California mass shooting: Police name slain suspects

US Security Forces secure the area following a shooting that killed multiple people at a social services center for the disabled in San Bernardino, California. Photo / Getty Images

At least 14 people have been killed after a mass shooting at a disability centre in San Bernardino, California.
• Man and woman killed and officer injured after stand-off
• Slain suspects named as Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik
• Farook and Malik were married.
• Couple are believed to be the only suspects, police say
• Police say shooters were "prepared" and carrying assault rifles
• Explosive device found in building

Police have identified the slain suspects in today's deadly California shooting rampage as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27.

They say Farook, who is US-born, was a county employee who had attended a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center and later returned to open fire on people at the celebration.

Farook and Malik were married. The couple are believed to be the only suspects in the attack, police say.

Farook was an environmental specialist with the county health department who sometimes worked at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan told reporters that Farook angrily left an office holiday party before returning with Malik.

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

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

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

Baccari said he been sitting at the same table as Farook at an office party Wednesday morning, but his co-worker suddenly disappeared, leaving his coat on his chair.

Baccari said he had stepped into the bathroom when the shooting started and suffered minor wounds from shrapnel slicing through the wall.

Relative 'shocked' by California shootings

The brother-in-law of Farook says he was stunned to hear of his relative's involvement in today's shooting.

Farhan Khan, who is married to the sister of Farook, spoke to reporters at the Anaheim office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Khan says he last spoke to Farook about a week ago. He added that he had "absolutely no idea why he would do this. I am shocked myself."

Khan says other family members asked him to speak at the news conference, and to express their sadness over the shootings.

Police surround the SUV in which the suspects fled after the shooting spree.

It was as if they were on a mission

As many as three gunmen wearing military-style gear opened fire on the social services centre. Witnesses said it was as if the gunmen "were on a mission".

The suspects were dressed in "assault-style" clothing and armed with assault rifles and hand guns.

It is the nation's deadliest mass shooting since the Newton, Connecticut, attack in December 2012 that left 26 children and adults dead.

Police shed no light on a motive for the massacre, which came just five days after a gunman opened fire at Planned Parenthood in Colorado, killing three.

"They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission," San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said, noting the attackers carried long guns - which can mean rifles or shotguns.

Witnesses said several people locked themselves in their offices, desperately waiting to be rescued by police, after gunfire erupted at the Inland Regional Center, which serves people with developmental disabilities. Some people telephoned their loved ones and whispered to them what was going on.

A woman wipes her tears at the community centre where at least 14 people were killed. Photo / AP

The attack took place in a conference area where the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health was renting space to hold a banquet, said Marybeth Feild, president and CEO of the centre. She said the building houses at least 25 employees as well as a library and conference centre.

FBI agents and other law enforcement authorities converged on the center and searched room to room for the attacker or attackers, but it was feared that they had escaped.

Ten of the wounded were hospitalized in critical condition, and three were in serious condition, San Bernardino Fire Chief Tom Hannemann said. Police cautioned that the numbers of dead and wounded were early estimates that could change.

No weapons were recovered at the centre, though authorities were investigating unidentified items in the building and brought in bomb squads, Burguan said.

Calls for stricter gun controls

As the manhunt went on, stores, office buildings and at least one school were locked down in the city of 214,000 people about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, and roads were blocked off.

Triage units were set up outside the center, and people were seen being wheeled away on stretchers. Others walked quickly from a building with their hands up. They were searched by police before being reunited with loved ones.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the attack by his homeland security adviser.

He said it was too early to know the shooters' motives, but urged the country to take steps to reduce the frequency of mass shootings. He told CBS that stricter gun laws, including stronger background checks, would make the country safer.

"The one thing we do know is that we have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world, and there's some steps we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently," Obama said.

The shooting sounded like "an organised plot," and preliminary information seems to indicate that "this is personal, and there seems to suggest some element of revenge and retaliation," said Erroll G. Southers, director of Homegrown Violent Extremism Studies at the University of Southern California and a former FBI agent.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan briefs the media. Photo / AP

"What it says to me, it's someone who's familiar with the facility, it's someone who knew exactly what room they were going to go to, they knew exactly which way they needed to escape," Southers said. "They've done their homework, they know what the response time in this jurisdiction."

Terry Petit said his daughter works at the centre, where social workers find jobs, housing, transportation and provide programs for people who have disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He got a text from her saying she was hiding in the building after hearing gunshots.

Petit choked back tears as he read the texts for reporters outside the center. He said she wrote: "People shot. In the office waiting for cops. Pray for us. I am locked in an office."

Sherry Esquerra was searching for her daughter and son-in-law, both of whom work at the centre. She said her daughter helps "very disabled" children and "gets all the services she possibly could for these kids."

"I just don't understand why somebody would come in and start shooting," Esquerra said. She last saw her daughter at Thanksgiving and planned to see her Friday. When she calls her phone now, "Nothing. I just get her message. Straight to voicemail."

Marcos Aguilera's wife was in the building when the gunfire erupted. He said a shooter entered the building next to his wife's office and opened fire.

"They locked themselves in her office. They seen bodies on the floor," Aguilera told KABC-TV, adding that his wife was able to get out of the building unharmed.

The social services centre has two large buildings that require a badge to get in, said Sheela Stark, an Inland Regional Center board member. However, the conference room where many public events take place - including the banquet on Wednesday - is usually left open when visitors are expected.

- With additional reporting from AP