Assemblyman hosts hearing today in San Bernardino on terror attack

Assemblyman Freddie Rodriguez, chairman of the Assembly’s Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management, will conduct a hearing today in San Beardino on the Dec. 2 terrorist attack, where first responders will weigh in on what was leaed and what can be done better in the future.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the Board of Supervisors chambers, on the first floor of the San Beardino County Govement Center, 385 N. Arrowhead Ave. The hearing topic: “The San Beardino Shooting; Lessons Leaed.”

Sheriff John McMahon, San Beardino police Lt. Michael Madden - the first to arrive at the scene of the shooting - and Dr. Michael Neeki, an emergency room doctor at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and a trained SWAT team member who was also one of the first to arrive at the scene, are among those scheduled to testify at the hearing.

“Tragedy struck our community on December 2nd and the emergency responders from throughout the Inland Empire performed heroically,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “Reviewing the emergency response after a major incident such as this is important. I want to hear directly from the first responders to find out what went well, what could have been done better and how we can improve emergency preparedness across the state.”

Shortly before 11 a.m. on Dec. 2, Syed Rizwan Farook, an environmental health specialist for the county, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, stormed the Inland Regional Center in San Beardino and killed 14 people and wounded 22 others in a mass shooting the FBI declared the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

Farook, 28, and Malik, 29, were radicalized Muslims who had been preparing for a mass casualty attack, authorities said. The Redlands couple was killed in a shootout with police hours after the attack.

Most of those killed in the attack were Farook’s colleagues in the county’s environmental health services division who were attending a training seminar in a rented conference room at the center.

The Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management holds informational hearings to determine how Califoia’s emergency response system can be improved to prepare for incidents.

A livestream of the hearing will be available on www.asmdc.org/rodriguez

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