If this is ISIS, how did they miss the huge shopping area 3 blocks away???

[LSK]

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0675532,-117.2776361,1284m/data=!3m1!1e3

Why hit a rented room instead of a bunch of holiday shoppers and lunch time restaurants?

[RandySF]

1. *IF* ISIS

then my guess is that law enforcement already has shopping centers on their list of places to watch out for, especially during the holiday season. No one would have thought of this facility.

[HuckleB]

12. Because law enforcement would surely stop a shooter right away?

At 700 bullets a minute?

[RandySF]

13. I hate guns as much as anyone, but they did not use automatic weapons.

Regardless, they would have been spotted right away walking into a mall.

[HuckleB]

15. And that would have meant...?

Only 30 or 40 people killed? If a great shot cop was nearby?

[RandySF]

18. More security cameras, faster response, etc.

The point is, IF it's an act of terrorism, they could have sought out a "soft" target that no one would have imagined.

[HuckleB]

20. It doesn't sound like they stayed long, anyway.

A bigger crowd means more dead people.

[jberryhill]

31. Former employee

[MisterP]

2. "dangit, why's the death toll so LOW?!"

[Jesus Malverde]

56. I see what you did there.

You might want to use that sarcasm thingy.

[MisterP]

57. what, did I get juried?

[Jesus Malverde]

58. Not that I know of but there is madness in the air...nt

[Sanity Claws]

3. Maybe that is where they got their camouflage

Clothes. They couldn't shoot up the mall and risk losing their favorite clothing store.

Do I need a sarcasm emoji?

[LiberalElite]

22. Or they'd be recognized-

the store employee says O hey those pants look great on you!

[Schema Thing]

4. There isn't any indication it is ISIS, is there?

Maybe just take in information until the picture begins to focus.

[dflprincess]

29. The name of the one shooter who has been identified

has led to jumping to this conclusion on some threads.

If his name was John Johnson they'd be saying we need to do something about mental health services.

[dogman]

5. Sounds like a workplace dispute.

Doesn't mean they weren't ISIS wannabes. Isis attacks on the Homeland have been hard to come by. Media needs a bigger story.

[fishwax]

6. I doubt this was ISIS. Is there any evidence to support that?

[LSK]

8. one of the police officials said they are not ruling out terrorism n/t

[fishwax]

10. okay ... but that's not really an indication that it's isis.

[Maedhros]

78. Maybe this is one of those manufactured FBI stings that went wrong.

The standard MO is to find a young, disgruntled, unstable Muslim man and have an FBI informant radicalize him. Then the FBI informant and specialized handlers direct the target, assisting him in setting up some kind of attack which the FBI then conveniently foils.

Maybe they tried to do the same here, and lost control of this one?

[LannyDeVaney]

76. Nope, none whatsoever...

just rampant fear mongering from the OP. It's all they have, that fear, and they cling to it.

[Kingofalldems]

7. How would they know about a Christmas party?

[crazylikafox]

9. It's the War on Christmas, doncha know?

[RandySF]

14. There might have been flyers inside the facility.

[HuckleB]

17. This wasn't a "flyer" kind of party.

They rented it for their private employees.

[LiberalElite]

19. Farouk was an employee of the govt agency that was

having the meeting/party/event or whatever it was.

[HuckleB]

21. Thanks for clarifying that.

I was trying to find a link to that information.

[LiberalElite]

23. So, maybe it was a workplace dispute

and Farook decided to shoot the place up but do it like ISIS and do it with the help of 1 or 2 friends. Or not.

[HuckleB]

24. "Like ISIS."

You're really invested in your "prediction" being "right."

[LiberalElite]

26. I am not invested in it at all. I'm

repeating what some others have said. Maybe they're right. Maybe they're not.
That's why I ended my post with "OR NOT."

[HuckleB]

27. I don't buy it.

You had no reason to respond to my post if you weren't invested in it.

Have a nice night.

[LiberalElite]

61. What? I responded so that proves something to you? Talk about INVESTED.

[WinkyDink]

68. Getting friends to die for a work squabble? Don't think so!

[Kingofalldems]

44. Exactly, but ISIS wouldn't know unless of course

Farouk was working with them.

[Aria36]

45. ISIS supporters celebrating on Twitter is the biggest sign of all nt

[rockfordfile]

47. go back to fox news

[Aria36]

59. I'm interested in learning the truth

Which apparently is not allowed around here. There's signs of workplace violence, but there's also signs of Islamic terrorism. Maybe it was both. But I DO NOT get this need to just loudly deny it could be Islamic extremism & shout down/insult/censor anyone who asks. It's an important question & we need to figure out the answers.

[WinkyDink]

67. One killer was an employee, is how.

[Kingofalldems]

69. Uh--Post #44.

[Trajan]

11. I'm sure this is in reference to the previous post

Of course it's way too early to call it .. . It is terroristic, yes ... It was obviously planned, yes ...

And yes, at least one of the perps has a Muslim sounding name ...

But all that doesn't prove there is ISIS involvement ..

It would be reckless and rash to jump to that conclusion so early ...

[LSK]

16. yes it was

[HereSince1628]

36. terrorism involves intimidation intended to change behavior and/or policy

What indication is there that this attack was intended to change behavior, rather than simply punish behavior or avenge behavior that the shooter(s) percieved as harmful to them?

[WinkyDink]

70. Stop using company time to promote a Christian holiday? Are you supposing killers need be geniuses?

[HereSince1628]

74. Ok, but is that actually in evidence?

or is it just speculation? I hadn't heard that yet.

