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Names Of San Bernardino Shooting Victims Released

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The coroner here in San Bernardino has released the names of the 14 victims in yesterday's mass shooting. Matt Guilhem of member station KVCR is on the line to talk about who these victims were. And Matt, can we first talk about Michael Wetzel? I understand he leaves behind a large family.

MATT GUILHEM, BYLINE: Yeah. Michael Wetzel was 37. He was from Lake Arrowhead up in the mountains here, and he was the father of six children. They were ranging in age from an infant all the way to some teens. And he was described as a family man and was seen around Lake Arrowhead, again, up in our mountains, with his kids in tow as they ran errands. So he was something of a fixture in the community up there.

MCEVERS: And can you tell us about some of the other people who were killed? I understand one of them was fairly well-known in the building where the shooting happened.

GUILHEM: Yeah. That would be Daniel Kaufman. He was from Rialto. He ran the coffee shop in the Inland Regional Center - so clearly a point person that everybody would've seen and known if they were getting their caffeinated beverage. He was described as cheerful and chatty.

And his boyfriend, though, did have a very rough afternoon of it yesterday. His boyfriend received some misinformation that first identified Mr. Kaufman as one of the wounded, but that was - that proved false. And ultimately, he found out only this morning that Daniel Kaufman had passed away.

MCEVERS: And who are some other people who are on that grim list?

GUILHEM: Other people that were victims of this shooting were Robert Adams. He was 40 years old and from Yucaipa. He leaves behind a 20-month daughter, and he married his high school sweetheart. He worked as an environmental health specialist at the Inland Regional Center.

Also on the list was Bennetta Bet-Badal. She was 46 and from Rialto. She came to the U.S. from Iran when she was 18. She was going to be making a presentation that morning, and she was described as loving her job there at the Inland Regional Center. She leaves behind three children and her husband.

And another young person that was unfortunately a victim of this shooting was Sierra Clayborn. She was 27 and from Moreno Valley. She was just beginning her health career and was described as loving what she did. She graduated from one of our regional schools here, UC Riverside, in 2010 with a degree in biochemistry.

MCEVERS: And here in San Bernardino, there are some events underway to remember those people who were killed. Tell us a little bit about that.

GUILHEM: There's a vigil tonight at San Manuel Baseball Stadium in the downtown of San Bernardino. Several local officials there are making statements about the events, and some local religious leaders are going to be making - are going to offer prayers as well. And there's other events happening around the region this evening in the communities of Redlands and Chino, and an interfaith vigil is planned in Redlands for tomorrow, Friday, at noon.

MCEVERS: That's Matt Guilhem of member station KVCR. Thanks so much.

GUILHEM: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.