Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
San Bernardino honors those killed, injured in terror attack
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — At the moment when shooters unleashed terror on San Bernardino a year ago, county employees remembered their fallen colleagues in silence Friday morning.
A bell rang 14 times in memory of each person slain in the terror attack that also wounded 22 others at the Inland Regional Center.
“We will never forget that day or the victims of this senseless act of violence. We strive to move forward and search for the good that is in us all,” said Lavinia Johnson, executive director of the center.
During the ceremony outside the center, employees of nearby businesses who sheltered county workers during the chaos were thanked by Keith Nelson, the center’s chairman.
Among those attending was Zen Martinsen, 56, a clerical supervisor for the county. While she didn’t know the victims, she said county employees are like family.
“This affects everybody and I think it’s just really important that terrorism doesn’t win,” she said. “We can’t let it win.”
It was one of a series of events scheduled in the city of 216,000 east of Los Angeles to mark the anniversary of the Dec. 2, 2015, attack by husband-andwife assailants on a holiday luncheon for county health employees. Investigators say the attackers were inspired by the Islamic State group.
Most of those killed in the attack by county health inspector Syed Rizwan Farook, and Farook’s Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik, were Farook’s colleagues.
The building where the attack occurred is still closed and is undergoing remodeling. It is expected to reopen in early 2017, and a memorial to the victims is planned, Kevin Urtz, the center’s associate executive director said.