[Codeine]

25. ISIS seems a bit of a stretch.

Homegrown radicals seems more likely.

[bettyellen]

30. Isis will take credit of any nut that has followed their tweets, and they do try to

coax angry assholes to go postal. God knows how many people just want an excuse to shot up their ex employers.

[TipTok]

65. That is the ISIS strategy though...

Gone are the days where you fly over, get trained and come back with directions and guidance.

Their propaganda pushes for these kind of attacks with little or no direct input from overseas.

[bettyellen]

28. because he knew he could get it to the building? where as getting into a mall w assault weapons is

more difficult?

[jeff47]

34. So you haven't been to a mall recently then?

Or do you believe that terrorists park legally before their attack?

[bettyellen]

40. Security varies widely. I think it can be both terrorism and have roots in personal problems....

It sounds like he lost great job there, perhaps his brother convinced him it was discrimination or because he worked with infidels. If there were three people shooting strangers- it IS terrorism, no matter the root of it. Job loss is a huge problem for a lot of men- particularly those who have very "traditional" values.

[rockfordfile]

48. I don't know but

I don't know, but have you seen the pictures of the gun idiots that carry guns everywhere they go.

[bettyellen]

49. I don't think assault weapons are permitted in Cali malls. It seems he was nervous in the meeting..

perhaps his friend(s) were going to chicken out and he went to go get them? Most terrorists are also angry for very selfish and personal reasons. Making fake pipe bombs? This guy was trying to terrorize people fro sure.

[Agnosticsherbet]

32. It was a holiday pary for government workers.

The group, if hey are ISIS, may have decided to attack the government.

[justiceischeap]

39. Speculation is that he may have been one of the employees at said party

I find myself wondering if this isn't actually a hate crime.

What if he was an employee and someone made a remark of some kind that all Muslims are terrorists. So this Muslim snaps and decided to show so and so and so a lesson.

I'm in no way condoning his actions but that's where my speculations veer.

[Agnosticsherbet]

42. This was not a spur of the moment thing.

The perpetrators were quick. They intended to escape because they wore masks. They left behind one object that may well have been a bomb.

It is weird.

[bettyellen]

51. They said he was acting weirdly nervous- I think he had planned other(s) to come in....

and they didn't, so he had to go and get them. Maybe they were going to chicken out.

[WinkyDink]

71. Not speculation. Co-workers are talking.

[Codeine]

33. Your link is broken for me.

Indoor mall?

[jeff47]

35. Copy-n-paste the whole thing. DU's link parser can't handle the @.

[Codeine]

37. Thanks. What an odd bug. nt

[jeff47]

43. Happens for a very wide variety of non-alphanumeric characters. (nt)

[onecaliberal]

38. I think the more horrendous the better in their sick evil minds.

[jeff47]

41. An office party is a lot less horrendous than the disabled people in the same complex. (nt)

[onecaliberal]

50. The identity of the victims remains to be seen.

[jeff47]

53. Uh...we know they attacked a room rented to either plan or hold an office party

for the San Bernardino Department of Health. We know the people receiving treatment at other parts of the complex were not attacked.

[Codeine]

46. Hospitality Lane is mostly restaurants.

Each of them would probably hold fewer people than the Center did.

[bettyellen]

52. Why did a failed athlete bomb the most elite marathon in the world? The personal became political.

[bklyncowgirl]

62. I think you have as good a theory as any. I'm personally fascinated by the wife.

What kind of woman drops her six month old baby off with grandma and goes off with her husband to shoot up his co-workers at a party.

The answer, in my opinion, is one who believed she is serving a higher cause. Though we tend to think that women, being so repressed in Saudi Arabia, where he and she met, are always innocent many are just as--even more fanatical than their men.

We just don't know at this point.

[randome]

63. Or someone who was a virtual slave to her husband.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Aspire to inspire.[/center][/font][hr]

[bklyncowgirl]

64. That is also very possible.

At this point we know nothing about her--including whether or not she spoke English.

I keep thinking of the role that the mother played in the radicalization of the Tsarnaev brothers.

[bettyellen]

75. His Dad seemed to say he and his ex wife were much more observant than he....

and him going online and abroad to find a foreign born wife seems a tell that he wasn't so moderate. SO Cal has a large Muslim population, he had a really good job for a recent grad and was attractive. Coworkers said he kept to himself.
Sounds like he was alienated.

[WinkyDink]

72. Failed? One was quite a successful wrestler, no?

[regnaD kciN]

54. Doubt it's Daesh…

…they would have hit a higher-visibility target, and not one where one of them used to work. Probably somewhere in Los Angeles itself, and likely multiple targets.

Sounds more like a copycat -- disgruntled employee who turned to his religion to validate his "us vs. them" worldview, and found other disaffected would-be jihadists among his acquaintances.

[Codeine]

55. Seems the most reasonable assumption. nt

[Warpy]

60. Yeah, it just doesn't make any sense

which is why I said these jerks are wannabes, at best.

[WinkyDink]

73. To YOU, perhaps.

[Warpy]

79. Did you know that ISIL propaganda

is telling all wannabes to credit them if they start to shoot people at random, even if those people aren't random like yesterday's slaughter was?

Get a grip. They're wannabes.

[WinkyDink]

66. Because a work-place Christmas party would be known not to have any Muslims.

[Myrina]

77. Really?

I better tell my current and former Muslim co-workers that they never should have come to any of our Christmas parties.