President Barack Obama said on Thursday that the California shooting that left at least 14 people dead and wounded 21 others could be related to terrorism, but left open the potential that a workplace grievance may have been the motive.
In a sign that authorities are considering the possibility of terrorism, the US president said the FBI had taken over the investigation from local authorities. But he said the motive for the attack in San Bernardino was still unclear and could be a mix of issues.
The two suspects killed in a shootout with police on Wednesday were identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29. They had a massive arsenal of weapons on them during the shooting and at their residence in nearby Redlands, according to Jarrod Burguan, the San Bernardino police chief.
“It’s possible that this is terrorist-related but we don’t know,” said Mr Obama in an Oval Office briefing, flanked by Vice-President Joe Biden, the FBI director James Comey and Loretta Lynch, attorney-general. “Our expectation is that this may take some time [to sort out]. There may be mixed motives.”
The suspects fired up to 75 rounds of ammunition at the Inland Regional Center, which provides services for more than 30,200 people with disabilities in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said Mr Burguan. Authorities also found three pipe bombs combined into one device that was tied to a remote control toy car that failed to work.
The suspects shot another 76 rifle rounds in the stand-off with police that followed a hunt for them. In all, they had a stockpile of about 6,000 rounds of ammunition, while 12 pipe bombs were found at their home, in addition to hundreds of tools that could be used to construct improvised explosive devices and pipe bombs, said Mr Burguan.
