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Police Searching for Motive Behind San Bernardino Shooting; Britain Has Conducted First Airstrikes in Syria; Suspects Left Young Daughter with Grandmother Before Mass Shooting. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 03, 2015 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[03:00:01]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN HOST: We would like to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN's breaking news coverage of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. I am John Vause.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: And I am Rosemary Church here at the CNN center in Atlanta. Thank you for joining us.

VAUSE: Ok, the very latest now, police here in southern California are trying to figure out the motive behind a mass shooting that left 17 people dead and 17 others injured. It started at a community care center where county employees had gathered for a holiday party. Police say they think one of the suspects got into an argument, left that party, came back with his wife, maybe his girlfriend and then opened fire. We are just learning from police that a bag with what they describe as rudimentary explosive devices was found inside the conference facility. The suspects were killed a short time after the attack in a shootout with police. Authorities say they were dressed in assault-style clothing, and armed with handguns and assault rifles. This is what the San Bernardino Police Chief had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARROD BURGUAN, SAN BERNARDINO POLICE CHIEF: One of the tips that we were following up on took us to a house in Redlands, where we made contact with the suspect vehicle that we were looking for. That resulted in a pursuit which ultimately came back into the city of San Bernardino. And on San Bernardino Avenue between Richardson and Mountain View Avenue that pursuit terminated. There was an officer- involved shooting. Last count I've been told we had 20 or 21 officers that were involved in the gun battle with the suspects. The two suspects who were in that car are both deceased and I have their names.

First one has been identified as Syed Rizwan Farook, he is 28 years old. I am told that he is U.S.-born. The person that was with him is a female. She is deceased, as well. Her name is Tashfeen Malik. She is 27 years old. I do not have any additional information on where she is from at this point. I'll talk about the investigation a little bit. There were some questions that you guys asked in an earlier press conference about a person that had left the meeting angry. This was a Christmas party-type event that was taking place with San Bernardino county employees at the Inland Regional Center.

Mr. Farook is a county employee. He works with his title as an Environmental Specialist in the Public Health Department, has been employed there for five years. He was at the party. He did leave the party early under some circumstances that were described as angry or something of that nature. That is the information that we were following up on when we encountered him back near this residence in Redlands, which led to the pursuit in the officer-involved shooting. And as we have now confirmed he is one of the deceased.

We have gone back and forth between information that they were married or that they were engaged but there was a relationship. I don't have it definitive as to exactly what that is now.

I have not able been able to get an update as to whether or not that person was involved. As I said before, when the officer-involved shooting occurred, the initial officers didn't see anybody specifically fleeing the vehicle. It was other responding vehicles that saw this person running away from the scene, stopped him and detained him. For that reason, we don't know if he was involved or what his involvement is at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the motive of the shooter?

BURGUAN: So we initially put out that we had information that there was upwards of three shooters. Right now as we continue to drill down on the information and the witness statements we have, it really looks like we have two shooters. And we're really comfortable that the two shooters that we had in the building are the two shooters that are deceased up on San Bernardino Avenue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: San Bernardino's Police Chief there speaking about an hour or so ago. And we have this into CNN, the first picture of the shooting suspect, Syed Rezwan Farook, with a picture posted on a dating site. Says he was a Muslim male living in California. The residents that police are searching here in Redlands are connected to Farook. Meantime, the director of an Islamic group in Los Angeles says the couple left their six month-old daughter with her grandmother on Wednesday morning. She became concerned when she saw the reports about the shooting on television. Farook's brother-in-law spoke with reporters earlier on Wednesday.

