San Bernardino shooters had pipe bombs, ammunition

A dozen pipe bombs and more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition were discovered inside the Redlands home of the two people who killed 14 people at a medical facility and later died in a shootout with law enforcement officials Wednesday.

Furthermore, the number of injured victims increased from 17 to 21, San Bernardino police Chief Jarrod Burguan said during a news conference Thursday morning.

Among the 14 deceased victims in the San Bernardino mass shooting was Nicholas Thalasinos, according to The Israel Project's Facebook page.

Two officials were injured in the shootout with Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27. One - a San Bernardino police officer - was treated for gunshot to his left leg, and a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy cut his leg with broken glass or shrapnel.

Their injuries are not life threatening, Burguan said. He added the names of the 14 victims may be released throughout Thursday.

Farook and Malik, who are described as a married couple, took part in a mass shooting inside the Inland Regional Center.

They used four guns, which were all legally purchased, and a black Ford Expedition that had been rented days ago.

The shooters also had three pipe bombs that were combined into one device. Its remote control did not work and may have prevented it from detonating, the chief said.

Farook is an environmental health specialist with San Bernardino County. His brother-in-law, Farhan Khan, said his family was shocked at what happened.

"Why would he do something like this?" Khan asked, later saying the family is in a state of shock and disbelief about what happened.

The couple lived in Redlands with their 6-month-old daughter. She was dropped off earlier in the day with her grandparents. A neighbor said they lived in their Redlands home for five or six months.

Five people remained hospitalized at Loma Linda University Medical Center for gunshot wounds. Two people were in critical condition and three were in fair condition, Chief Executive Officer Kerry Heinrich said during a news conference Thursday morning.

He wouldn't elaborate on their conditions.

"The story for each of those patients is their story to tell," he said.

President Barack Obama issued a proclamation Thursday morning that the U.S. flag will be flown at half-staff through Monday at the White House and other public and government and military buildings.

"At this stage, we do not know why this terrible event occurred," he said in a statement. "It is possible this was terrorist-related, but we don't know. It's also possible this was workplace-related."

Timmy Hilliard, 35, a social worker at the Inland Regional Center, said he was doing paperwork in his office when a friend texted him there was a gunman in the complex. At first, he didn’t take the text seriously, but then he heard stomping feet, running down the hallway outside his office.

In the hallway, co-workers were shouting about gunshots, killers and death. They gathered in a room, then planned to hide inside and barricade the door, but Hilliard refused.

“I wasn’t going to hide in that damn room,” Hilliard said. “I’m not going to wait for a bullet to find me.”

Instead, Hilliard ducked into a difference office, then peered out of a window.

There were two bodies lying in the courtyard outside. A man was slumped on a bench, his head rolled backwards, limp. Nearby, a woman lay face down on the sidewalk in a pool of her own blood.

“It’s happening,” Hilliard told himself. “It’s real.”

In a panic, Hilliard began filming with his cell phone. He recorded out the window as police swarmed a building across the courtyard, then began carrying out more than a dozen wounded and deceased. Eventually, officers spotted Hilliard in the window, then commanded him to rejoin his co-workers, who were still in hiding. Hilliard returned to the group, and was evacuated with the rest of the crowd.

Like just about everyone else in San Bernardino, Hilliard said he never expected mass shooting to come to his city.

“We are a disability facility. We help, we assist,” Hilliard said. “We don’t take kids from homes, and we don’t do anything controversial. Why would they attack us?”

Burguan said that besides the local and county police agencies, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also investigating. He said authorities do not have a motive for the attack.

The FBI is now leading the investigation. David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the FBI Los Angeles office, stopped short of describing the incident as terrorism Wednesday night.

"We will go where the evidence leads us. It is a possibility. But, we don't know that," he said.

Jim Bueermann, a former Redlands police chief who is now the head of The Police Foundation, a Washington D.C. policy group, said the level of firepower carried by the suspects suggested that they may have been planning other attacks.

“It is becoming rather apparent that these folks had something else in mind than simply shooting up a bunch of innocent people,” Bueermann said

When asked if the shooting appeared to be terrorism, Bueermann said the label mostly came down to a difference of definition. Federal authorities have strict standards for what constitutes terrorism, but the average civilian does not.

“For the people who lost loved ones in this incident, and for the people who were present when this was going on in that room, there is no doubt in their mind that it was a terrorist act,” Bueermann said.

Burguan, the San Bernardino police chief, wouldn’t say if he thought the suspects were planning a larger attack, but he said they certainly had enough firepower to do so.

“Clearly they were equipped, and they could’ve continued to do another attack,” Burguan. “We intercepted them before that happened.”

Investigators, acting on a tip, went to a home in Redlands and spotted an SUV leaving the property. They gave chase, stopped the SUV at Mountain View and Richardson in San Bernardino where a gun battle ensued. The two suspects were killed in that confrontation.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department tweeted that an officer was “struck” by gunfire in the confrontation with the suspects and suffered “non-life threatening injuries.”

