Photo: GoFundMe
On December 2, 2015, seven years ago, two shooters opened fire on a room full of San Bernardino County employees at a holiday party, killing 14 and wounding 22.
The shooters —identified as a married couple, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and Tashfeen Malik, 27 — were killed after a shootout with police.
The full list of victims who lost their lives that tragic day can be found below.
Michael Wetzel
Michael Wetzel and family.Youcaring.com
Michael Wetzel, a father of six, worked as a supervising environmental health specialist with the county.
“Please pray. My husband was in a meeting and a shooter came in. There are multiple people dead/shot. I can’t get a hold of him,” his wife, Renee, wrote to her friends in a mommy group, the Lil' Mamas, the day of the attack. Hours later, she learned Michael was dead.
Nicholas Thalasinos
Nicholas Thalasinos (right).Jennifer Thalasinos/Facebook
Nicholas Thalasinos was a co-worker of Farook’s. Babette Holder, a close friend of Thalasinos' describes him as a “deeply faithful man.”
“He loved his wife immensely,” she told PEOPLE. “There was not one conversation we had where he didn’t mention Jennifer or her well-being or all the other stuff they do with the church and their family.”
She added: “He also was the type of person who put family and friends above himself. He was always getting on me about getting some rest, like a mother hen.”
Damian Meins
Damian Meins.Damian Meins/Facebook
Meins, 58, of Riverside, was an employee of the San Bernardino County of Environmental Health Department and had previously worked for the County of Riverside for 28 years. He retired as an assistant planning director in 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Meins left behind two daughters, Tina and Tawnya, and his wife, Trenna.
After his death, his widow channeled her grief into advocating for gun violence prevention, theSan Bernardino Sunreported.
“Some family members were angry at God and at the assailants,” she said. “They wanted to lash out. But Damian wasn’t like that. Damian would do exactly what we did.”
Sierra Clayborn
Sierra Clayborn.Sierra Clayborn/Facebook
Sierra Clayborn had been working with the county in the environmental health department since January 2013.
Friend Timothy Lee described her as a deeply empathic person. “If I would tell her something that would happen to me and I was feeling down, she knew exactly how you felt and would give you a hug,” he told PEOPLE. “She was genuinely caring. Her spirit was right there.”
He added: “I am going to miss her a lot.”
Daniel Kaufman
Daniel Kaufman.Facebook
Daniel Kaufman ran the coffee shop in building 3 at the Inland Regional Center, where the shooting took place, according toThe Los Angeles Times.
For nearly a day, his boyfriend, Ryan Reyes, waited for news of what had happened to him. First, Reyes heard that Kaufman had only been shot in the arm and would survive. Family members called all the local hospitals, looking for Kaufman. But no one had any record of him.
Then on Thursday, the unthinkable happened: Kaufman’s aunt called Reyes to report that he was dead.
“We heard yesterday he was going to be okay,” friend Kristin Myricks told PEOPLE. “He was going to surgery and we didn’t expect he would pass away.”
Bennetta Betbadal
According to a familyfundraising pageset up for her children, Bennetta Betbadal was a loving wife and mother to three children, ages 10, 12 and 15. Her husband, Arlen Verdehyou, is a police officer.
Aurora Godoy
Aurora Godoy.
Aurora Godoy, 26, was the youngest of the 14 killed in the shootings and the mother to a young son. According toBustle, she spent six years dating her high school sweetheart, James Godoy, before the pair got married in 2012.
In a Facebook post, her aunt Rebecca Godoy, said that the the family “will keep her flame alive so that her young son does not forget his special mother.” Adding, “God bless us all.”
Robert Adams
Robert Adams.Twitter
Robert Adams, 40, worked as an environmental health specialist and was a husband and father, whose family – according to anABC 7reporter – wants the public to “remember the way he lived and not the way he died.”
San Bernardino County Human Services spokeswoman C.L. Lopez said in a statement on the family’s behalf, “Our worst fears were confirmed today: our beloved Robert will not be coming home to us. He was a loving son, brother, husband and daddy to Savannah. Robert always wanted to be a father and for the past 20 months, he was a devoted father to Savannah and cherished every moment with her.”