[03:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FARHAN KHAN, SUSPECT'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: I just cannot express how sad I am for you know what happened. Today, I mean, our condolences to the people who lost their life. I am very sad that people lost their lives and there are victims out there. I wish a speedy recovery to them. And again, I am in shock that something like this could happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Of course, everyone wants to try and work out exactly why this happened. And CNN's Paul Vercammen following these incidents outside joining us live. And Paul, you have had a chance to speak with some of the witnesses there and they told you how this day unfolded.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what was extremely tense right here is the police had put up their yellow tape and sealed people from getting into that center, 670 employees in total working there. And of course, it doesn't mean that other county employees couldn't go to a party there like the one that they were having this day. When these people could not get inside they started to try to use their cell phones to contact relatives and loved ones. There was one young man, who was absolutely beside himself, and he kept telling me I am trying to call my sister, I am going to call my sister. He said I am going to run right in there. And you know in these situations, John, you are told if you are a hostage or trapped somewhere to turn your phone off because you wouldn't want that ring or a buzz of a text to attract that attention to you, the very sort of thing that could lure the shooter towards you.

So tense moments, high anxiety, and many people on pins and needles, so many of them that we would see the expressions as relieved when they finally did hear back from a loved one inside that building.

VAUSE: It must be incredible -- incredibly difficult for so many people to be involved in this. And of course, for the investigation, the police and the authorities they need to speak to pretty much everybody who was involved, everybody who was somehow in that building. And we're talking hundreds and hundreds of people.

VERCAMMEN: You're absolutely right, as we said, 670 working in this center. And we saw it earlier over my right shoulder. All of a sudden, it was the moment where it looked like the scene was close to cleared like there was some silver lining. They were both city buses and school buses to take out hundreds it seemed, of people right along this way, a lot of activity happening as well as SWAT vehicles. But many of them they said would be interrogated, especially if they thought they could provide any information as to how all of this went down. They have said and you may have noted this, John that they said it was a rather confined space in there where this party was taking place.

And there is also a lot of talk that perhaps it could have been much worse. The suspects of course, leaving well before police could get there and then heading down your way to Redlands.

VAUSE: Yes, and of course there are a number of investigations ongoing right now. There is the one here at Redlands at the town house, one at Farook's office, because he was a county employee. And Paul Vercammen, thank you for the very latest. And of course, police are also saying that part of this investigation is focusing on the explosives which were found inside that community center. And the Justice Correspondent Evan Perez said that rudimentary explosives were found inside that center, and what appeared to be some kind of remote control for a toy car was found inside the SUV. They believe the plan was to detonate the explosives remotely once the

gunman had the scene. The remote did not work because it was too far away, or they never actually carried that part of the plot. That's coming to us from our Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez. Now, the latest numbers we have from San Bernardino police, 14 people dead, another 17 injured. Many of them were at that holiday party, and throughout the day we've heard from both survivors as well as anxious family members. This is what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were barricaded in their office. You could hear a lot of gunshots, crying. When SWAT got her out of the office, she said there were a lot of bodies to go through to get out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard rapid shooting, boom, boom, boom, and thought oh, gosh, somebody was hunting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was right behind the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started walking and got into chaos, who knows, boom, boom, boom, I was locked in the middle.

[03:10:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Employees were locked in offices and closets, trying to stay safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting at my work, people shot, in the office waiting for cops.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But is she ok?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And what we saw was harrowing accounts, there are also the chilling videos which have been coming into CNN recalling the witnesses inside that building, including the moment people were evacuated and a promise from the man who was leading them to safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready? If you're not cool -- keep your hands where I can see them. Thank you, thank you. Relax, everyone try to relax. I'll take a bullet before you. That is for damn sure, just be cool, ok?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The San Bernardino police told us they were on the scene within four minutes of the initial calls for help. And within 15 minutes they were evacuating the wounded to safety. And they also say they received a tip which led them to this house here in Redlands. That is where they saw the black SUV which was driving in a suspicious manner so they gave chase. At least 20 officers were involved in the shootout which followed. You can hear the gunshots in this audio as police were talking with dispatchers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last seen in the alleyway, headed towards the school. Do we have a clear description?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Male, dark skinned is all I have in this frequency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have them go there -- we don't need more people here, just the SWAT team.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your exact location?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at San Bernardino and Sheldon, one guy down in the back of the car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the suspect vehicle stopped. We go ahead and extract. We can stand by and wait for the bearcat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now we have one down outside the car, one down inside the car. Well, we don't know, hold on, from what we understand one is on the run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Extraordinary rundown there and reaction to Wednesday's events is pouring in. U.S. President Barack Obama is once again calling for more gun control reforms after this latest mass shooting. Speaking to CBS News, he said that Congress should work together to close loopholes, including one that allows people to buy a gun even if they're too dangerous to fly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: There is some stuff we could take, not to eliminate every one of these mass shootings, but to improve the odds that they don't happen as frequently. Commonsense, gun safety laws, stronger background checks, and for those who are concerned about terrorism -- you know 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 is nothing that we can do to stop them. That is a law that needs to be changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The U.S. President Barack Obama speaking after yet another mass shooting here.

