San Bernardino killers had a house full of bombs and ammo

Haunting new details are emerging about the Wednesday attack on a public health center that left 14 dead and 21 wounded.

In a press conference, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan told reporters that police found 12 pipe bombs inside a home in Redlands, Ca. that was raided last night, along with “hundreds of tools” that could be used to make more bombs. Thousands of rounds of ammunition were found inside the home.

“They were equipped and could have committed another shooting but we intercepted them before that,” the chief said. As police surrounded the home on Wednesday night, a black Ford Expedition took off, initiating a police chase, ending in both suspects being shot and killed by police.

“They were equipped and could have committed another shooting but we intercepted them before that” — San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan

All of the weapons involved in the shooting were purchased legally, the chief said. Two of the pistols were purchased by Syed Farook, one of the suspects, who had a clean criminal record. The rifles were purchased legally by another person, but the police chief was unable to verify who made the purchase. He was unable to confirm if the weapons are legal in California, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation.

“This is not your average investigation,” said David Bowdich, Assistant Director of the FBI in Los Angeles. “We have multiple scenes, we have many victims, and it will take time.”

There was an obvious amount of pre-planning that went into the incident, Bowdich said, but “it would be way too early to speculate the motive.”

Federal officials have been flown in from Washington to assist in the investigation, said Bowdich. Evidence will be flown to the capital tonight for analysis, he added.

Names and photos of the 14 victims were set to be released throughout the day, the police chief said.

Further details about the two suspects, Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik, are being unveiled. The two met online during a trip Farook took abroad last year. Malik was a Pakistani national, the Los Angeles Times reported. Little else is known of her background.

Court documents obtained by the paper show that Farook endured a turbulent home life as a child, with an alcoholic father who frequently abused his wife and children, and often threatened to commit suicide.

“He is always mad,” Farook’s mother said in a document quoted by the paper. “Screaming on me, shouting at my kids for no reason. … My son came in between to save me.”

Prior to launching the attack, the couple brought their daughter, a newborn, to the home of Farook’s mother, saying they had a doctor’s appointment, a source told ABC News.

Some media outlets reported that the couple was wearing GoPro cameras during the shooting, but Chief Burguan rejected that claim, saying: “We do not have any information the suspects had any GoPros on them, or any cameras of any sort.”

Inside the home, the chief described what looked like a bomb making lab that the couple had constructed. At the scene of the shooting, three pipe bombs were discovered inside of a black bag, attached to a remote control car. The car was designed to be used as a detonator, but it is not clear why the bombs failed to go off.

The chief was asked if there was any evidence that the attack was workplace related, or if there was any specific individual the couple meant to target. “They sprayed the room with bullets, so I don’t know if there was any one person they targeted,” the chief said. “They killed 14 people there.”

In a final call, the chief made a call to peace in San Bernardino, a city which he noted has already suffered economically due to the foreclosure crisis, which struck the region particularly hard.

“We will survive this,” Burguan said.

Daniel Rivero is a producer/reporter for Fusion who focuses on police and justice issues. He also skateboards, does a bunch of arts related things on his off time, and likes Cuban coffee.