Family and friends of San Bernardino mass shooting victim Damian Meins gathered for a private memorial service Friday morning as part of a grim procession of tributes expected to to take place throughout Southern California over the next week.
Mourners converged at 10 a.m. at St. Catherine's of Alexandria in Riverside to remember 58-year-old Meins, one of 14 people killed when a husband and wife opened fire at a holiday event at the Inland Regional Center earlier this month. The FBI is investigating the massacre as an act of terror.
Meins worked for the San Bernardino County Department of Environmental Health and was married to the principal of Sacred Heart School in Rancho Cucamonga, California, his daughter, Trenna, told the Press-Enterprise in Riverside County, California.
A father of two adult daughters, Meins was a devoted Catholic and passionate about serving his community. He was a graduate of Notre Dame High School, where he met his wife and volunteered to work on the sidelines at school football games.
FBI Director James Comey told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday the two shooters — Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik — were radicalized well before Malik came to the U.S. on a fiancee visa and had discussed jihad and martyrdom as early as 2013.
The first of the 14 victims was laid to rest Thursday. Hundreds of people attended the funeral service in Covina to honor Yvette Velasco, 27, of Fontana. Velasco was set to receive her official health inspector badge the day of the attack.
Funerals are scheduled Saturday for victims Tin Nguyen, Isaac Amanios and Shannon Johnson.
