Terrorism Too Close to Home

"Correction," I messaged back. "In America."

All afternoon, one exasperated terrorism expert after another threw up his arms and admitted he was at a loss to understand this attack.

The oddities include: the fact the shooters were a man and a woman; the fact that there were two assailants, when the vast majority of mass shootings are carried out by solo shooters; and most curious of all, the fact that they fled the carnage, while many terrorists commit suicide for the cause.

Reports that Farook had gone to the party, left, and then returned led some -- including the White House -- to prematurely suggest this was workplace violence; but the fact that he returned with Malik, and they were both covered in body armor and wielded semiautomatic weapons, makes clear this was planned in advance. But would this murderous couple really have gone through all this trouble, done all this planning and accumulated all this firepower just to decimate a Christmas party?

This is another one of those cases where, if you think you have all the answers, you don't understand the questions.

That didn't stop the liberal group Democracy for America from sending out a few hours after the shooting -- while police were still in pursuit of the suspects and the bodies of the victims had just arrived at the county coroner's office -- a ghoulish email. In it, Executive Director Charles Chamberlain alleged that "Republicans continue to side with the NRA and enable terrorists to kill innocent people" and thanked the public for "fighting back against those who enable terrorists" by making a donation.

Stay classy, Charles. Remember: As long you think you're doing good deeds, you don't have to be a good person.

But as the story was unfolding, I was focused on only three details: that the assailants were still at large; that they might be headed to attack another soft target; and that they might have gotten onto Interstate 15.

If they headed north, they'd be going toward Las Vegas. But if they headed south, they'd pass within a mile of my kids' school.

I left the restaurant, got into my car, and turned on the radio. Then I hustled over to the school, and got into the carpool lane. I was supposed to pick them up anyway. So what if I was an hour early, and there were no other parents around? I could wait, and I did. When the bell rang and my kids finally got in the car, I greeted them and turned off the radio.

And then, and only then, I exhaled.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.