President Obama praised San Bernardino victims' families for strength, unity

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., Dec. 19 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama opened his vacation with a somber note late Friday, meeting with the first responders and victims' family members in the San Bernardino attacks that left 14 dead.

Obama said, after the meeting, he was inspired by the courage they have shown and that they are "insistent that something good comes out of this tragedy."

"And many of them are already taking initiatives to reach out, to speak out on behalf of community and tolerance and treating people with respect. Many were interested in how we can prevent shootings like this from happening in the future.," he said. "It was a reminder of what's good in this country."

The Obamas, en route to Hawaii for Christmas vacation, touched down in California shortly after 7:30 p.m. Friday. They briefly met with local officials before heading to a local high school for individual meetings with the families of each of the 14 victims, who where killed while attending a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center.

Authorities have identified the shooters as Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, and are investigating the attack as an act of terrorism. The nine men and five women killed at the party worked with Farook at the San Bernardino County public health department.

Obama praised the diverse group as "representative of the strength and the unity and the love that exists in this community and in this country."

"And as we go into the holiday season, even as we are vigilant about preventing terrorist attacks from happening, even as we insist that we can't accept the notion of mass shootings in public places and places of work and worship, we have to remind ourselves of the overwhelming good that exists out there," he said.

The Obamas departed California about 11 p.m. for their stay in Obama's home state. He is expected to return to the White House in early January to begin his final year in office.