President Barack Obama did not mention San Bernardino’s first responders during his 13-minute address to the nation Sunday night, who were on the scene within minutes to confront the terrorists who gunned down employees at a social services center and give aid to the victims.
Obama focused his remarks mainly on his current strategy against the Islamic State, gun control measures, and appropriate treatment of the Muslim community in the United States.
In a statement to the Daily Caller, a spokesman for the National Sheriff’s association gave thoughts on the president’s speech:
“Last night, President Obama talked about the new and evolving threat we face as a nation. America’s sheriffs agree and call upon the Administration to provide funding, manpower, and equipment resources directly to sheriffs and police across the nation,” the National Sheriff’s Association told The Daily Caller in a statement. “This includes surplus protective equipment being hauled away daily under an ill-conceived executive order.
“The President said we do not need troops on the ground overseas. However, we need more support on the ground here,” the association continued. “Sending surplus protective tools to the Ukraine now is more troubling than ever.”
Fourteen people were killed and 21 were wounded after Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik shot up the Inland Regional Center.
“We thought it was a fire drill,” Lavinia Johnson, executive director of the Inland Regional Center, told CNN. “We started to exit. … We were told to go back into the building.”
Dorothy Vong, a nurse at the center, told the Los Angeles Times that she thought it was an active-shooter drill. Vong’s husband reassured her via text not to panic.
“They train for this,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “They know it’s going to happen.”
Employees hid under desks, locked themselves in offices and conference rooms, and ran down hallways screaming, The Washington Post reported. As staff were evacuated by law enforcement, an officer was heard saying, “Try to relax, everyone try to relax,” an officer told them. “I’ll take a bullet before you do — that’s for damn sure. Just be cool, okay?”
Police engaged in a shootout with Farook and Malik after the two suspects fled in a black SUV. Both suspects were gunned down by law enforcement. One officer was injured during the shootout.