
A Muslim U.S. citizen and his wife burst into his office holiday party with assault rifles and tactical clothing, massacred 14 and injured 17 before they were both shot dead in a police chase through suburban San Bernardino.

Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, was at the celebration for local health officials but reportedly left angry before returning heavily armed with wife Tashfeen Malik, 27, and opening fire at the city's Inland Regional Center Wednesday morning.

The two escaped the scene before being tracked by police to a home one city over. They sped away from the house in a black SUV, shooting at police out the back window and reportedly throwing pipe bombs before the two were shot dead. They were armed with assault rifles and semi-automatic handguns.

Farook and Malik, who are thought to have married earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, are parents to a young child, now orphaned, whom they left with a grandparent before heading out on their murder spree.

Dramatic aerial images show the aftermath of the police chase, which came to an end around a mile and a half from the scene of the massacre.

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Syed Rizwan Farook (pictured), 28, who is U.S.-born, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, were killed in a gun battle with police after the mass shooting at a government holiday party held at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino. He uploaded this image to dating site imilap.com, an Indian dating site focused on finding husbands and wives for singles

Local news footage shows one of the dead attackers outside the shot-out SUV. The suspect was killed in a police chase while still inside the vehicle, then moved on the street

This image appears to show a body being pulled from the vehicle after the attackers had been killed

The second attacker, who is believed to have tried to run from the SUV, can be seen in a pool of blood in the bottom-right ot this image, taken from local news footage

A differently-angled aerial shot of the scene shows the second attacker on the other side of the street from the SUV, which has had its passenger-side front and back windows shot out

The shooters began their massacre at the Inland Regional Center (top left) before fleeing. Police later traced them to a home in Redlands (bottom right), where a chase began which ended on San Bernardino Avenue (top center), where the two were shot dead

Heavily-armed officers are seen closing in on the SUV which the two killers drove on a deadly chase through San Bernardino

The bodies of Farook and Malik can be seen near their shot-out SUV, surrounded by heavily-armed officers. One of the was killed in the passenger seat and later removed from the vehicle, while another of the pair appears to have bolted from the vehicle and been gunned down not far away.

Fragments of video from witnesses on the ground showed the killers and officers exchanging gunfire on the roads of San Bernardino as bystanders ducked for cover. The chase ended some time between 3pm and 4pm Wednesday - as long as five hours after the massacre began.

A source told CNN that the suspects threw pipe bombs out of the windows of the vehicle before the shootout with police.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the suspects threw a thick-gauge copper pipe out of the SUV, but no explosives were found inside. The fake pipe bomb was equipped with a piece of material made to look like a wick.

One officer was hit in the shoot-out, and was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

In the hours after the shooting, more information emerged about Farook, who was born in the U.S., and Malik, whom is he thought to have met and married in Saudi Arabia before bringing him home to Redlands, California with him.

This cell-phone video from a bystander shows the SUV driving past, pursued by police. It aired first on Fox News's The Kelly File on Wednesday night

The footage captured the SUV moving surprisingly slowly down a suburban street as gunshots echoed

Syed Farook's brother-in-law Farhan Khan (pictured) spoke at a press conference held at the offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Anaheim to say he was stunned to hear of his relative's involvement in the shooting

Police have yet to offer a clear motive for the attack, though federal agencies have yet to rule out terrorism, and are hunting for links to ISIS and other extremist groups. Farook, an environmental specialist with the county health department, has been described as a 'devout' Muslim.

Co-worker Patrick Baccari says Farook was gone for about a month in the spring. When he returned, word got around Farook had been married, and the woman he described as a pharmacist joined him shortly afterward.

Baccari says the reserved Farook showed no signs of unusual behavior, although he grew out his beard several months ago.

