Yesterday The Washington Times posted an article about some of the actions the killers in San Bernardino took before going on their killing spree. It is becoming very obvious that this was a planned attack and that the killers did not complete all of what they set out to do.
The article reports:
The Muslim husband and wife behind the mass shooting in San Bernardino began erasing their digital footprint a day in advance of the deadly attack, deleting email accounts, disposing of hard drives and smashing their cellphones, according to law enforcement investigators who are treating the probe as a counterterrorism case.
Investigators edged closer Thursday to the conclusion that Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, were radicalized by Islamist extremists either in the U.S. or during trips to the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.
Working to determine whether terrorism was the motive in the attack at a government-organized holiday party, officials scrambled to re-create the travels, contacts and lifestyle of Farook, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen of Pakistani descent, and his 27-year-old Pakistani wife.
Please reread that last sentence. The killers had bombs, automatic weapons, combat gear, etc. The were planning on killing people they knew and people they did not know. Why are we so reluctant to call it terrorism? Don’t you think that the people in that building were terrorized?
The article further reports:
But fresh details continued to emerge about the background of the two — supporting the notion that the attack was planned and not a spur-of-the-moment response to a party snub or quarrel.
The couple had a 6-month-old daughter, who was left in a relative’s care before they stormed the Inland Regional Center bedecked in tactical-style clothes and spraying 75 rounds into the conference room.
Three pipe bombs configured as one large explosive device were recovered from the center. Police also found bomb-making materials, 12 pipe bombs and more than 4,500 rounds of ammunition inside the couple’s home.
“This is not your average investigation,” said David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, mentioning the multiple crime scenes, victims and recovered evidence. “It will take time.”
Officials involved in the investigation said the couple appeared to have gone to great lengths to conceal themselves and make difficult investigation of their plans — further suggesting premeditation.
A cellphone recovered from Malik’s body was newly purchased and had been used only recently. Two other cellphones that were recovered had been smashed with a hammer and were expected to be sent to the FBI’s forensic lab in Washington for examination.
Authorities also noted that a hard drive and motherboard were missing from a computer found at the Redlands, California, home that the couple rented.
This was a well-planned attack. The solution to this sort of attack is to train civilians in the use of guns and encourage civilians to carry. A gun in the room carried by a trained civilian would have cut the number of casualties and ended the attack on the spot.