Now, our breaking news coverage will continue after a short break. We'll have more details about the shooting here in Redlands and in San Bernardino in just a moment.

CAREY DAVIS, SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA MAYOR: This is a shocking event for our community. We certainly are very fortunate that we have such a well trained police department. Our sheriff's department that -- went into action and they put a massive effort out trying to alleviate the problem that they were confronted with.

CHURCH: And we are following more breaking news, Swiss authorities have arrested two FIFA officials in Switzerland in connection with a corruption scandal. CNN's Don Riddell is here with new details on this. Now, of course, we know two people arrested but we don't know much about whom they are and the charges applied at this point.

[03:15:01]

DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We certainly understand they're senior FIFA officials. You're absolutely right we can't report their identities yet. But the Swiss Federal Office of Justice has confirmed that they are in custody. They are waiting for extradition hearings. We'll be hearing more about them later on today. They were picked up in a dawn raid at the Baur Au Lac Hotel in Zurich. We do understand there will be more individuals charged today. More than a dozen are expected to be charged. And of course, this is all being led by the U.S. Department of Justice which has been looking into FIFA for several years. They allege that this has been a corrupt organization for some two decades.

Of course, FIFA under a criminal investigation, both in the United States and in Switzerland, as well, it is important to say that we don't think the President or the suspended President, Sepp Blatter, is on the list of men who we expect to be charged today. But he does, of course, remain under criminal investigation himself.

CHURCH: And we were expecting more people to be arrested, as you say. It's interesting the approach, it's not like they did before, and they actually took everybody at once. They're doing it in phases, it appears.

RIDDELL: Well, that might point to where these individuals are. The last time you talked about May 27th, which was two days before the Presidential election. The expo was in session. Everybody was in the same place. They were all in the hotel and all of those officers came in and arrested about 40 people I think, on that occasion. Certainly, that doesn't seem to have been repeated on that scale at this hotel in Zurich today. But if we are to believe that more people are going to be charged perhaps they are at different locations. But certainly, there are echoes of what happened in May. But perhaps things will play out in a slightly different way.

But that doesn't take away from the fact this has increased the stakes again, for a world sporting organization that was already in crisis. And you really wonder how on earth they're going to go forward with even more of their top officials being arrested, of course, they have an acting President at the moment, because Sepp Blatter has been suspended by his own ethics committee. He will be stepping down anyway. The President, Platini, could end up being banned for life. The whole thing is an absolute mess. And FIFA just cannot get a break at the moment.

Their key sponsors this week again putting pressure on them to be more transparent and to include them in the reform process. And this meeting in Zurich right now was supposed to be discussing reform proposals. Now they will head into another crisis meeting.

VAUSE: Yes, that is the irony of it. Don Riddell, covering the story, we'll have you back and get more details, many thank you. We now return to CNN's Breaking News coverage of the shooting in San Bernardino.

FARHAN KHAN, SUSPECT'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: And again, I am in shock that something like this could happen here in my community. I love this country. I'm living in this community for a long time. It's something that just happened here. And on behalf of my family we all are shocked and very sorry for what happened.

VAUSE: That's Farhan Khan, the brother-in-law of the man who has been named as a suspect in this shooting Syed Farook. Welcome back, everybody to our continuing coverage of the mass shootings here in San Bernardino, I'm John Vause.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. We are learning more about what the suspects in the San Bernardino shooting did before carrying out their attack at the Inland Regional Center. The director of an Islamic group in Los Angeles says Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik left there baby daughter with her grandmother, the woman called them after hearing reports of the shooting and got no response.

