Apologies for the slangy reference to San Bernardino above; as a SoCal native I couldn't resist. More has transpired on the shootings in SB: the police were tipped to a location, went there, saw two individuals leaving the area in a dark SUV resembling the getaway vehicle, gave chase, were fired upon, returned fire, and shot the two occupants - a man and woman - dead.
Now the LATimes and Fox News are reporting one of those shot was a Syed Farook, the woman's identity hasn't been released. Farook has been described by his father as a "very devout Muslim." It's reported the police may be holding Farook's brother but aren't clear whether he was involved in the plot.
The FBI is being very cagy about whether this attack was terrorism. The shooters' ethnicity and level of preparation - weapons, armor, clothing, masks - suggests premeditated, even rehearsed, terrorism.
On the other hand, the semi-private location, the irregularly scheduled event, the San Bernardino County employee status of those attacked, and the failure of the shooters to make a smooth getaway after eluding police at the scene all suggest impulsive workplace violence.
Suppose what we see is a combination of the two. Perhaps a terror event was being planned, at some future point, for which the weaponry, ammunition and gear was already assembled. Then suppose one member of the group is a SB county employee who was at the meeting and was somehow either (a) insulted beyond their tolerance threshold or (b) became suspicious the authorities were aware of their planned terror event, or (c) both.
Under that scenario, the plotters could decide to strike sooner than planned, before the authorities could interfere. That explains the preparation of the weapons and gear, but also the failure to have a second getaway vehicle lined up or a detailed bugout plan.
I'm hypothesizing the perps decided to avenge a personal wrong while also accomplishing their terror objective. That makes the attack both terrorism and workplace violence.
Caveat: all of the foregoing is a guess, it covers the reported facts known at this time, other explanations are quite possible.
