page_title: 2015 San Bernardino attack
section_title: Car pursuit and shootout
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 San Bernardino attack / Events / Car pursuit and shootout
caption_attribution_description: English: 2015 San Bernardino shooting map showing site of shootout. Coordinates shown at this page are for the shootout location indicated with a red dot.
context_page_description: A terrorist attack, consisting of a mass shooting and an attempted bombing, occurred at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, on December 2, 2015. The perpetrators, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik, a married couple living in the city of Redlands, targeted a San Bernardino County Department of Public Health training event and Christmas party of about 80 employees in a rented banquet room. 14 people were killed and 22 others were seriously injured. Farook was a U.S.-born citizen of Pakistani descent, who worked as a health department employee. Malik was a Pakistani-born green card holder.
  After the shooting, the couple fled in a rented Ford Expedition sport utility vehicle. Four hours later, police pursued their vehicle and killed them in a shootout, which also left two officers injured.
  According to the FBI's investigation, the perpetrators were "homegrown violent extremists" inspired by foreign terrorist groups. They were not directed by such groups and were not part of any terrorist cell or network.
context_section_description: Law enforcement began a search for the suspects. A witness gave Farook's name to police, who quickly learned that he had rented a black Ford Expedition EL SUV with Utah license plates four days before the attack. Based on information provided by one of Farook's neighbors, two plainclothes investigators went to the perpetrators' Redlands home on North Center Street for surveillance shortly before 3:00 p.m., about four hours after the initial attack at the Inland Regional Center had begun. They spotted Farook's vehicle leaving the residence and gave chase onto the freeway at 3:08:19 p.m. Officers from other agencies joined the pursuit shortly afterward.
  At least one fake explosive‍—‌a metal pipe stuffed with cloth made to resemble a pipe bomb‍—‌was thrown at the police during the pursuit. The SUV exited the freeway onto North Tippecanoe Avenue and briefly stopped at a stoplight, where a pursuing officer observed the perpetrators putting on tactical vests and equipping themselves with rifles. The SUV then continued onward onto East San Bernardino Avenue and entered a suburban area, where the shooter in the backseat, identified as Malik, began firing at police through the back window at 3:08:43 p.m.
  Eventually, at 3:09:22 p.m., the SUV stopped in a neighborhood about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) away from the scene of the initial attack. The couple continued to exchange fire with police from inside their vehicle. Malik opened the side passenger door and shot at the first police vehicle to stop, which was about 210 feet (64 m) away from the SUV. Farook exited out of the driver's front door, stood between the two open doors, and opened fire on the same vehicle.
  As more officers converged, Farook walked across the street towards some homes while continuing to fire, pinning officers behind their squad cars. He intended to flank the sheriff's deputy who had first stopped. Realizing this, several officers repositioned themselves and focused their gunfire on Farook. One police officer eventually shot Farook in the right side, allowing others to flank and shoot at him. Farook fell to the ground, shot several times in the legs and upper body. He fired at the police once with a handgun as he lay wounded on the ground, injuring an officer before the gun malfunctioned. Farook was shot again several times and killed. His body was handcuffed and positioned to lie face-down afterwards.
  Officers then fired on the SUV as Malik continued to shoot at them. During this exchange of gunfire, a second police officer was wounded. Using a police cruiser as cover, officers fired into the back of the SUV while rescuing the wounded officer and a second one. At 3:14:53 p.m., Malik was killed by several bullets that struck her in the body and head.
  The gunfire lasted for around five minutes before both perpetrators were killed. Police used BearCat armored personnel carriers in confronting the shooters. Because authorities feared that the vehicle could contain explosives, the "Rook"—a motorized battering ram with a protective shield—was used to investigate the SUV.
  The sheriff's department confirmed that a man and a woman were killed. Seven police agencies were involved in the final shootout, with 23 officers firing a combined total of at least 440 rounds. The perpetrators fired at least 81 rounds. During the shootout, police asked residents to stay indoors. Nearly 2,500 rounds of .223-caliber and 9mm ammunition were recovered from the vehicle, along with medical supplies and a trigger apparatus believed to be for the explosives left behind at the Inland Regional Center.
caption: The shootout occurred on the south side of San Bernardino Avenue just east of Sheddon Drive; the red "A" marks the location of the Inland Regional Center.
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