The siege at a social services center in San Bernardino Wednesday that killed 14 people and injured 17 others reflected "an enormous amount of planning," former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik told
Newsmax TV.
"To get in there, do what they had to do, do what they wanted to do, what they intended to do — and they get in their vehicles and escape, get off the compound," Kerik, who commanded the city's force during 9/11, told "The Steve Malzberg Show" in an interview.
"It's a huge facility. They got off the compound, got out of the area, only to be stopped later," he added. "Whatever they intended to do, they did it — and there had to be a lot of planning to get them in and out of there in the manner that they did."
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The rampage at the Inland Regional Center, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, marked the deadliest U.S. gun violence since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012.
Twenty-seven people, including the gunman, were killed in that attack.
While the shooters quickly escaped, Kerik told Malzberg that "they were going to get caught" by the authorities.
"In today's world, you can't travel a quarter of a mile without getting picked up on some cameras, somewhere. If they didn't get them this evening, they would've found them by morning.
"The reality is they were going to find them — and they were going to bring them to justice. Fortunately for us, they found them earlier than later."
And whether the shooting might be considered domestic terrorism or international terrorism is irrelevant, Kerik said.
"It's terrorism," he declared. "When you mass-murder, when you slaughter 15, 20 people, injure another dozen, it's terrorism in my eye.
"Whether you want to call it domestic or international, it doesn't make any difference."
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