The light turned green, and the black Ford Expedition pulled away. Not too fast, not too slow.
Redlands police Sgt. Andy Capps was behind the SUV with his emergency lights and siren on, but the driver didn’t stop.
It was six minutes after 3 on Wednesday afternoon. Hours earlier, a masked man and woman, clad in black and armed with military-style rifles, had stormed into a holiday party a few miles away in neighboring San Bernardino. Fourteen people were dead. Others were fighting for their lives.
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A black SUV had been seen fleeing the scene. Capps had told his officers to stay alert, but privately he wasn’t worried. Never in a million years will we encounter these people, he thought.
Now he thought otherwise.
Following the Expedition from a few car lengths behind, he could make out two people inside. They seemed to be changing clothes and handing objects back and forth.
Capps grabbed his radio. He warned officers in the cars behind him that the pair were probably arming themselves and putting on bulletproof vests.
The Expedition turned right onto San Bernardino Avenue.
Seconds later, its back window exploded.
Gun muzzle flashes erupted from the back seat of the SUV. A volley of bullets flew toward Capps. A short lull, then another eruption.
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I hope it doesn’t hurt too much when I get shot, Capps thought as he drove into the gunfire.
::
The assailants at the Inland Regional Center had targeted a gathering of county health workers. In the chaos that followed, an employee mentioned a hunch to a cop.
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“A male subject who was in the meeting left out of the blue,†the officer reported over the radio to a dispatcher. “Um, and 20 minutes later the shooting occurred. The subject’s name is Farbook — Farook — Frank Adam Roger Ocean Ocean King. First of Syed — Sam Yellow Edward David.â€
A search of law enforcement databases turned up a few addresses in the area linked to Farook. San Bernardino police scrambled to dispatch officers to each of the residences. First on the list was a townhouse on Center Street in Redlands, about six miles away.
Sometime in the afternoon, a pair of detectives pulled up in front of the brown, two-story property. But, dressed in suits and driving a type of sedan typically used by police, they stood out as obvious cops. A team of undercover narcotics officers who specialized in surveillance was sent out to replace them.
The rented Center Street townhouse of Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.
(Greg Vojtko / AFP / Getty Images)
Just as the undercover team was arriving in the area, a black Expedition approached. Police would later learn that the vehicle had been rented by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik.
Detectives watched as the SUV slowed in front of the townhouse but kept moving down the street — “a soft drive by,†one of the officers reported over the radio.
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The vehicle disappeared down the block, and for a few nervous minutes its whereabouts were unknown.
“It left, ahh, on Redlands at State Street,†one of the officers radioed. “We’re trying to catch up.â€
Hearing the exchange, several more officers announced they were heading to the area. Police managed to quickly find the SUV and officers in unmarked cars trailed it surreptitiously as it wound its way through the streets of Redlands.
::
Capps came on duty at 11 that morning, just as the shooting rampage was unfolding. Instead of the quiet day he expected to spend supervising a handful of patrol officers, the 48-year-old watched as nervous residents flooded emergency lines at three times the typical volume of calls.
Some of his officers responded to a false alarm report of a shooter laying siege at the local Amazon distribution warehouse. Capps listened on the radio as others went in pursuit of a stolen vehicle. Knowing a supervisor would be needed there, he headed in the direction of the chase.
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As he crossed an overpass to get on the San Bernardino Freeway, Capps noticed the driver of a silver Dodge van ahead of him frantically flailing his arm out the window.
Capps pulled up alongside the van. A young bearded man met his eyes.
“Can I help you?†Capps asked.
“San Bernardino PD,†the man said. “We’re following a suspect’s vehicle, we don’t have any marked units and we need your help.â€
Capps wouldn’t learn until later that the driver was Nicholas Koahou, one of the undercover officers who had been tailing the black SUV.
