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               One Suspect Identified in California Mass Shooting

   by VOA News

   Authorities have identified one of the suspects in Wednesday's shooting
   at a social services agency in San Bernardino, California that left 14
   people dead and 17 others wounded.

   News outlets say they have learned from various law enforcement sources
   that an American citizen named Syed Farook was one of at least two
   heavily armed assailants who stormed a conference center at the Inland
   Regional Center wearing "assault-style" clothing and opened fire at
   participants at a Christmas party.

   Hours later, two of the suspects, a man and woman, were killed in a
   shootout with police after the SUV they fled the scene in was spotted
   in the nearby town of Redlands.  A police officer was wounded during
   the shootout, but is expected to survive.

   The Los Angeles Times says Farook was one of the people killed in the
   shootout.  A third suspect was arrested while trying to flee the
   shootout, but San Bernardino police chief Jarrod Burguan told reporters
   it is unclear if he was involved in the massacre.

   ''

   The Christmas party was being held on the campus of the Inland Regional
   Center, which provides services for developmentally disabled people,
   for employees of the San Bernardino County Department of Public
   Health.  Public records show Farook was employed by the department as
   an environmental health specialist.

   Burguan described the shootings as a case of "domestic terrorism," but
   said he does not know what the motive might have been. He said the
   possibility of a workplace dispute is being looked at. Burguan did not
   say if the dead and wounded worked at the handicapped center or were
   clients.

   David Bowdich, an assistant director for the FBI's Los Angeles office,
   said it was unclear if the attack had anything to do with terrorism,
   but added that "we are definitely making some movements that it is a
   possibility."

   ''

   Early Thursday morning, late Wednesday night California time, Farook's
   brother-in-law, Farhan Kahn, offered his condolences for the victims at
   a press conference held by the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on
   American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Kahn said he had no idea why Farook
   carried out the attack.

   "We unequivocally condemn the horrific act that happened today," CAIR
   executive director Hussam Ayloush told reporters.  "We stand in
   solidarity in repudiating any possible ideology or mindset that could
   have led to such [a] horrific act."

   Bomb disposal technicians were dispatched to the center after one
   device believed to be an explosive was discovered on the grounds.
   Police also deployed a robot at a house in Redlands linked to Farook to
   search for possible explosives.

   ''

   In comments to CBS television, President Barack Obama said the U.S. has
   a pattern of mass shootings that has no parallel anywhere else in the
   world.

   He said there are steps that can be taken to make Americans safer,
   adding that officials in every level of government should come together
   on a bipartisan basis to make such shootings rare instead of normal.

   The two leading U.S. presidential candidates reacted by Twitter.
   Democrat Hillary Clinton said she refuses "to accept this as normal. We
   must take action to stop gun violence now."

   Republican Donald Trump said the shooting "looks very bad." He wished
   good luck to officers on the scene and said this is when police are "so
   appreciated."

   This shooting comes less than a week after a gunman killed three people
   and wounded nine in a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic
   in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In October, a gunman killed nine people
   at a college in Oregon and in June a white gunman killed nine black
   churchgoers in South Carolina.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/california-mass-shooting/3085687.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/california-mass-shooting/3085687.html