Pinoys in shock over latest mass shooting in California

CALIFORNIA – Filipinos working around the San Bernardino area where a mass shooting occurred were shocked by the incident.

Filipino Jasmine Barnes was at a nearby building when three armed people opened fire at the Inland Regional Center, killing 14 people and injuring 17 others on Wednesday afternoon.

A San Bernardino county employee, Barnes was at the center herself recently and works with many of the people inside.

"We work closely with them. I'm just afraid to ask kung sino yung mga victims. Nakakatakot talaga. I just don't feel safe sometimes anymore you know. I just pray that God will protect us," said Barnes.

While the incident was confined to the Inland Regional Center, most of the surrounding areas were affected.

Some Filipino women working for a remittance and cargo company just down the street from the incident said many of their Filipino customers work near and around the Center.

"It's kind of scary for us, even though we are here, but the thing is, it happened just near in this place," one of the Pinays said.

Another Pinay commented "Everybody is scared. It's the first time."

The latest mass shooting prompted several hours of lock down and closures. After hours of lockdowns, two suspects were shot and killed by officers while a third was apprehended.


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source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Two suspects dead after 14 killed in shooting rampage in California

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - A man and a woman suspected of taking part in a shooting attack that killed 14 people and wounded 17 at a Southern California social services agency on Wednesday died in a shootout with police hours later, authorities said.

One police officer was injured in the gunfight with the two suspects, who were confronted in their getaway vehicle after fleeing the scene of the shooting in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles, according to police.

The shooting rampage marked the deadliest U.S. gun violence since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, in which 27 people, including the gunman, were killed.

Authorities also detained an individual seen running away from the vehicle, but investigators were not immediately sure that person was involved in the case, Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at a news conference.

The chief said it was possible that a third shooter remained at large and that there were other people "involved in the planning" of the crime.

Burguan said the two suspects who were killed were armed with assault rifles and handguns and were dressed in "assault-style" clothing.

NBC News reported one of the three suspects was identified as Syed Farook by multiple sources, but Reuters was not able to confirm that.

HOLIDAY PARTY

A person by that name was listed on county documents as an employee of the San Bernardino County Environmental Health Department. That department had gathered on Wednesday for a holiday party at the shooting site.

The attack unfolded at 11 a.m. on the campus of the Inland Regional Center, an agency that serves the developmentally disabled, in a building housing a conference center that was being used by the county department.

The Los Angeles Times, citing information from a senior federal official who was monitoring the case, reported that investigators believe one of the shooters left the party after getting into an argument and returned with one or two armed companions.

Burguan said he was aware someone left the party following a dispute but did not know whether that individual returned. The chief said he knew of no possible motive for the shooting spree.

Burguan said the manhunt initially led police to a home in the neighboring town of Redlands, and that police pursued a suspected getaway vehicle that was seen leaving that address back to San Bernardino, where the shootout ensued.

Bomb disposal technicians were examining a number of suspicious items left by the armed assailants at the Inland Regional Center, including one that was "believed to be a potentially explosive device."

David Bowdich, an assistant regional FBI director, said federal agents and local law enforcement were being cautious about entering the house in Redlands because of concerns about explosives that might have been left there.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com