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Friends and relatives of Sierra Clayborn gather for her funeral at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in South Los Angeles.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A memorial service was held for Nicholas Thalasinos on Saturday morning at the Shiloh Messianic Congregation in Calimesa.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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A Shabbat service was part of the memorial for Nicholas Thalasinos at Shiloh Messianic Congregation in Calimesa, where Thalasinos and his wife, Jennifer, were integral parts of the congregation.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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A hired mover carries out personal items from the home of San Bernardino shooters Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Residents turn out to greet President Obama’s motorcade in San Bernardino.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times)
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President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet San Bernardino Mayor R. Carey Davis, center, and Supervisor James Ramos outside Air Force One at the San Bernardino airport on Friday night.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama leave in a motorcade, after arriving at San Bernardino International Airport, to meet privately with the families of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart Air Force One at San Bernardino International Airport.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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San Bernardino residents Ashrie Matthews, left, Leah Brown and James Matthews line the street to cheer the president’s motorcade.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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President Obama stopped in San Bernardino on Friday evening to privately visit with the families of some of the victims of the Dec. 2 terrorist attack. Ashrie Matthews, left, Leah Brown and James Matthews joined others to cheer as the president’s motorcade passed.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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Anti-Obama protester Deann D’Lean, right, holds some of the many signs she brought to a small protest. In the background, Paul Rodriguez, Jr., with America First Latinos holds a bullhorn. Protesters were out on some San Bernardino street corners voicing their opposition to the president and Islamic State.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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People continue to visit the memorial just down the street from where the terrorist attack occurred.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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Family members and friends pay their respects to Robert Adams, one of the 14 victims killed in the San Bernardino shooting, during his graveside funeral service at Montecito Memorial Park in Colton.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Summer Adams, center, grieves at the graveside ceremony for her husband, Robert Adams, at Montecito Memorial Park in Colton.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A mourner sits on the curb with her head in her hands during the graveside ceremony for San Bernardino shooting victim Robert Adams at Montecito Memorial Park in Colton.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners embrace at the funeral for Aurora Godoy at Calvary Chapel in Gardena on Wednesday. Godoy was one of 14 killed in the attack in San Bernardino on Dec. 2. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners embrace at the funeral for Aurora Godoy at Calvary Chapel in Gardena on Wednesday. Godoy was one of 14 killed in the attack in San Bernardino on Dec. 2.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners arrive for the funeral for San Bernardino shooting victim Aurora Godoy at Calvary Chapel in Gardena on Wednesday.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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Shemiran Betbadal, mother of Bennetta Betbadal, is hugged by family after funeral services at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Pallbearers carry the casket of Bennetta Bet-Badal during funeral services Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga. Bet-Badal was one of the 14 people killed in the San Barnardino shooting rampage.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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The husband and children of Bennetta Bet-Badal hug Monday following her funeral services at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Funeral services were held for Bennetta Bet-Badal, one of the 14 people killed in the San Barnardino shooting rampage, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Funeral services were held for Bennetta Bet-Badal at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Funeral services were held for Bennetta Bet-Badal at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rancho Cucamonga.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Twelve days after the mass shooting attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino the flowers are beginning to wilt but hugs and paryers are still in abundance.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Gwen Rodgers, assistant pastor at the Church of Living God, hugs Cindy Quinones, cousin of the slain Aurora Godoy, during a vigil at the makeshift memorial for the victims of the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Visitors arrive to pay their respects at the makeshift memorial outside the fenced off Inland Regional Center, in the background, the site of the deadly terrorist attacks, in San Bernardino, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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San Trinh, the longtime boyfriend of Tin Nguyen, 31, one of the victims of the San Bernardino terrorist attack, is consoled by family members as Nguyen’s casket is loaded into a hearse at St. Barbara’s Catholic Church in Santa Ana.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Cousins of Tin Nguyen -- Trang Le, left, Tram Le and Krystal Le -- hold onto some of her personal items and cry as they watch her casket being lowered into the ground at her funeral at the Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Pallbearers stand guard over the casket of the Tin Nguyen, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, at the start of her memorial service at St. Barbara’s Catholic Church in Santa Ana.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Van Thanh Nguyen shouts her daughter’s name during her funeral at the Good Shepherd Cemetary in Huntington Beach. Tin Nguyen was 31.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Family members and friends write messages on the side of the Tin Nguyen’s burial vault.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Van Thanh Nguyen places her hand on her daughter’s casket while surrounded by friends and family.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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The casket of San Bernardino shooting victim Isaac Amanios leaves the St. Minas Orthodox Church during his funeral service in Colton.