VAUSE: Yeah, police say Farook in San Bernardino County Employee attended and then abruptly a holiday party -- saying he left angry. They believe he and Malik later returned armed, killing at least 14 people, wounding 17 others. Authorities say they also found a bag with explosives and a detonator at the scene. Farook and Malik were killed hours later after a chase and a gun battle with police.

We heard earlier from Glenn Willwerth who witnessed the shooting and he grabbed his own firearm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:20:01]

GLENN WILLWERTH, WITNESS: In my office, my building is actually directly across the street from the center. My office window faces the Inland Regional Center, and I was in my office and saw somebody run by my window and when I got up to investigate, they rushed into my front door seeking shelter, and they're shooting everybody. And so I told everybody to basically just lock down the building, everybody stay put, bring down all the doors and I actually grabbed my sidearm and holstered up and went towards where the shooting was happening. And about half way from my place to where the shooters where, I hunkered down by a truck that was out on the street, and I stayed posted up there until about another 10 or 15 shots went off.

I was able to see somebody -- couldn't tell description-wise anything other that I can see somebody moving through the trees get into a black SUV.

VAUSE: So Glenn, let's just -- your reaction here, so grabbed your own weapon and you went out. Once you secured the people inside your office, did you actually fire any shots at the two suspects or did you not get close enough?

WILLWERTH: No, you know I -- actually were I was posted up was in between my building. I really just wanted to make sure that whatever was going on it didn't venture over to where I have my family and my employees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining me now is Hassam Ayloush, he is the Executive Director for the Los Angeles Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations. He is live in Los Angeles, so thank you for being with us. Clearly right now, everybody is searching for a motive in all of this. I know that you have come out and condemned this attack, but clearly you've spoken to the family, we've heard from Syed Farook's brother-in-law. What more can you tell us?

HASSAM AYLOUSH, COUNCIL ON AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS: Well of course, we don't know the motives, and then the family is devastated. Like all Americans today, filled with sorrow and mourning, and we express on their behalf condolences to all the families of the victims injured and killed, and just pray for whoever is responsible to pay the price -- the family is devastated like all people, and this is the time for us to express solidarity and all of us Americans in rejecting whatever the motives might have been.

There is absolutely no justification for such horrendous behavior.

VAUSE: Have you had a chance to speak at length with the family of Syed Farook, and if there was any indication -- I mean we heard from (Inaudible) saying no one expected this. What else has the family been saying to you?

AYLOUSH: I spoke with them, they're as shocked as anybody else. They have no clue that this could've happened. They -- this -- the suspect is married, has a 6 month-old baby. You know they have no reason what made him snap. Is it workplace related, mental illness? Really unknown to us, all they can do now is just share with everybody's sorrow and then prayers that this is over quickly and then that the pain and suffering of all of these families is eased.

VAUSE: You were very quick to come out and hold a news conference, even had Farook's brother there. Explain why you took that action.

AYLOUSH: Well, because we're living in a very difficult time. There is a lot of Islamophobia there. We're in mourning by something that happened in Colorado Springs, for his acts. Not the Christian community, the Muslim community, same thing we felt there was a need for all American-Muslims to share with the rest of the country our sorrow today, our shock and agony for what happened. It was important for the family. They wanted to make sure people know how they felt. And they insisted to being here. Although they're going through their sorrow as we speak, but they drove all the way to be at the office to speak to fellow Americans and say today, we're all victims. We stand united in our sorrow. The only way we can come through this is our solidarity.

[03:25:01]

VAUSE: Ok, so we shall leave it there, but we appreciate you being with us, Hassam Ayloush, thank you for being with us. We appreciate that.

CHURCH: And you are watching our breaking news coverage. We will get you back out to San Bernardino in California for the latest on the mass shooting there after this quick break.

BURGUAN: We initially put out we had information that there were upwards of three shooters. Right now as we continue to drill down on the information and the witnesses we have, it really looks like there were two shooters. And the two shooters that went into the building are the two shooters that were deceased up on San Bernardino Avenue.

