the attack.
FBI officials also could not immediately rule out terrorism as investigators work to determine a motive, something that would no doubt focus attention on Farook's relationships at work.
Public records showed a man named Syed Farook worked as an environmental health specialist for San Bernardino County with an annual salary of $51,747.
Farhan Khan.
KNBC-TV
Farhan Khan, Farook's brother-in-law, said at a news conference that his family was in a state of shock and could offer no insight into a possible motive.
“I cannot express how sad I am for what happened today,” Khan said. “I have no idea why he would do that.”
Whatever the motive, the shooters were well armed. Burguan said they both carried assault rifles and semi-automatic handguns, and, gauging from their equipment and attire, it appeared there "had to be some sort of planning that went into this."
Still, he added: "We are reasonably confident that we have two shooters, and we have two dead suspects."
LINK: Here’s What We Know About The Suspects In The San Bernardino Shooting
LINK: At Least 14 Killed In San Bernardino Shooting; 2 Suspects Dead
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