Bernard Kerik: Shooters Were Planning A Much Bigger Attack
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik believes the couple who murdered 14 people and wounded 17 others in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, CA were planning something much more sophisticated and, for some reason, decided to launch an earlier attack instead.
Kerik, talking with Rich Zeoli on 1210 WPHT, said the amount of weaponry in their possession indicates a much more ambitious plan.
"You're going to see attacks like this, at this scale, maybe at a larger scale, something like Paris, you're going to see those in this country to come. Personally, me, I think what happened [in San Bernardino], I don't think that was their ultimate plan. I think they were planning for something bigger and better. I think what happened was they had 12 devices in the house. They had another three with them that they took to the site. They had a couple thousand rounds of ammunition still in the house. I think what they were doing, they were planning for a bigger event. Something at that party, be in Christmas or whatever it was, something set him off and they took it upon themselves to go in and do what they did then. I personally think they, basically, went operational before they had originally planned."
He believes every citizen needs to be on the lookout for suspicious activity in order to prevent similar events from happening.
"The reality is times have changed. We live in a very different world than we did 14 years ago. People have to get used to the idea that there are people that's going to be in this country, just like these two, and others, that want the demise of our society, our freedom. It's in the best interest of the country that if you feel in your gut that there's a problem, call somebody and tell them. Let the police know."
Kerik stated that Americans must come to terms with the fact that these type of attacks are currently being planned around the country.
"Nobody wants to be labelled a racist. Nobody wants to be somebody that's profiling. Nobody wants to be the rat, if you will, but at the end of the day, we have to be realistic that there are people out there that are doing things just like this couple. The planning stages of this stuff that they were putting together probably goes back months, I would imagine. They've been doing this for a while and there's other people out there like this."