CHURCH: We are following some other breaking news. Britain has conducted its first air strikes on Syria, by bombing an oil field in the eastern part of the country. British lawmakers voted in favor of these strikes against ISIS in Syria on Wednesday after a lengthy debate. This comes after France asked the U.S.-led coalition to bump up the military offensive against ISIS. And CNN's Ian Lee joins us on the phone from Istanbul in Turkey with more. So Ian, this happened very quickly, these British air strikes, very soon, talk to us about what all you know.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is right, just in the hours after that came through, the debate lasted for about ten hours with roughly two thirds of the parliament voting in favor of these air strikes. What we know right now is that two pairs of tornado jets took off from Cyprus. They went and conducted these air strikes in the eastern part of Syria, targeting oil fields, which have been really been the new latest target for this coalition, going after the streams of revenue for ISIS. ISIS gets about 50 percent of its revenue from the illegal oil trade.

We do not know much more of these details from the flights. Also we know that the U.K. is saying that it's really a two-fold mission. One, they're going to be conducting air strikes. But also they will conduct surveillance, gathering intelligence of what is taking place on the ground.

CHURCH: And Ian, presumably we will get some briefings on the details of what exactly has been hit, but also how long are these air strikes likely to last. How long has Britain given -- is there no end to this?

LEE: Right now it seems like it's open-ended. We have not been given a deadline. And you're right, we are expecting more information about what we should expect, the U.K.'s role in this coalition, in these new air strikes. You may remember back in 2013, when the parliament voted against these air strikes, but now they're part of the coalition joining the United States and others.

CHURCH: All right, Ian Lee joining us on the line there from Istanbul in Turkey.

And this just into CNN, reports say Russia's foreign minister will meet his Turkish counterpart sometime Thursday. The meeting will take place in Belgrade, Serbia. Tensions between both countries escalated with the downing of Russian warplane last month.

And we return now to CNN's breaking news coverage of the San Bernardino mass shooting.

Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I am Rosemary Church at CNN center.

VAUSE: I am John Vause here in San Bernardino, California. And the suspects were identified after a shooting at a community care center in San Bernardino, California. One is a man named Syed Rizwan Farook, a county employee, and this is the first picture we have of him. The other, either his wife or girlfriend is Tashfeen Malik. The police say the couple left their 6 month-old daughter with the grandmother on Wednesday morning. The grandmother had not heard from the couple and became concerned after she saw reports of the shooting on television.

[03:30:01]

Earlier in the day, police say the couple opened fire at a holiday party, killing 14 people, wounding at least 17 others.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURGUAN: So we have this crime scene. We have the crime scene up on San Bernardino Avenue. We have a house in Redlands, which is where the pursuit originated where our information took us to. That is being worked as well. As I said, Mr. Farook was a county employee, so have obviously secured his office space in case that has any component to the investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Randi Kaye has details now on how the shooting and the police chase unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Active shooter that was the warning just before lunchtime in San Bernardino, California, about an hour east of Los Angeles. Police inside and outside of the building targeted heard the shots. It all happened at a conference facility where a banquet for county officials was taking place. That facility is part of a large building complex that also houses the Inland Regional Center, which provides services to people with disabilities. Within minutes, the San Bernardino police alert they are looking for not one, but possibly as many as three shooters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Multiple people entered the room and began shooting.

KAYE: The shooters are believed to be dressed in body armor and heavily armed. Police, SWAT teams, the ATF, and FBI raced to the scene and set up a perimeter. They believed the shooters were still somewhere inside the large complex. Loved ones of those trapped inside also arrived, this man's daughter texted him. She was hiding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting at my work, people shot, in the office waiting for cops.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But she is ok?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray for us.

KAYE: This man got a text from his wife when the shooting started.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said the guy came in next to her office and I guess started shooting. They locked themselves in her office. They see bodies on the floor. And she said right now ambulances are taking people out in stretchers.