A third person was spotted running from the scene and was detained by authorities, however they don't believe that person was involved in the mass shootings, according to Burguan.

"We are reasonably confident at this point that we had two shooters and we have two dead suspects," he said.

The neighborhood where the two suspects were killed is believed to be safe, Burguan said, adding that authorities were still investigating the Redlands home. Authorities began processing the scene after using a robot to search the residence off Redlands Boulevard, not far from the intersection of North Center Street and Buena Vista.

Burguan also said that law enforcement personnel were investigating a "device believed to be an explosive" that was found earlier Wednesday inside the regional center, near the site of the mass shooting. Officials later disposed of that device, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

Shortly after 11 a.m., possibly two shooters, armed with long guns believed to be "assault-style weapons" burst into a conference center adjacent to the Inland Regional Center offices, 1365 S. Waterman Ave. and began firing, officials said.

The center is a social services and medical facility that serves people with developmental disabilities, according to its Facebook page. It has 670 employees and 30,200 clients.

"I think that based upon what we have seen and how they were equipped there had to be some kind of planning in this," Burguan said.

Keith Nelson, vice president of the Inland Regional Center Board, confirmed that the conference room was rented out for a meeting involving San Bernardino County employees.

Burguan described the meeting as a "holiday party."

"[Farook] did leave the party early under circumstances that were described as angry or something of that nature." Burguan said.

The Inland Regional Center serves as a hub for disability services for Riverside and San Bernardino counties and provides support to Desert Arc, a nonprofit in Palm Desert that works with people with disabilities.

The two offices are closely connected, said Josiah Gonzalez, Desert Arc social media and marketing assistant.

“There’s certainly people from the valley who have to use that office,” Gonzalez said. “It depends on what service you need specifically, sometimes there’d be classes or materials you need to pick up that you would go to the Regional Center for.”

Lanani Severns was sitting on a rock outside an office building near the regional center offices at the time of the shootings. She said she was making a phone call when she heard 15-20 shots ring out from a nearby golf course.

Looking down, she said she saw a chair and an ice chest, which lead her to believe the shots were fired by a hunter.

Severns said she was frozen with fear and couldn’t move for several minutes until she saw police begin to arrive. “Then I realized they couldn’t be a hunter because it (was such) rapid fire.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” she said, still visibly shaking.

Alan Ayers said he was making his way to a nearby LA Fitness gym when he said he heard shots. He estimated he was about 400 yards from where the shots originated.

“It all happens so fast and gets you so fast. I’m just praying for the victims,” he said.

Matt Burkert, 51, of Yucaipa was parked outside the regional center while waiting for his wife, who works at a nearby San Bernardino County Child Protective Services office, which had been placed on lockdown following the shootings. He said the scene was like “chaos.”

Shootings happen on a regular basis across the country, Burkert added, but no one expected one to happen in San Bernardino.

“This is a time when you want the Second Amendment to go away. Guns belong in the hands of professionals,” he said. “These shooters with AK-47s, unlimited rounds and body armor — that has got to stop.”

Olivia Navarro, who waited outside the police perimeter, said her daughter, Jamile, an employee at the Inland Regional Center, was in the building when the gunmen entered. Jamile ran into a room, cut the lights and locked the door. Then she called her mother on her cell phone, speaking in hushed tones.

“She told me what was happening – and what might happen,” Navarro said, weeping.

Eventually, somehow, Jamile escaped the building, and was evacuated by authorities. Navarro said she had gotten word her daughter was safe, but she was still baffled by the attack on the center.

“They have people there who help children,” Navarro said. “Why would anyone want to hurt people that help children? I don’t understand.”

At about 1 p.m., Loma Linda Medical University Hospital in Loma Linda reported it received four adult patients and was expecting at least three more.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton was treating six patients, a spokeswoman said. No other information was provided.

At 2:40 p.m., a bomb threat was called in at Loma Linda, according to a hospital news release. Students were evacuated and law enforcement screened the campus. Hospital officials said Thursday morning that were no plans to relocate the shooting victims.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center reported Wednesday afternoon one patient had been discharged and another five were still being treated.

A third hospital, Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley, took in two victims and sent at least one into surgery, spokeswoman Kim Trone said.

Several roads were shut down in the area and remained closed Wednesday evening.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department reported that an area near Park Center is “very active” and people should avoid the scene.

Soon after the shootings, triage units were set up near the regional center, and some people were seen being wheeled away on gurneys. Others walked quickly as they were led away by authorities.

At a Shell gas station about a block from the shooting site, store manager Ana Fuentes said there was a flood of police activity in the area.

“There’s maybe like 150 cops going toward Hospitality Lane,” she said, as sirens echoed in the background.

Scanner traffic indicates local authorities are being notified about the shooting suspect. But officials with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and Palm Springs Police Department say they have not been called in to assist at the scene.

The Desert Sun has several reporters and photographers providing updates at the scene.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.