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Two women cry during Isaac Amanios’ funeral service at the St. Minas Orthodox Church in Colton. Amanios, 60, is survived by his wife and three children.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Funeral goers cry during Isaac Amanios’ service. Amanios had shared a cubicle with the male shooter at the San Bernardino County Public Health Department.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Frineds and family stand during the funeral service for Isaac Amanios.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Trenna Meins, center with daughters after the funeral for her husband Damian Meins at St. Catherine Of Alexandria in Riverside.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Pallbearers escort the casket of Damian Meins at St. Catherine of Alexandria church in Riverside.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather at St. Catherine Of Alexandria in Riverside on Friday morning for the funeral of Damian Meins, one of 14 people killed in the San Bernardino shooting.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Trenna Meins places a cross on her husband’s coffin. Damien Meins was killed in a terrorist attack at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Mourners gather for the funeral of Damian Meins.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Community members sing Amazing Grace during a candlelight vigil for Nicholas Thalasinos and the 13 other San Bernardino shooting victims at Fleming Park in Colton, Calif.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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COLTON, CA - DECEMBER 10, 2015: Jennifer Thalasinos,middle, fights back tears during a candlelight vigil for her slain husband Nicholas Thalasinos and the 13 other San Bernardino shooting victims at Fleming Park on December 10, 2015 in Colton, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A portrait of Yvette Velasco, one of the victims of the deadly San Bernardino terrorist attacks, is placed at her funeral service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Covina, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Robert Velasco, father of Yvette Velasco, consoles a family member during Yvette’s funeral service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Covina, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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COVINA, CALIF.--December 10, 2015 - The coffin of San Bernardino shooting victim, Yvette Velasco, is carried to the hearse following a private viewing for family at Forest Lawn Mortuary in Covina, Calif.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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An FBI dive team searches a lake located about two miles north of the Inland Regional Center in connection with last week’s terrorist attack and shootout that left the two attackers and 14 victims dead.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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An FBI dive team searches a lake near the Inland Regional Center in connection with last week’s terrorist attack.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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A memorial to victims of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino continues to grow near the Inland Regional Center, where the attack took place during a holiday party.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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One week after the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, the public is posting signs of gratitude and thanks like this one found at the San Bernardino Police Department.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Family members and survivors paid their respects with a moment of silence at 11 a.m., exactly one week after the shooting occured at the Inland Regional Center.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Customers wait for the doors to open at Turner’s Outdoorsman in San Bernardino Wednesday morning.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Speaking during a Dec. 8 news conference, dispatcher Michelle Rodriguez of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department becomes emotional as she recounts the events of the deadly San Bernardino attack.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Trenna Meins, right, of Riverside, hugs friends and family during a vigil t the Riverside County Health Complex for her husband, Damian Meins, and 13 others killed in the San Bernardino shooting rampage.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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On Dec. 8, people bring flowers, candles and remembrances to a memorial to the San Bernardino shooting victims near the Inland Regional Center, the scene of the attack.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Frank Cobet of the Get Loaded gun store in Grand Terrace shows a customer an AR-15 rifle on Dec. 8.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Monica Gonzales relights candles Tuesday morning at a memorial for victims of the shooting rampage in San Bernardino.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Community members and students gather for a Dec. 7 vigil on the Cal State San Bernardino campus to remember the victims of the deadly attack in the city.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Patricia Corona of Colton, Calif., holds her children, Dejah Salvato, 7, and Brandon Salvato, 9, as they attend a Dec. 7 vigil at the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors headquarters to pay tribute to the victims of the city’s recent mass shootings.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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A prayer is said at the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors headquarters to honor the victms of the city’s recent mass shootings.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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FBI agents put up a screen to block the view of onlookers as they investigate the building at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
(Joe Raedle / Getty Images)
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Syed Farook, father of the suspect in the San Bernardino mass shooting, Syed Rizwan Farook, arrives at his home to a swarm of reporters in Corona, Calif.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Roses are laid at the entrance to San Bernardino County headquarters as thousands of employees returned to work Monday, five days after Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire on a gathering of his co-workers, killing 14 people and wounding 21.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Trudy Raymundo, director the the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, is surrounded by San Bernardino County supervisors as she addresses the media during a press conference Monday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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John Ramos of Riverside pays his respects Monday at a makeshift memorial site honoring Wednesday’s shooting victims in San Bernardino.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