KAYE: As families wait for answers, the California's Governor is briefed, and so is the President. Schools and hospitals are locked down. Meanwhile, police continue to try and track down the shooters.

UNIDENTIFIEDFE MALE: We don't know where the shooters are. They are heavily armed and possibly wearing body armor. It is not a safe area to be, very dangerous. And the fewer innocent here we have here, the better.

KAYE: Shortly after it all began, at least a dozen people exit the building. Hands up, this man's son was safely evacuated, only after texting his dad that there were live shooters in the building.

UNIDENTIFIEDFE MALE: He was pretty nervous and upset, worried. He didn't know for sure what was going on. I told him to hunker down, make sure their cell phones were off. Keep the noise, don't make noise, you know, hide under the desk.

KAYE: By late afternoon, the suspects are on the run, witnesses see the suspects with long guns take off. Hours later, a shootout with police leaves two suspects dead. More than a dozen victims are also dead, even more wounded and the motive far from clear. Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And CNN's Paul Vercammen, following developments outside the community center in San Bernardino. He joins us live. And Paul, by all accounts this was a massive police response, and we're getting reports of just how quickly police arrived on scene.

VERCAMMEN: Yes, they say it took a mere four minutes to arrive on scene. I can tell you we were seeing federal agents here, San Bernardino police, and San Bernardino county sheriffs. We were also seeing you know members of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, the key to all of the because of the fear of bombs. And when it was learned that some sort of exchange of gunfire had taken place down where you are in Redlands, we saw officers come whipping out of here, and one of the keys to all of this, those armored SWAT vehicles. They used those at one point to go ahead and box in, if you will, the suspects in a pincer-like move. And they carefully, carefully, walked upon the vehicle. The vehicle, the SUV, shot out the window among other things and used the armored personnel carriers.

Much like something you might even see in a war zone. They used those as covers so they could unload on the suspects. As you heard, 21 law enforcement officers involved in this shootout, for lack of a better term, I mean, they were just trading fire right there in the neighborhood. Not far from here we could hear the helicopters, just high anxiety throughout San Bernardino County, John.

[03:35:01]

VAUSE: It was incredible when you looked at that SUV. It was literally riddled with bullets by the time this was all said and done. Paul, one of the issues at the community center, where you are, they tried to clear the building of any explosives. What is the latest on that?

VERCAMMEN: Well, from what we heard, it sounded like successful detonation. We don't know if the bombs were live or active. We talked off camera with federal agents. They say one of the pipe bombs they threw at the shooting scene was not active. But they took that precaution, it sounded like, because of the muffled nature of it to go ahead and blow up what was already in there protectively. So otherwise you could see fire behind me and that certainly was not the case.

VAUSE: Ok, Paul, thank you, Paul Vercammen, live again for us outside the community center where this shooting all began. Thank you, Paul.

Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were killed in that shootout. Police say they shot at them from this dark colored SUV that Paul was talking about. This all happened not far from that community center. It was a bomb that looked like it was being tossed from the vehicle. David Danelski, a Reporter from the Press Enterprise was caught up in this middle of all of this after getting a tip.

DAVID DANELSKI, PRESS ENTERPRISE: I saw three or four police cars, blazing on San Bernardino Avenue. And I followed them and as I was following them I heard a thunderous sound. And there were these -- was a strange noise. And I assume -- I didn't know what it was. I guess it was where bullets were whizzing through the air like a whipping sound. And I pulled over and got out of the car, grabbed my camera. And I could see some police officers ahead of me. And then I didn't hear any shooting at that point. I started walking towards it. There was a thunderous outbreak of gunfire, police officers basically yelling for me to get down. All the guns were drawn, and as this was going on waves and waves of police officers were coming from behind me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David, did you see -- this was all at the location of the SUV, correct?

DANELSKI: Yes, and I did not see the SUV or the shooters, or any of that. You know, this was a situation where there was just a lot of gunfire. And the shooting went on for about a ten-minute period, I would say. And then it got quiet again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you were out of your vehicle and heard shots being fired, was it your impression again -- you may not know the answer to this. Was it your impression there was incoming or outgoing fire?

