San Bernardino survivors recall moment gunman and his wife opened fire inside conference room as doctor says the 14 killed 'never had a chance'

  • More than 70 people were gathered in a conference room at the Inland Regional Center on December 2 when the couple opened fire
  • Fourteen people were killed and 21 injured in the bloodbath 
  • The FBI is investigating the attack by husband-and-wife shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik as a possible act of terror 
  • At a Monday press conference, Dr Dev GnanaDev described the rampage as one of the most horrific disasters in his 35-year career  

Witnesses who were inside the conference room targeted by the husband-and-wife San Bernardino shooters are sharing their recollections from the massacre. 

Speaking anonymously to ABC News, the three survivors say they were attending a training event at the Inland Regional Center on December 2, which was supposed to end in a holiday party for the San Bernardino County Health Department. 

Near the beginning of the 8am training seminar, one of the gunmen, country health department worker Syed Rizwan Farook, left his table in the back of the room, next to the wall.

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Three witnesses who were inside the Inland Regional Center conference room targeted in the December 2 shooting have spoken out to detail their recollections of the bloodbath 

Three witnesses who were inside the Inland Regional Center conference room targeted in the December 2 shooting have spoken out to detail their recollections of the bloodbath 

The witnesses estimate that the room had about eight tables, with eight people at each as well as a table in the front where the supervisors sat. 

Two witnesses say that when Farook left, he left his coat and bag behind.  

Shortly before 11am, Farook returned to the room, this time accompanied with his wife, Tashfeen Malik. 

The armed couple entered the room from the left and then opened fire, and one of the first tables targeted was the table where Farook had been sitting earlier in the day. 

The couple's gunfire blew out the windows in the room and at least one of the survivors jumped through the shattered glass to safety. 

Above, survivors of the shooting speak to police on a golf course after being evacuated from the shooting 

Above, survivors of the shooting speak to police on a golf course after being evacuated from the shooting 

Others sought shelter in the bathrooms, across from the doorway where the gunmen entered. While the room's drywall didn't stop the bullets from penetrating the room, it slowed the bullets enough that they only pierced the skin of the victims inside. 

After fleeing the office complex, Farook and his wife were killed hours later in a shootout with police.  

The FBI are currently investigating the shooting as a possible act of terror. It's believed that the couple may have become radicalized in their Islamic faith. Investigators believe the couple may have been inspired by ISIS, but were likely acting alone. 

Farook had worked at the health department for about five years before deciding to carry out the attack. The couple leaves behind a 6-month-old daughter. 

Tashfeen Malik
Syed Farook

The FBI is investigating the shooting, carried out by married couple Syed Farook (right) and Tashfeen Malik (left), as a possible act of terror 

The witness accounts of the shooting come as a doctor who treated the victims spoke out on Monday, saying they were shot so badly that they never even had a chance of survival.  

At a press conference held Monday morning, Dr Dev GnanaDev, chief of surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in San Bernardino, California, described Wednesday's deadly rampage that claimed 14 innocent lives as one of the most horrific disasters in his 35-year career.

'What really bothers me most is that none of the 14 who perished had a chance,' a somber Dr GnanaDev told reporters.

Those killed in the massacre carried out during the meeting are: Shannon Johnson, 45, of Los Angeles; Bennetta Bet-Badal, 46, of Rialto; Aurora Godoy, 26, of San Jacinto; Isaac Amanios, 60, of Fontana; Larry Kaufman, 42, of Rialto; Harry Bowman, 46, of Upland; Yvette Velasco, 27, of Fontana; Sierra Clayborn, 27, of Moreno Valley; Robert Adams, 40, of Yucaipa; Nicholas Thalasinos, 52, of Colton; Tin Nguyen, 31, of Santa Ana; Juan Espinoza, 50, of Highland; Damian Meins, 58, of Riverside; and Michael Wetzel, 37, of Lake Arrowhead.  

At a press conference held Monday morning, Dr Dev GnanaDev (pictured), chief of surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in San Bernardino, California, described Wednesday's deadly rampage that claimed 14 innocent lives as one of the most horrific disasters in his 35-year career 

At a press conference held Monday morning, Dr Dev GnanaDev (pictured), chief of surgery at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in San Bernardino, California, described Wednesday's deadly rampage that claimed 14 innocent lives as one of the most horrific disasters in his 35-year career 

Trudy Raymundo, director of the Department of Public Health, was at the event and described her employees as ‘upbeat’ and ‘happy'.

‘This is a very tight close knit group... They are beyond co-workers,’ said Raymundo. ‘They are friends and they are family.’

Monday’s emotional press conference was held as thousands of San Bernardino county employees returned to work for the first time since the tragedy.

County leaders announced there will be more security guards at the facilities and they will now be armed. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department will also increase patrols at county buildings.

'We stand here this morning as testimony that no December 2 anywhere, no act of terrorism anywhere, will succumb, will invest fear, will provide any kind of an end to the hard work, to the dedication of every single San Bernardino County employee,' County Supervisor Josie Gonzales told reporters.

Employees at the Environmental Health Department, where Farook worked as an inspector, are scheduled to return to work on December 14.

KILLER COUPLE'S DESCENT INTO EXTREMISM

It was revealed on Friday that Malik pledged allegiance to ISIS on Facebook just minutes into the deadly attack.

A news agency affiliated with the extremist group later described the married couple as supporters of ISIS, but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the massacre in California.

An official said on condition of anonymity that authorities still lack clear evidence that the wife was radicalized overseas or that she in turn radicalized her husband, though they are actively investigating that.

It was also revealed that in the days leading up to the massacre, Farook made two trips to a gun range in Riverside, law enforcement sources confirmed to Fox News on Sunday.

On Monday, ABC News released this never-before-seen image of the couple passing through customs at Chicago O'Hare airport after flying in from Saudi Arabia in July 2014 

On Monday, ABC News released this never-before-seen image of the couple passing through customs at Chicago O'Hare airport after flying in from Saudi Arabia in July 2014 

According to the sources, the shooter spent time at the Riverside Magnum Shooting Range on November 29 and November 30, firing an AR-15 and a handgun, which he brought with him.

Malik's estranged relatives in Pakistan have said she appeared to have abandoned the family's moderate Islam and become more radicalized in Saudi Arabia, where she moved as a toddler.

She returned to Pakistan and studied pharmacy at Bahauddin Zakaria University in Multan from 2007 to 2012.

While in Multan, she also attended a religious school, which Pakistani intelligence officials on Monday identified it as the Al-Huda International Seminary. The school is a women-only madrassa with a chain across Pakistan and branches in the U.S. and Canada, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Malik spent more than a year at Al-Huda, taking classes six days a week, the school's spokeswoman Farrukh Chaudhry told The Associated Press.

She enrolled in a two-year course to learn the Muslim holy book, Quran, its translation and interpretation but did not finish the course, Chaudhry added. Malik was a student there from April 17, 2013 until May 3, 2014, when she handed in her last paper in the first-year curriculum, the spokeswoman said.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said U.S. authorities have no evidence that the shooters were part of a larger terrorism cell but were working with their counterparts overseas to gather information about their lives.

 

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