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Claudia Zaragoza writes a message on a banner at the ever-growing memorial site to the victims of the recent mass shootings near the Inland Regional Center.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Caroline Campbell, from left, Jessie Campbell and Rylee Ponce embrace as they pay their respects at the ever-growing memorial site for the victims of the recent mass shootings.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Caroline Campbell embraces her son, David Malijan, 6, as they pay their respects at the ever-growing memorial site to the victims of the recent mass shootings near the Inland Regional Center.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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The Zafarullah family of Chino, originally of Pakistan, watches Obama’s address. Arshia, at left, is holding her 18-month-old nephew, Sohail Ahmed.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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One of several signs supporting the city of San Bernardino hang above the 215 Freeway on Sunday evening.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Members of the Muslim community, such as Khadija Zadeh, lit candles and wrote messages to the families of victims of the San Bernardino shooting rampage during a memorial service at the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in Loma Linda.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Ajarat Bada prays during a memorial service at the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in Loma Linda to remember the victims of the San Bernardino shooting rampage.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Alaa Alsafadi, center, holds her son, Yousef, 4, during a memorial service at the Islamic Community Center of Redlands in Loma Linda.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Riders from the Christian Motorcycle Association in San Bernardino pray at a growing makeshift memorial for San Bernardino shooting victims near the Inland Regional Center.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A candlelight vigil dubbed “United We Stand,†took place at Granada Hills Charter High School on Saturday evening. The event was organized by Muslim Youth Los Angeles and Devonshire Area in Partnership.
(Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
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Ryan Reyes, boyfriend of San Bernardino shooting victim Larry Daniel Kaufman, hugs members of Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah of America mosque who brought roses to a memorial at the Sante Fe Dam on Saturday.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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A bullet hole in the window of a pick up truck where the shootout took place on San Bernardino Avenue.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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A composite photo of the 14 victims of the San Bernardino shooting rampage. (Courtesy of family / Los Angeles Times)
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People kneel in prayer for victims of the recent mass shootings at the Inland Regional Center, in San Bernardino.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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After sunset, people continue to arrive at the memorial site for the victims of the recent mass shootings at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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The scene after landlord Doyle Miller opened the doors and allowed the news media inside the Redlands town home where Syed Rizwan Farook and Tafsheen Malik, suspects of the deadly the recent mass shootings in San Bernardino, lived.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Josie Ramirez-Herndon, center, and her daughter, Chelsie Ramirez, bottom left, join other community members as they pray during a candlelight vigil.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Fabio Ahumada, a San Bernardino EMT, attends a vigil at San Manuel Stadium
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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A couple embrace at the candlelight vigil to honor the victims of the mass shootings at the Inland Regional Center.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Angel Meler-Baumgartner 11, who was a member of the Inland Regional Center, where the shooting occurred, attends a vigil at San Manuel Stadium for the victims.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA held a press conference and prayer vigil at Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino. The group denounced the massacre.
(Michael Robinson Chávez / Los Angeles Times)
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Amy Mahmood, right, holds hands with a woman named Shenaz during the vigil at San Manuel Stadium.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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Ryan Reyes, center, breaks down after finding out his boyfriend of three years, Daniel Kaufman, 42, was one of those killed during Wednesday’s mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Ryan Reyes holds an image of his boyfriend Daniel Kaufman who was confirmed as one of the 14 victims of Wednesday’s mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Larry Jones, left, pastor of Crossover Outreach Church; Dr. Jeannetta Million, pastor of Victoria’s Believers Church; and Arnold Morales, pastor of King of Glory Church, pray for the victims and those involved in the mass shooting in San Bernardino.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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A coalition of church leaders comes together to pray for the victims and those involved in the San Bernardino shootings.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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FBI investigators inside the suspects’ Redlands home on Thursday morning.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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The investigation continues Thursday morning on San Bernardino Avenue, where two suspects in the mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center died in a shootout with police.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Law enforcement stands guard at a police line as investigators work at a Redlands home after the San Bernardino attack.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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A SWAT team stands guard with a rifle pointed at a home that is being investigated by police after today’s San Bernardino’s mass shootings.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Farhan Khan, second from right, who was identified as the brother-in-law of San Bernardino shooting suspect Syed Rizwan Farook, joins religious leaders during a news conference at the Council of American Islamic Relations in Anaheim.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies draw guns behind a minivan on Richardson St. during a search for suspects involved in the mass shooting of 14 people at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Marie Cabrera, Sonya Gonzalez and Christine Duran, all of San Bernardino, pray after the mass shooting in San Bernardino.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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A woman and a man enter the Rudy C Hernandez Community Center after they and other people, who were at the scene of a mass shooting, arrived by bus to be reunited with their familys.
(Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune)
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Emergency personnel bring in a wounded person into Loma University Medical Center after the shooting in San Bernardino on Wednesday.
(Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)
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A SWAT unit is on the move in San Bernardino.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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A member of the San Manual Fire Department takes the names of people evacuated from the scene of a mass shooting in San Bernardino before they are loaded onto buses and taken away from the area.
(Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
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Sheriff’s department SWAT members deploy on Richardson Street in San Bernardino on Wednesday.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Sheriff’s department SWAT members deploy near San Bernardino Avenue and Richardson Street in San Bernardino on Wednesday.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Evacuated workers join in a circle to pray on the San Bernardino Golf Course across the street from where a shooting occurred at the Inland Regional Center.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Capps fell in behind Koahou as he tore west down the freeway at about 100 mph. He broadcast his whereabouts to a Redlands dispatcher, asking her to get any information she could from San Bernardino police about the unfolding situation.
Capps and his officers had checked out more than one bogus call of a suspicious black SUV that day. As he drove, he thought this could just be another one. But the urgency in Koahou’s voice told him this time might be different.
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Minutes later, they exited the freeway onto Tippecanoe Avenue and immediately got caught in heavy traffic at a red light.
Capps saw another arm waving at him from a pickup truck. He maneuvered alongside.
“What are we looking for?†he asked.
The undercover officer pointed ahead. Several cars up, a black Expedition was idling at the traffic light.
Capps pulled into the opposite lane as the light turned green and slipped in behind the SUV as it drove away from the light. Looking in his rearview window, he was relieved to see a motorcycle cop and several cars from his department and others not far behind.
“This is too crazy,†he thought to himself. “How could this really be them?’â€
::
When David Espinoza arrived for his afternoon shift as a supervisor at a warehouse on San Bernardino Avenue, he was told to keep an eye on the front gate. The shooting that morning had everyone spooked.
About an hour later, shortly after 3, Espinoza was chatting outside the gate with another worker when he caught the distant wail of police sirens.
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Looking down the street to the west he saw a black SUV followed by a cavalcade of police cars. Thinking it wasn’t anything big, he nonetheless reached for his phone and started recording.
The SUV wasn’t moving fast, maybe 40 mph. It passed by and Espinoza, 46, saw two people inside.
A loud pop cracked the air. Espinoza was momentarily confused. But as the back window of the SUV shattered, he pieced together what was happening.
“That’s when it got to me. That’s them,†he said.
The hazard lights on the SUV started flashing after that first shot. Several more rounds came from the SUV as it continued along the street.
Espinoza saw the driver: Two hands gripping the steering wheel, glancing back two or three times at the police cars giving chase.
“He had that face of — scared,†Espinoza said.
Then, “all hell broke loose,†he said.
Bullets sounded as if they were slamming into the warehouse.
“Close the gate! Close the gate!†he screamed.
Billy Sirk, 50, was trimming branches of a tree in front of his home last week when a shootout began on the steet behind him.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Across the street, Billy Sirk was up on a ladder in the front yard of a rental property he owned, sawing branches off an overgrown tree.
From his perch, Sirk saw the police cars coming. The SUV passed by and then came to a stop a short distance down the street.
He watched as a woman opened one of the back doors and began shooting at police with a “long gun.â€
“Boom, boom, boom, boom,†he recalled.
Sirk dropped from the ladder and ran to the back of the house. He peered out at the gun battle on the street. He pushed on the back door. It was locked.
“Open the door for me, please!†he shouted, pounding on it.
A teenage boy opened the door.
The child’s mother was standing inside with her hands up, praying.
::
Capps slammed on his brakes and unlatched the AR-15 rifle he kept anchored between the two front seats. Throwing open the door, he got out and, crouching, made his way to the back of his vehicle.
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Positioned on one knee, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and took aim. Directly in front of him, about 30 yards away, he saw Farook standing just outside the driver’s side door firing at officers.
Capps let off several rounds and then turned his attention to the gunfire coming from the back seat of the SUV.