He said he had been sitting at the same table as Farook at the party on Wednesday morning, but his co-worker suddenly disappeared, leaving his coat behind. Baccari escaped most of the carnage as he was in the bathroom when the shooting started, and sustained only minor wounds from shranpnel which made it through the wall.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said that Farook was 'angry' when he left the party, before returning with Malik and a stash of heavy weapons. Burguan said that there was obviously 'some degree of planning involved' in the attack.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Farook met Malik online then traveled to Saudai Arabia to marry her. Colleagues told the Times that Farook was a devout Muslim, but rarely discussed religion at work.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), says the couple left their baby with its grandmother Wednesday morning and never returned.

A dramatic police shootout was underway in San Bernardino as police closed in on the terror gunman suspected of killing 14 and injuring another 17 at a disabled learning center on Wednesday morning

Police said a third person was detained. It is not clear whether they are connected to the incident.

Farook's brother-in-law Farhan Khan spoke at a press conference held at the offices of the CAIR in Anaheim to say he was stunned to hear of his relative's involvement in the shooting.

Khan, who is married to Farook's sister, said he last spoke to him a week ago. He said he had 'absolutely no idea why he would do this. I am shocked myself.'

'I just cannot express how sad I am for what happened today. I am very sad that people lost their lives. I am shock that something like this could happen.' Khan said other family members asked him to speak at the news conference, and to express their sadness over the shootings.

The FBI are considering domestic terrorism and workplace violence as potential motives in the killing, which is the worst since Sandy Hook elementary school was attacked in 2012.

After Farook and Malik were killed, police served a search warrant on a home in Redlands, believed to be the one where the chase began.

Around six vehicles carrying helmeted police drove into the area. One officer carrying an assault rifle ordered reporters to clear the area, and an armored vehicle parked outside a row of homes.

A police helicopter hovers around the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, the scene of a mass shooting on Wednesday morning

Authorities guard the perimeter near the location of an officer-involved shooting in San Bernardino, California following a mass shooting that killed 14 people at a social services center for the disabled

Dozens of police cars have been pictured lined up along the street as armed officers sweep through the neighborhood, saying they are still responding to an 'active situation'

Heavily armed officers are still sweeping the area around San Bernardino Avenue, around a mile and a half from where the original shooting took place, though they are not sure if another suspect is still on the loose

A police spokesman said that officers are still unsure if there were two or three shooters, but that if the third suspect does exist, then they are still on the loose

Police also confirmed that an officer, believed to be from the San Bernardino county force, was wounded in a shoot-out with the suspects and is now in hospital with non-life threatening injuries

Stories also began to emerged from those inside the conference center. Shortly before noon, dozens of people were seen existing the building with their hands up. Others were seen being taken away by paramedics on gurneys. According to the New York Times, those who fled were brought to a golf course behind, but were then moved from the scene due to a 'potential explosive device.'

The Los Angeles Times reported how one victim hid under a desk when she was shot once in the lower back.

Denise Peraza, 27, told relatives that two armed men, dressed in black, wearing black masks entered and started shooting at random.

'Everyone dropped to the floor. It was during a holiday party,' Peraza said. 'The guys opened fired for 30 seconds, randomly, then paused to reload and began firing again.'

REVEALED: ARMORY OF HUSBAND-AND-WIFE KILLER DUO WHO USED 'MILITARY TACTICS' IN POLICE SHOOTOUT Police revealed late Wednesday that Farook and Malik were armed with two assault rifles and two automatic handguns in their battle to the death with the cops. Officials told the LA Times that a .223-caliber DPMS Model A15 rifle and a Smith and Wesson M&P15 rifle were both recovered from the scene. They also found a handgun made by Llama and a Smith and Wesson handgun. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said they traced the guns and found that two of them were bought legally, though it did not specify which guns and who purchased them. It came as a police source speaking to Fox News said the killer duo used 'military tactics' to confront police. They reportedly had body-mounted cameras, which would have allowed them to record the massacre. Advertisement

She said after the shooting, everything was silent for around five minutes until police entered and she was taken out of the building

Marcos Aquilera told KABC his wife was in the Inland building when a shooter burst in and opened fire.

'They locked themselves in her office. They seen bodies on the floor,' Aguilera said.

