10 years later, San Bernardino to honor victims killed in 2015 terror attack
By Rob McMillan
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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) — Ten years after a mass shooting in San Bernardino that left 14 people dead and 22 others wounded, there’s still pain and emptiness for family members of the victims.
“We sure miss him. That’s a given. We miss him a lot,” said Mark Sandefur said of his son, Daniel Kaufman, who was one of the people killed on Dec. 2, 2015.
He and his wife, Julie, often come to the memorial for their son.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been ten years,” Sandefur said. “It doesn’t make for good feelings this time of year.”
The deadly attack happened just before 11 a.m. that day. The suspects stormed into the Inland Region Center and opened fire on a group of employees with the San Bernardino County Department of Public health who were gathered for a holiday event.
The county will hold a moment of remembrance Tuesday morning to mark the somber date and honor the lives lost. In addition, all flags will be flown at half-mast at city and county buildings.
“I’ve seen a lot in my career. I’ve seen a lot of gunshots, I’ve seen a lot of just terrible crime scenes. That would rank up there with about as gruesome as anything I had seen,” said Jarrod Burguan, retired San Bernardino police chief.
Burguan says he distinctly remembers coming across one of the department’s detectives as he arrived on scene.
“I remember looking at him and I’m like ‘What do we have in there?’ and he goes ‘Oh, it’s pretty bad’ and I’m like ‘What does bad mean?’… Does bad mean, 2, 10? He’s like ‘more’.”
Not only was there a massive crime scene to investigate, but the shooters had gotten away. But several tips helped law enforcement identify them. After a short pursuit, a shootout broke out between the suspects and police about a mile and a half from the original scene.
By the time it was over, the suspects had fired more than 80 rounds, and law enforcement officers had fired more than 440.
Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik were dead. So were 14 innocent victims – so many lives shattered forever.
“I would like to see this process continue to focus on the people who were most impacted by it,” Burguan said.
People like the Sandefurs, who are still struggling with the impact of their son’s death a decade later.
“We never get over it, you just get used to it,” Sandefur said.
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