SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Wednesday's mass shooting at a county facility that serves people with developmental disabilities hit very close to home for two local credit unions.
Emily Friesen, SVP of strategic marketing for $936 million Arrowhead CU, told Credit Union Journal Arrowhead was chartered as a credit union for San Bernardino County employees.
"Our membership development team visits the Inland Regional Center [site of the shooting] a few times a year," said Friesen. "Our love and prayers go out to them and our entire San Bernardino community."
Arrowhead Credit Union's administrative headquarters is just three blocks from the scene, Friesen said.
Details on the suspects and their possible motive are still sketchy as of Thursday. Officials put the human toll at 14 killed and at least 21 others injured. Initial reports said Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, was at a holiday office party at the Inland Regional Center. Allegedly Farook got in an argument with someone at the party, left, then later returned with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27. However, based on evidence that the pair had thousands of rounds of ammunition and many explosive devices, the FBI is investigating a terrorism angle.
The two suspects reportedly wore masks and were heavily armed as they sprayed bullets at people in a large conference room. The pair left the scene in a black SUV, led police on a high-speed chase and eventually was killed in a shootout.
Friesen said Arrowhead CU received an alert that there was police activity in its area. The headquarters building then was placed in lockdown for the protection of the CU's team.
"As you can imagine, it is a secure building to begin with, but there were additional measures we put in place," she explained. "While we are a few blocks away we could certainly hear the helicopters overhead and throughout the day there were many police cars with sirens driving by."
Arrowhead CU also put three of its nearby branches in lockdown as a precaution, Friesen added. "We wanted to make sure the team and our members were protected and felt safe."
Gregg Stockdale, president and CEO of $36 million 1st Valley Credit Union, said its office also was uncomfortably close – it is "about five miles away driving, but at the crow flies, not that far – two streets over," he said.
"I drive by the Inland Regional Center at least three days a week," he said. "Our members are city, police and fire, so they were very much affected."
Stockdale said the sirens were loud for a while, "then it got deathly quiet" as members went to their homes and hunkered down.
"When we heard the people were on the loose we instituted security protocol, shut down and went home," he said. "We did not know where it was going to go, when it was going to go, so safety first, shut it down. When something like this happens, no one is worried about being open. People can use ATMs or home banking. Credit unions need to err on safety.
"This is a community of 250,000, so when something involves a county center with a couple hundred employees it is likely people know someone who was there," Stockdale added.
On Thursday, the office at 1st Valley was "very quiet," Stockdale said. "People are reeling."