People inside the building sent panicked texts to friends and relatives as the gunmen armed with what has been described by CNN as AK-47s stormed the center.

SWAT officers have been pictured riding through the streets on the side of an armored vehicle carrying out house-to-house searches for a suspected third gunman who police say could still be on the loose

According to a police spokesman two suspects are 'being dealt with' around the shot-out SUV, while SWAT officers are believed to be checking the area for a possible third shoote

A woman named Holly who works at the learning center where the shooting took place texted her father, Terry Pettit: 'Shooting at my work. People shot. Waiting for cops to catch him. Pray for us.'

Pettit replied: 'Hide find a good spot hide now.'

Holly said: 'I am but we are locked in an office. Cops SWAT helicopter, everything here.'

Another worker named Gina texted her sister Monique: 'There's a shoot out at my work I'm scared.'

The San Bernardino Fire Department tweeted at around 11am local time that first responders were on the scene in 1300 block of South Waterman Avenue. The shooting occurred at the Inland Regional Center, a non-profit organization for people with disabilities.

Marybeth Feild, the president and CEO of the Inland Regional Center, said the shooting happened in the conference area of a building that houses at least 25 employees as well as a library.

Glenn Willwerth, who heard shots being fired, told Fox News that he saw a black SUV leaving the scene that was 'driving slowly and deliberately'. He said he saw people running frantically out of the building and hiding behind cars.

Victims are pictured outside the conference center after the shooting

A heavily-armed officer is pictured outside the conference center in the immediate aftermath of the shooting - while Farook and Malik were still on the run

A couple embrace following a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino, California

People are pictured being evacuated from the car park with their hands up after the shooting, which took place around 11.30am local time

Workers wept as they sat on the make-shift triage unit minutes after the shooting at Inland Regional Center

Survivors are evacuated from the scene of a shooting under police and sheriff's escort

A spent cartridge lies on the ground as police officers secure the area after gunmen opened fire

A day before the shooting, the San Bernardino center hosted a children's Christmas party.

While most of the center's youngest patients only come in for appointments, some of the most disabled are permanent residents.

A video posted on Twitter showed wheelchair-bound children beaming as they danced to the song Celebrate in one of the center's halls - and pictures posted to the center's official Facebook page show children receiving presents from Santa Claus.

SWAT teams were called in to clear the scene, according to Los Angeles News reporter Doug Sanders.

A bomb squad used a robot to detonate an apparent explosive device left at the scene, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing anonymous sources.

Loma Linda University Medical has received four patients in its trauma center and officials there were expecting three more. Hospital spokeswoman Briana Pastorino said she didn't know the patients' conditions.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, which is run by the county, has received eight patients.

Emergency services treat victims on the tarmac as police issued alerts to find as many as three shooters

The attackers were allegedly wearing bulletproof armor, armed with rifles, and left a suspicious package

One woman lies one the floor as her colleague wails in tears in the makeshift treatment center

One of the victims is stretchered out of the center, where they started doing active shooter drills last year

More than 200 staff members were ushered into a waiting area to be shuttled to a safe zone

The image on the left shows the conversation one man had with his daughter, Holly, who works in the building. The image on the right shows a text that Gina, a worker at Inland Regional Center, sent to her sister as the gunmen stormed the building

Workers and patients inside the building jumped under tables and turned off their cell phones to hide when shots began firing. Here, a man is pictured being carried to safety after apparently being shot

Workers wept as they sat on the make-shift triage unit minutes after the shooting at Inland Regional Center

President Barack Obama was briefed on the shooting in San Bernardino by homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco, and has asked to be kept informed as the situation develops.

In an interview with CBS News this afternoon, Obama addressed this latest shooting.

'We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world, and there are some steps we can take... to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently,' said the president.

The shooting in San Bernardino comes less than a week after a man opened fire at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado, killing a police officer and two civilians, and injuring nine others.

President Obama was in the middle of an interview with CBS News when news of the shooting broke