First responder describes chaos upon arrival at San Bernardino shooting

SAN BERNARDINO (KTVU and AP) - The FBI says evidence clearly indicates Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 27, had planned for some sort of attack. The question is whether the couple's original intent was to open fire on Farook's coworkers at their holiday party Wednesday or whether something else triggered the couple to initiate the attack that killed 14 people and left 21 injured. Investigators say they are trying to identify whether the shooting was a workplace grudge or at terrorist act linked to some extremist group.

"There was obviously a mission here, we know that. We do not know why," said David Bowdich, Assistant Director in Charge at the Los Angeles FBI office, at a news conference Thursday.

Police Commander, Lt. Mike Madden, who arrived first at the shooting scene also spoke about the panic and chaos he saw when he entered the Inland Regional Center, a social services center for disabled people. Lt. Madden had been on his way to lunch when he heard the dispatchers' distress about 11:00 a.m. Wednesday regarding as many as three gunmen. The officer rushed to the scene.

During the news conference Lt. Madden was composed and spoke openly about what he saw, but appeared at times close to tears.

"It was unspeakable the carnage that we were seeing, the number of people who were injured and unfortunately already dead. And the pure panic on the face of those individuals that were still in need, in needing to be safe," Lt. Madden said.

He said with a few minutes of arriving, he assembled a tactical team of four officers and they entered the building.

Police say about 75 people were at the holiday party when the two shooters opened fire on Farook's county health department coworkers.

Madden says he found the room in chaos. The fire alarms and sprinklers were on and despite 24 years as a police officer with extensive tactical training, Lt. Madden said everything seemed "surreal."

"When we entered, there was fresh gunpowder and the smell of gunpowder in the air," Madden said.

He described trying to remain calm and guide some 50 people out of the building before he moved on to search for the shooters.

"That was a difficult choice to have to make as well, passing people that we knew were injured and in need of assistance. But our goal at that time had to be trying to locate the shooters and deal with them," Lt. Madden said.

Farook and Malik died about five hours later in a black SUV after a shootout with police.

The sheriff released new photos Thursday of the vehicle, rented locally by Farook about four days before the attack, as well as the weapons found with the couple. They had two long rifles, two handguns, and ammunition.

"On them, on their body, and in the vehicle they had over 1,400 .223 caliber rounds," said San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan.

FBI officials spent all day at the couple's rented house in Redlands, where they say they found more than 4,000 rounds of ammunition, a dozen pipe bomb devices and hundreds of tools that could be used to make explosives.

The FBI says it doesn't know whether the couple acted alone or was radicalized in connection with a larger terror organization. One source said Farook had been in contact through social media with one person on an FBI watch list, but there was no evidence of increased activity leading up to Wednesday's shooting.

A second U.S. official said the contact was with "people who weren't significant players on our radar," and the contact dated back some time

Federal authorities said Farook legally bought two handguns used in the massacre about 3 years ago. The two assault rifles were legally bought by someone else about the same time. Authorities said they are looking for the man, but did not say how the rifles got into the attackers' hands.

Officials say Farook was an American born in Chicago to Pakistani parents. He was raised in Southern California and had worked at the San Bernardino County Health Department since 2010.

Farook has no known criminal record, Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said.

Farook was a devout Muslim who prayed every day and recently memorized the Quran, according to brothers Nizaam and Rahemaan Ali, who attended Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah mosque in San Bernardino with Farook.

Rahemaan Ali said he last saw Farook three weeks ago, when he abruptly stopped going to the mosque. Ali said Farook seemed happy and his usual self, and the brothers never saw a violent side.

"He never ever talked about killing people or discussed politics, or said that he had problems at work," Rahemaan Ali said. "He always had a smile on his face."

One co-worker Patrick Baccari said that until the rampage, Farook showed no signs of unusual behavior and was a reserved young man.

Baccari said he was sitting at the same table as Farook before Farook suddenly disappeared, leaving his coat on his chair.

The Saudi Embassy said Farook traveled to Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2014 for nine days. Farook's wife Malik came to the U.S. in July 2014 on a Pakistani passport and a fiance visa, authorities said. To get the visa, immigrants submit to an interview and biometric and background checks -- screening intended to identify anyone who might pose a threat.

They were married on Aug. 16, 2014, in nearby Riverside County, according to their marriage license. Both listed their religion as Muslim.

The couple had a 6-month-old daughter who they dropped with relatives Wednesday morning before the shooting.

Late Thursday, California Governor Jerry Brown flew to San Bernardino for a briefing with law enforcement officers, followed by a news conference.

"I just want to assure my fellow citizens here in California that we're going to go as far as we have to, to make sure public safety is protected," Governor Brown said.

Lt. Madden recalled seeing the room filled with Christmas decorations as he passed by the victims' bodies.

"This was tragedy that I've never experienced in my career," Lt. Madden said, "There're so many familes as we go into these holiday seasons that are now going to have to deal with the tragedy that was left behind by this senseless act of violence. That's hard to deal with."