Time collapsed in on itself. Seconds could have been hours.
Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik engaged in a shootout with police. Some who witnessed the chase recount their experience.
A deafening gunshot erupted next to his ear. Another officer had rushed up behind him and was firing directly over his shoulder. When the officer ran out of ammunition, he fell back and another arrived to let off another barrage.
Bullets smashed into homes and parked cars, shattering windows.
Overhead, two officers circled in a police helicopter. In the deluge of 911 calls, someone had mistakenly reported seeing a third person running from the SUV into a nearby alley.
“Forty-King, you on this frequency?†a dispatcher asked over the radio, trying to summon the helicopter’s pilot.
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“My partner is transitioned in the back seat with an M-4 rifle.... I’m going to be flying the helicopter and working the radios all at the same time,†the pilot said.
Shaun Wallen, a deputy with the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, had pulled his car past Capps to his left and taken a position closer to the SUV.
Koahou, the undercover officer who had flagged Capps down, took the scene in from farther back. He worried that Wallen was too exposed. He decided to bring the deputy back to a safer position.
After an exchange of gunfire with Farook, Koahou made his move. He ran toward Wallen.
Farook was now face down in the street, blood pooling around his body. Malik was continuing to fire.
As he ran, Koahou stumbled and fell. He felt like someone had punched him hard in the thigh.
“I looked down at my leg and saw there was a bullet hole in it,†Koahou recalled.
Over the roar of the gunfire, Capps heard the shouts of “officer down!†Trying to block out the torrent of questions and fears that rose up in his mind — How bad are they hurt? Is it one of my guys? — he knew he had to keep his rifle trained on the SUV.
“We need medical aid!†a San Bernardino officer radioed to a dispatcher.
Hearing the frantic call for help, the pilot of a rescue helicopter circled nearby asking for an exact location so he could land.
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A few officers quickly formed a plan and moved out from cover into the open street together to rescue Koahou, who was pinned down. The officers brought Koahou back behind the patrol cars. Not seriously hurt, Koahou refused to leave the scene.
“It’s Officer Koahou, he’s code four,†an officer reported to the pilot over the radio. “We do not need to extract him.â€
Capps reflected afterward on the rescue.
“It made me feel very proud and it made me feel very safe, for lack of a better term, in the middle of all that,†he said. “I knew we were all taking care of each other out there.â€
It is unclear how long the gunfight lasted. Capps’ best guess is about five minutes. But at some point it became clear the gunfire coming from the SUV had stopped. Capps spotted SWAT teams in armored vehicles coming down the wide street.
“Hold your fire!†officers yelled at others who were continuing to shoot.
Malik’s lifeless body lay in the back seat of the bullet-riddled SUV. Farook was dead across the street.
Officer Nicholas Koahou, from San Bernardino Police Department, was injured during a pursuit with the attackers.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Investigators would tally 380 bullets fired by 23 officers or deputies. Farook and Malik, meanwhile, shot about 75 times.
Still on his knee, Capps rose to his feet. He stretched his body, marveling that his vehicle had been hit by only two bullets.
He checked his phone. There was a text message his adult daughter had sent during the firefight.
“Watching news. They just showed a graphic shot of one of the suspects down.â€
“I was in that shootout,†Capps texted back. “I’m OK.â€
Joel Rubin is deputy Business editor at the Los Angeles Times. He previously was an associate editor for New Initiatives and executive producer of L.A. Times Studios; an assistant editor in Metro, overseeing the criminal justice team; and as a reporter covered federal courts and agencies, the Los Angeles Police Department and the region’s public schools. A native of Maine, he moved to Los Angeles in 2003 to join the Los Angeles Times.
Brittny Mejia is a Metro reporter covering federal courts for the Los Angeles Times. Previously, she wrote narrative pieces with a strong emphasis on the Latino community and others that make up the diversity of L.A. and California. Mejia was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2021 in local reporting for her investigation with colleague Jack Dolan that exposed failures in Los Angeles County’s safety-net healthcare system that resulted in months-long wait times for patients, including some who died before getting appointments with specialists. She joined The Times in 2014.
Richard Winton is an investigative crime writer for the Los Angeles Times and part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2011. Known as @lacrimes on Twitter, during almost 30 years at The Times he also has been part of the breaking news staff that won Pulitzers in 1998, 2004 and 2016.
