Update: On Wednesday, Dec. 2, a shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, left 14 people dead and 21 wounded. Hours after the attack, police pursued information that led to a chase of a dark SUV, which was later determined to be a rental car. A shootout between police and the suspects left both suspects dead. The suspects were identified as Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who were husband and wife.
According to federal law enforcement authorities, the four guns used in the shooting were purchased legally. The suspects were found to have 1,600 rounds of ammunition with them, and at a home the suspects were renting in Redlands, California, law enforcement officers found 4,500 rounds of ammunition and 12 pipe bombs. No official motive has been confirmed, though a source told the Los Angeles Times that investigators are considering a combined motive of "terrorism and workplace."
Earlier: On Wednesday afternoon, authorities responded to an active shooter situation in San Bernardino, California at The Inland Center. At least 20 people were wounded, according to several sources, and Al Jazeera reported that 12 people were killed. In an interview with Norah O'Donnell of CBS News, President Obama addressed the nation live Wednesday evening in regards to the attack, the 355th mass shooting this year, according to The Washington Post.
In his speech, Obama made reference to the need for stronger gun safety laws as well as background checks. He referenced the TSA's No Fly list; as laws in America currently stand, individuals on that list could theoretically still go into a store and buy a gun. Obama also called for cooperation across all political parties to join together in attempts to prevent mass shootings such as the one in San Bernardino from becoming a regular occurrence. Several other politicians have commented on the attack, with some echoing Obama's push for stricter gun control laws.
Here is the full text of Obama's speech:
We have a pattern now of mass shootings in this country that has no parallel anywhere else in the world. There are 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. Common sense, gun safety laws, stronger background checks.
For those who are concerned about terrorism, some may be aware of the fact that we have a no fly list where people can't get on planes. But those same people who we don't allow to fly could go into a store right now in the United States and buy a firearm and there's nothing that we can do to stop them. That's a law that needs to be changed.
So my hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting. We don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer. And that we should come together, in a bipartisan basis at every level of government, to make these rare as opposed to normal. We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events. Because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries.