DANELSKI: I don't know which way it was going, that was the scary thing. I could see police in front, they were probably engaged in shooting, but I couldn't tell which police were shooting and which were not. It seemed as though like waves of police were arriving behind and ahead of me with guns drawn. Guns you know some had handguns. Others had assault rifles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Obama's reaction to the California shooting still ahead. Plus, a look at how police train for events likes this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:42:20]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BOWDICH, ASSISTANT DIR. LOS ANGELES FBI FIELD OFFICE: I know one of the big questions that will come up repeatedly, is this terrorism? And I am still not willing to say that we know that for sure. We are definitely making some adjustments to our investigation. It is a possibility, but we don't know that yet. And we're not willing to go down that road yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We would like to welcome our viewers from the United States and all around the world. This is CNN's Breaking News coverage of the mass shootings here in San Bernardino. I am John Vause.

CHURCH: And I am Rosemary Church at CNN center.

VAUSE: Ok, we are learning new details about the suspects in this mass shooting. The Director of a Los Angeles Islamic group says that Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik left their young daughter with her grandmother Wednesday morning. The woman called them after hearing reports about a shooting but there was no answer. Police say Farook, a company employee attended and then abruptly left a holiday party at that (Inaudible) they say along with Malik he killed at least 14 people and wounded 17 others when they both later returned with armed guns. Authorities say they found a bag of explosives and a detonator at the scene. Farook and Malik were killed hours later after a gun battle with police. Authorities are trying to work out a clear motive for this attack.

But it's still early in the investigation. Our Law Enforcement Analyst Cedric Alexander shared his thoughts just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: There is still a lot left to be determined in this particular case. As you heard the police chief say earlier during the press conference, he is determined to get to the bottom of determining what the motive is. But at this point it could be a variety of things. So I think we have to accept that narrative at this point, because as unusual and confusing as this whole event unfolds throughout the course of the last 12 hours, there is a lot yet still to be determined.

VAUSE: A lot of people are making the point that clearly the events that happened after an argument at a holiday party go way beyond what would be a normal reaction for a dispute between work colleagues and an end of year party. So at least in your assessment there has to be something more to this than simply angry words at a staff party.

ALEXANDER: Well, certainly. I mean, if you look at the fact that he left, he came back. The weapons he was armed with, and the fact, too as well, the number of people that were injured and killed. This was a horrible, horrible crime. And this is more than just one or two people having a falling out at a Christmas party. This is something much more in depth than that. And certainly, without question, there was some planned organization to this attack that occurred. So rather -- this argument was started with real intent of coming back. But it is very perplexing. But I am certain, in my experience, John, that this was a staged event and they knew that they were going to come back and do harm to people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Thanks to Cedric Alexander for that.

And we'll continue to follow the breaking news of the mass shooting in California. When we come back, we'll hear from those who heard the shots and then simply hoped to get out alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The multiple agencies just to help other people, and the audacity of people who just want to come out here and shoot. It's insane.

CHURCH: Breaking news, South Africa's Supreme Court has just convicted Oscar Pistorius of murder in the 2013 death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Correspondent Dave Mackenzie is live in Johannesburg with the very latest. David, talk to us about the reaction in the courtroom -- a lot of people were not expecting this outcome.

DAVE MACKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In fact, it was potentially expected by legal experts we spoke to in the lead-up to this. And the reaction initially was Reeva Steenkamp's mother seemed to vet out a sigh of relief or sigh of closure in this case. It really was a systematic destruction of the defense's case, and the judge went in to some key areas, effectively saying that this should be a murder charge, a murder conviction, setting aside the culpable homicide conviction of Pistorius. And the main argument was that he said that Pistorius had the intent and the knowledge -- by shooting shots through that bathroom door that he would kill the person behind that door, and it was irrelevant whether that person was in fact his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, an intruder or anyone else. He also said that the judge in the case at the high court ignored much of the circumstantial evidence if they had put that into play, they said they might have come up with a different conclusion and pushed murder.

So at this stage, Pistorius is looking at a lengthy prison sentence, at least 15 years potentially, and certainly big news in this ongoing trial of this former Olympian.

