Global Information2015 San Bernardino attack information
| 2015 San Bernardino attack | |
|---|---|
  San Bernardino  San Bernardino | |
| Location | Inland Regional Center San Bernardino, California, U.S. |
| Coordinates |
|
| Date | December 2, 2015 10:58 a.m. – 3:14 p.m. (PST) |
| Target | San Bernardino County employees attending a holiday event |
Attack type | Mass shooting, mass murder, terrorism, shootout, workplace shooting |
| Weapons |
|
| Deaths | 16 (including both perpetrators) |
| Injured | 24[3][4][5] |
| Perpetrators | Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik |
| Motive | Islamic terrorism[6] |
On December 2, 2015, a terrorist attack, consisting of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing, occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, United States. The perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple living in the city of Redlands, targeted a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health training event and Christmas party of about 80 employees in a rented banquet room. Fourteen people were killed and 22 others were seriously injured. Farook was an American born citizen of Pakistani descent, who worked as a health department employee. Malik was a Pakistani-born green card holder. After the shooting, the couple fled in a rented Ford Expedition SUV. Four hours later, police pursued their vehicle and killed them in a shootout, which also left two officers injured.
According to the FBI's investigation, the perpetrators were "homegrown violent extremists" inspired by foreign terrorist groups. They were not directed by such groups and were not part of any terrorist cell or network. FBI investigators have said that Farook and Malik had become radicalized over several years prior to the attack, consuming "poison on the internet" and expressing a commitment to jihadism and martyrdom in private messages to each other. Farook and Malik had traveled to Saudi Arabia in the years before the attack. The couple had amassed a large stockpile of weapons, ammunition, and bomb-making equipment in their home.
Enrique Marquez Jr., a friend and former neighbor of Farook's, was investigated in connection with his purchase of the two rifles used in the attack. Marquez was arrested in December 2015, and later pleaded guilty to federal charges of providing material support for terrorism and making false statements in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. Marquez also admitted that, in 2011, he conspired with Farook to carry out shooting and bombing attacks, plans which were abandoned at the time. Three other people, including Farook's brother and sister-in-law, were arrested for immigration fraud in connection with a sham marriage between Marquez and Mariya Chernykh (the sister-in-law of Farook's brother). All three pleaded guilty.
The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting,[7][8] the deadliest terrorist attack to occur in the U.S. since the September 11 attacks and the deadliest mass shooting in California since the 1984 San Ysidro McDonald's massacre. It was surpassed by the Orlando nightclub shooting in June 2016.[9]
- ^ Blankstein, Andrew; Jamieson, Alastair (December 3, 2015). "San Bernardino Shooters Used Four Guns, Explosive Device: ATF". NBC News. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ Jones, Ashby; Frosch, Dan (December 3, 2015). "Rifles Used in San Bernardino Shooting Illegal Under State Law: Weapons were legally purchased with magazine locking devices but altered to make them more powerful, ATF finds". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
- ^ Serrano, Richard A.; Esquivel, Paloma; Winton, Richard (December 2, 2015). "Authorities identify couple who they believe killed 14 at San Bernardino Christmas party". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 2, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
- ^ "Police now say 21 people wounded in attack at California social service agency". Associated Press. December 3, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "San Bernardino Shooting: 22nd injured victim steps forward, FBI says". The Press Enterprise. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
- ^ "F.B.I. Treating San Bernardino Attack as Terrorism Case". The New York Times. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- ^ Schuppe, Jon; Chuck, Elizabeth; Kwong, Helen (December 2, 2015). "San Bernardino Shooting is Deadliest Since Newtown". NBC News. Archived from the original on December 3, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ "San Bernardino shootings investigated as terrorism – FBI". BBC News. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on December 4, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
- ^ Chang, Cindy (December 26, 2015). "San Bernardino shootings cast a somber tone over Muslim conference in Chino". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2015. Retrieved December 28, 2015.