San Bernardino, CA (USA) — Fear is affecting attendance at a Buddhist temple in San Bernardino located less than a mile from last week’s shootout between police and the armed couple involved in the mass shooting at Inland Regional Center, a temple leader said Sunday.
Sokha Chan, the abbot at Khmer Buddhist Society of San Bernardino, said followers are scared.
He usually sees about 30 to 35 people at the temple on prayer days, but there we’re only 20 on Thursday, he said.
“People still come, but less,” said Chan. “They (are) scared.”
The shooting
San Bernardino, California, mass shooting killed at least 14 people and wounded at least 21 more as a potential act of terrorism, the agency announced on Friday.
A couple was allegedly involved in the shooting, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at a press conference. They were killed during a shootout with police after a manhunt.
Burguan identified two suspects as Syed Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27, who were married. Farook was reportedly an employee of the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health, which rented a conference room at the social services center in which the shooting took place on Wednesday.
The FBI is now investigating the shooting as a potential act of terrorism, due to evidence of preplanning and possible ties to terrorism. Still, the agency cautioned that the direct connections are only investigation for now and unconfirmed.
Sources: The Buddhist Channel and Vox