[03:47:01]

CHURCH: And Dave Mackenzie, joining us there live from Johannesburg. I do want to bring in CNN Legal Analyst Kelly Phelps now, she is part of the law faculty at the University of Cape Town, and she joins us by phone.

Welcome back, everyone, I am Rosemary Church.

VAUSE: And I am John Vause here in San Bernardino where it is coming up to 1:00 a.m. in the morning. And police have identified the suspects in the mass shooting here. And we have just received our first picture of one of them. He is this man right there, Syed Rizwan Farook, a county employee, the other shooter, either his wife or his girlfriend. She has been named as Tashfeen Malik.

CHURCH: Both were killed in the shootout after they led police on a chase after a holiday party. San Bernardino marks the 355th mass shooting in the U.S. this year. That is more mass shootings than days so far in 2015. Mass shootings have occurred every month this year, with 44 happening in June alone. A mass shooting is defined as a shooting with at least four people injured or killed, including the shooter. Now these numbers are in the tracker data base. The San Bernardino shooting is the deadliest in 2015. I want to take a look at some of the other high profile shootings this year. And just this past Friday, a suspect killed three people at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado. Two months ago, a gunman attacked a community college in Oregon and killed nine people.

In August, a Virginia news crew was shot and killed on live television by a former co-worker who later killed himself. In July, a military recruiting center in Tennessee was attacked. Four marines and a sailor were killed. And in June, nine people were killed in a shooting during a church prayer meeting in Charleston, South Carolina.

[03:52:01]

Well, in an age where mass shootings are happening more and more in the U.S., public safety officials are making sure they train for the worse case scenario. CNN got an exclusive look at one of those training programs. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the gun!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you understand me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One down, one down, one down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the scenarios are geared towards events that have already occurred.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The environment they put us in typically is schools. But we make everybody aware that an active shooter can happen anywhere, in churches, in movie theaters. Places where there is a large mass of people that are really not expecting something to happen like that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Across the country, active shooters are becoming more and more evident and problematic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see your hands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're teaching them how to approach the location, how to get in. Our number one goal in teaching active shooters is to stop the killing. But the second goal we're looking for is to stop the dying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Active shooter is probably one of the worst scenarios a police officer can handle. Life or death is what we're paid for, but we need to neutralize the threat to save lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The simulation of training is as close to real life as you can get them. Their heart rate is spiking. They're nervous. It's the best you're going to do without actually shooting real bullets at a person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has got a gun!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So there have been suspicious men with guns, no shots have been fired type of thing. And they're coming in to investigate. And it turns into a shooting. They dealt with explosives, IED kind of awareness. They're also dealing with hostage situations. Training builds confidence. A lot of these guys don't have much confidence because they don't get environments like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lessons we learn under stress is the lessons we retain the longest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, this is actually a really good job, all that is done right here. Weeks after they have gone through the training they have actually been involved in incidents, and it helped them survive those incidents. So it is helping.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: The witnesses have been sharing their stories with us throughout the day. We've also been hearing from family members anxiously waiting for news about their loved ones. This is what they have been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting at my work, people shot, in the office waiting for cops.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is not a safe area to be in. It's very dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The section there, where you would have locked the door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was an active shooter and we needed to stay and get staff locked behind doors. So we stayed there until the SWAT team came in and evacuated us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just walking out, and this lady and I heard other shots. I started walking and all of a sudden got in chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are heavily armed and they are possibly wearing body armor, things of that nature.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Large armed response here by the sheriff's department.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Someone had come in and started shooting. And they ran into an office and she is hiding with some other people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said the guy came in next to her office and I guess started shooting. They locked themselves in, in her office, they seen bodies on the floor. And she said right now ambulances are taking people out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was shuttled into a room. Police showed up. They were taken outside, thank god there were not more casualties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: I just saw the horrific images and terrifying situations that they have gone through. And you have been watching CNN's coverage of that breaking news in California. I'm John Vause.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Early Start with John Berman and Michelle Kosinski will have the very latest. That's next.

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