RivCo Has Strong Connection to San Bernardino Shootings

By City News Service:

Three of those slain in Wednesday’s shooting rampage at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino were from Riverside County, authorities confirmed Thursday.

Sierra Clayborn, 27, of Moreno Valley, Aurora Godoy, 26, San Jacinto, and Damian Meins, 37, of Riverside were among 14 people gunned down and 17 who were wounded, allegedly by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.

They later were killed in a gunbattle with police.

Authorities have confirmed Farook had ties to Islamist groups, fueling speculation that the attack was an act of terrorism, according to published reports. Witnesses said the suspected gunman had also been at odds with coworkers over the religious connotations of a Christmas party.

Riverside County sheriff’s bomb squad technicians Wednesday night and Thursday assisted San Bernardino authorities in searching for possible explosive devices at the Inland Regional Center and Farook’s residence on Center Street in Redlands, where multiple pipe bombs were seized, along with thousands of rounds of stockpiled ammunition.

Full Patch coverage of the California mass shooting:

• Victims Identified in San Bernardino Mass Shooting
• Investigators Sort Through 3 Crime Scenes in California’s Deadly Mass Shooting
• Day After California Massacre, San Bernardino Residents Trapped in Homes
• Valley Village Father of 6 Killed in San Bernardino Massacre
• California Mass Shooting: What We Know About Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik
• 2015 ‘Mass Shootings’ In The United States: More Than One A Day
• ‘Moment of Silence’ at DC Tree Lighting for Mass Shooting Victims
• How You Can Help Survivors of the San Bernardino Mass Shooting
• Obama: Motives Unknown, But Action Needed After San Bernardino Mass Shooting
• Investigators Try to Determine If San Bernardino Attack Is Terrorism or Workplace Rampage

The shooters were armed with handguns and rifles, according to police.

Reports indicate Farook was a regular worshiper at the Islamic Center of Riverside until early 2014, when he abruptly stopped attending daily prayers. While Islamic State and other terror cells celebrated the mass shooting, Southern California-based groups, including the Ahmadiya Muslim Community of Los Angeles, condemned the killings.

Employees of the Inland Regional Center, located at 1365 Waterman Ave., came under attack about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

“They came prepared to do what they did, as if they were on a mission,’ San Bernardino police Chief Jarrod Burguan told reporters several hours after the deadly rampage.

Initial reports indicated there were three shooters, wielding rifles and clad in body armor. They fled in a black SUV.

By mid-afternoon, investigators were focused on the Center Street home and encountered Farook and Malik in the SUV, culminating in a pursuit and gun battle that ended on Tippecanoe Street in San Bernardino, where Farook and Malik were killed. A police officer suffered a non-life-threatening injury during the gun battle and is expected to recover.

Farook was born in the United States and was an environmental specialist with San Bernardino County for five years, working for the agency that was attacked. He traveled to Saudi Arabia to marry Malik, according to relatives.

Immediately after the shootings, Riverside County law enforcement agencies went on alert, monitoring developments in neighboring San Bernardino County and standing by to assist. Ambulance crews from several Riverside-area locations were sent to the Inland Regional Center to help with triaging patients.

The nonprofit IRC employs about 600 people and serves 31,000 developmentally disabled individuals throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The agency is under contract with the California Department of Developmental Services. According to officials, the building will re-open for business on Monday.

Within an hour of the shootings, Riverside police patrol units were sent to the administrative field office for the IRC, located at 1500 Iowa Ave., just off Marlborough Avenue, near downtown. Riverside police Sgt. Mike Barney told CNS that the move was precautionary.

According to reports from the scene, with officers parked outside the building, employees left the property, apparently going home or to another location for the remainder of the day.

Dr. April Lopez, chair for the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, released a statement describing the events as “heartbreaking for the disabled community in California.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the shooting victims and their loved ones and the first responders who are doing everything possible to make this situation safe,” Lopez said. “We are working with federal, state and local officials to ensure that all who have been affected are safe.”

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, along with other federal agencies, are involved in the ongoing investigation.

Patch photo by Renee Schiavone.