The victim’s wife, Summer, is the Chief Learning Officers for the Department of Human Services.
“Robert and Summer loved each other since they were teenagers.”
Robert’s uncle, Leonard Houser II told PEOPLE that the couple “really enjoyed life.”
“His love of family, the love of his wife and his daughter. He was always recording their lives together,” Houser says. “It was just the most amazing thing.”
Shannon Johnson
Shannon Johnson.Source: LinkedIn
Shannon Johnson, 45, was a Los Angeles resident and worked as an environmental health specialist for 10 years,ABC7reports.
TheLos Angeles Timesreported that Johnson died while assisting an injured co-worker, Denise Peraza, who told the paper that after she’d been shot, Johnson wrapped his arm around her and held her close.
“I got you,” were his last words, Peraza said.
The paper reported that at the time of his death, Johnson and his girlfriend planned to get married.
Isaac Amanios
Isaac Amanios (second from left).Courtesy Abiel Gebrekidane
A San Bernardino County environmental health inspector, Isaac Amanios, 60, came to the United States in 2000 from war-torn Eritrea “to better his life and his kids' life,” his nephew, Abiel Gebrekidane told PEOPLE.
The married Amanios had two sons and one daughter. “In our culture, having children, it’s not just ‘have.’ It’s a pleasure. His life revolved around his wife and his children,” Gebrekidane said.
Gebrekidane described his uncle as a man of “great character. Very down to Earth, very sweet human being.”
Amanios was also the cousin of former NFL safety Nate Berhe, who honored his relative on Twitter.
Harry Bowman
Harry Bowman.Facebook
Harry Bowman was a resident of Upland, California and the father of two daughters, ages 11 and 15.
A family member of Bowman’s, Bill Kraft told theLos Angeles Times, “Death at its best is hard to take. This type of death is extremely hard to take, especially when you have young children. There is no way you are going to make them understand.”
At the time of his death, Bowman had recently begun dating a girlfriend, the Press-Enterprise reported.
“We were just enjoying being in love and having someone to share our lives with,” the girlfriend said.
Yvette Velasco
Yvette Velasco.Courtesy of George Velasco via AP
According to theSan Bernardino Sun, 27-year-old Yvette Velasco lived in Fontana and worked for the San Bernardino County Public Health Department.
On the day of the shooting, Velasco’s family was worried about her whereabouts and her aunt Mindy Velasco called hospitals, police and evacuee centers trying to find any information she could about her niece, telling theLos Angeles Times, she “[feared] the worst,” because her niece would have “definitely [been] in contact after something like this.”
The family received the news the following day that Velasco was among the dead.
Tin Nguyen
Tin Nguyen.Source: GoFundMe.com
Born in Vietnam, Tin Nguyen, 31, grew up in Orange County and worked as a health inspector for San Bernardino country, theDesert Sunreports.
The family was reportedly in the middle of texting about their Christmas plans when Tin stopped responding. Later that night, her relatives became worried. According to the paper, just 30 minutes later, they learned that she was at the Inland Regional Center when the shooting occurred.
“Her mom tried to call, and all people tried to call, but no answer,” Clavin told theDesert Sun. “We said, ‘If she survived, she would have called us back.’ She was very intelligent, a good girl.”
Tin was also set to be married in 2017. According to theOC Registar, her uncle Phu Nguyen told Newsday, “She was excited about trying on her wedding dress.”
Juan Espinoza
Juan Espinoza.Source: Family Photo
Jerusalem Espinoza-Mendoza told thePress-Enterpriseher father was “fair” and “honest.”
“I do remember him always saying that education is something that can never be taken away from you,” she said. “It’s something that he instilled in me. He was just a really hard worker. He was very fair. He was just very honest.”
Not only did he instill the importance of an education, but he worked towards one as well. Espinoza held a Bachelor’s degree in science from California State University, San Bernardino.
He left his wife, Sandra Mendoza, as well as his daughter and a son, Jonathan Espinoza-Mendoza.
source: people.com
